Petar Starčević

Since he was a kid, Petar has always done his own projects. Most notable ones were a youtube channel, podcast and a start-up. His main focus during life were video, photography, business & design. He started a Youtube channel with friends since the age of 15, reaching more than 20 million views from the Balkan region. During this time, he won several regional awards for best films, photography, and design. Another notable video project was his “Birc Talk“ podcast, where he entered the world of entrepreneurs, economists, local personalities, etc.
After finishing his formal faculty education, he continued to learn by doing, mostly doing projects that were fun for him, but also brought in money to cover basic living expenses. He worked for many start-ups, bringing stakeholder’s ideas to life by taking their idea and turining it to reality by writing business plans, researching & design.
Right now he is fully focused on start-ups, with the most recent and notable one being “Clastr“ a high-tech start-up that is focused on video and data streaming over the Internet, in a form of Cloud Gaming. Petar and his team raised venture capital, and now are bringing Clastr to the world.

Where did the idea for Clastr come from?

The idea came when I wanted to apply for a student’s competition, but didn’t have a business partner that would cover technology in this project. That is how I met my current business partner, Danijel. We went out for drinks and brainstormed the ideas. Danijel proposed his decentralized cloud gaming idea, so we started developing it. After a year of bootstrapping, we decided to raise venture capital.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I try to separate my “communication“ time from “building“ time. Meaning that I want to have a period in a day where I don’t look at e-mails or messages (of course, there are exceptions here), and devote my time towards building a product. Second period of the day is communication only. This helped me to stay more focused on tasks ahead.

How do you bring ideas to life?

We mostly brainstorm the ideas, include our potential users into a discussion, research the users, market & technology. After that we decide if we will do it or not. The most important thing is that ideas have to become reality at some point, and then we see if we were right or wrong. Without actually doing it, we can’t see if idea is good or not.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Decentralization. Of finances, technology, data, etc.
I’m a big fan of shared economy and I believe Clastr will have a huge impact on that area.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Working out, staying disciplined. I believe having a routine, both mental and physical is one of the best things entrepreneur can have for himself.

What advice would you give your younger self?

People often tend to mislead your thinking. Just because they think something impossible, doesn’t mean they are right Do it and see for yourself. If you are wrong about it, at least you will know.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

This is a hard one, and a good one. I believe everyone should try to have at least one personal project that is a hobby, but it can be turned into a business. Especially at a very young age, maybe even since the elementary school. For me, it was video. I started filming and editing videos at 13, but at the age of 14 I already had some clients I worked with.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Learn. Exercise. Stay observant.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Listening to experienced people who did mistakes that were waiting for me on my journey.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

My previous start-up failed. I picked myself up, analyzed it, saw where our mistakes were, and started working on another idea.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I’d say there are many opportunities in todays world. One thing that crossed my mind was a social media platform, but only with video. My opinion is that todays social media allow for users to say anything, because they hide behind a keyboard, and they don’t see a person on the other side of network. Commenting via video only will take more courage to call someone an a*hole, or insulting them. I think this is a big problem in todays communication, and it needs to be fixed.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I bought some climbing equipment, and started indoor climbing. This helped me overcome some of my personal fears and boost my confidence.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Discord for management and communication. It is really efficient, straight-forward, and I like it a lot. We use it to talk to our users, employees, clients, etc.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

There are several of them I’d recommend.
1. Design of everyday things by Don Norman
2. Don’t make me think by Steve Krug
3. Blue Ocean Marketing Strategy – W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne
4. Lean Startup by Eric Ries

What is your favorite quote?

“Aut inveniam viam aut faciam” (or “Aut viam inveniam aut faciam”) is Latin for “I shall either find a way or make one.” – Hannibal

Key Learnings:

• Be persistent in life, it pays off.
• Be opened about another people’s ideas, evaluate them, and let the people talk.
• Find a fine balance between empathy and assertiveness as an entrepreneur
• Sacrifice short-term pleasures for long-term vision.