And some rakija!! Thanks to our one-and-only Split Startups Meetup host Michael Freer who brought a bottle and some shot glasses along to cheer to Christmastime, this meetup reaching its first year, and just because he – as a moderator – can absolutely choose whichever icebreaker he prefers. Cheers! 😉

This time we found our home at SeekandHit offices – and what a home it was!! 😀

In this edition of the Split Startups Meetup, which was bursting with female energy anyway, considering all our panelists were ladies, SeekandHit’s Martina Škaro Boboš was still the woman of the evening – our wonderful hostess who made sure we felt at home and were well fed with pizza and snacks and well hydrated with a variety of drinks. 🙂

After we were properly inspired by the content of this edition of Split Startups Meetup, of course!

And that particular feat was achieved by other four fantastic women of the evening who made up the lineup of speakers chosen to talk about storytelling and taxes. Yes – we know it’s an odd combination of topics!

But we do operate a bit out-of-the-box, you know. 😀

Besides, we heard no complaints, only praises when it came to chosen topics for this edition, so we probably got something right! 😉

The panel discussion about storytelling was titled “Tell Me a Tale of What You Do!” and provided a helping hand regarding some pitching struggles startups might face during their startup journey.

The panel was moderated by Michael, our rakija-man of the evening, and hosted the following experts in the field of telling a good story:

• Pinija Poljaković – founder of Art Media; media and public speaking trainer; MC and event moderator; speaker and podcast host
• Mirjana Svaguša – founder of The Storyteller Croatia; sustainable travel expert; regenerative tourism advocate; heritage interpreter and passionate storyteller; Break Fellow 2023
• Dijana Zorić – co-founder of StoryLab; expert in storytelling and external communication; mentor and full-time lecturer at the Experta College of Business for the Business Storytelling course; licensed tourist guide

This was followed by a fireside chat that aimed to eliminate all your pains, troubles, and fears related to taxes and accounting.

Led by our host Michael and his rakija, this fireside chat – aptly named “Accounting and Taxes Without Pain and Suffering” – had Zoja Stevović from the wonderful Kancelarija team answering some important questions related to taxes and accounting with a focus on startups and small businesses.

Before we proceeded with the merry networking, we had one final task for the evening – the startup-themed Christmas raffle!

As any good Santa Claus does, we came to this edition of Split Startups Meetup bearing a gift in the form of a consultation/workshop for improving your startup pitch. All you had to do was – sign up and show up.

Nikolina Barada from Evala did just that and won herself and her startup idea a free coaching session on this topic from Pinija, our expert on the matter and already a seasoned startup coach.

And to wrap this little overview up – some words of thanks are in order! 🙂

Thanks to the SeekandHit team – Mario and Martina especially – for making this final Split Startups Meetup of 2023 feel like a true Christmas feast; thanks to all panelists and lecturers – in this edition, as well as those in September, May, and February – for sharing their stories and knowhow with the members of our local startup ecosystem; thanks to Lana Ugrčić and the wonderful team from the Student Business Incubator for being awesome co-organizers of this meetup; thanks to Michael for hosting it and spicing it up enough so we never know what to expect.

And finally – big thanks to all of you who attended! The local startup community is the reason we initiated this meetup and the reason we will continue organizing it.

Onwards and up – see you in 2024!! 😀

Photos: Ivan Gracin