From Zagreb to the World: Insights from our Croatian colleague Mario

How did you become interested in software engineering, and what inspired you to pursue a career in this field?

I was always curious and absorbing all kinds of information I could find online. The very first time I got interested in software engineering (that I can think of) was somewhere around 5th grade in Primary School. I came across some tutorials for writing scripts (batch files) that would turn off the computer after a set timer expires and there was no way to reset the script (at least not for a regular PC user). Like any kid my age, I obviously created a false Ministry of Education email address that was hosted on Croatian Academic and Research Network to which I had access and sent a PC shutdown script to my Primary School, saying it was some official presentation or something that should be opened. I never received a response from my school regarding that email. I don’t know if it worked, but that was the very first time I did some “programming”. It sparked my interest in software engineering when I realized I can make computers do what I tell them to do.

What position do you work in?

In my current official role I work in react native on a mobile app as a team lead, but apart from that I also do some stock/crypto trading and real estate investing.

How do you balance your responsibilities as a software engineer with running a pancake house?

Nowadays, my mom and dad handle the day-to-day operations of the pancake-burger restaurant. I initially came up with the idea to start the business and invested to open it. First, my wife ran the business in a leased space before we bought a better location on the city square for a burger place, which my sister now runs. Eventually, we merged the pancake-burger place with the burger place in the city square to reduce overhead and eliminate unnecessary costs of running two separate restaurants. Apart from occasional posts on the restaurant’s Facebook/Instagram page, I am not heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant these days.

How do you stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and technologies?

It kind of comes natural with the nature of the work I do and I guess decisions I’ve made about switching positions a couple of times in the past.That has helped me improve my skills and avoid boredom. I started with mobile apps in high school and learned Objective C and later Swift. At my first job, I worked with Wordpress and improved my skills in web technologies like HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, Javascript, jQuery, SCSS, PHP, and MySQL. When I got bored, I accepted a position at a different company to work on React projects. If I feel like I’m not learning anything new, I look for another position to continue improving my skills.

Can you tell us about a particularly challenging project you worked on recently?

I believe that people, not projects, can make things challenging. In my experience, the technical part of projects is usually relatively easy. However, I’ve worked on projects where unnecessary meetings and corporate policies made things complicated. Sometimes, clients want things done their way even if it’s not the best approach. This can be frustrating, but I still have to do it because it’s their money.

What qualities do you think are most important for success as a software engineer?

I think it’s the same for any job, you just have to like what you are doing.Learning a new skill is possible for anyone, but it’s pointless if you don’t like it. Success comes from doing what you love, not just for the money. Even famous footballers didn’t start playing football to become rich, they did it because they loved the game. You could be much happier earning less money doing what you love than earning more in a job that you dislike.

What would you like to be if you weren’t a software engineer and didn’t have a pancake restaurant?

It depends on when you would ask me this question.

My first choice when applying for colleges was a software engineering college, which I got accepted to. My second choice was also a software engineering college but it had a longer duration and a reputation for being hard to graduate from. My third choice was to be a lawyer. I like to argue, especially when I know that I am right. But strangely I remember that I didn’t want to work for clients and be their lawyer, my main idea behind being a lawyer was to be able to “defend” myself and get my way because I would know the law better than the other side. I kind of still do it through the things I do so it worked out in the end. I have to know the law when doing real estate deals and contracts and when I was more involved with the restaurant business I had to know everything about running a restaurant and handling employees. I probably know some parts of tax and work law better than my accountant.

However, now if I stopped being a software engineer, I would go with real estate investing/developing as I have started investing in real estate over the past few years and really enjoy it.

Imagine that you could go anywhere in the world and work remotely, which country would you choose and why?

Depends whether it’s short term or long term. I like to travel so if it’s short term then some exotic location like a villa in Thailand, Bali, Maldives or something like that during summer sounds nice, or some cottage/chalet in the Alps during winter. But if it’s long term I would probably go with a house on the beach on some Croatian island with not too many tourists during summer and a place in the alps with a snowboarding park in the backyard during winter.

In your opinion, what is the biggest trend or development currently shaping the software engineering industry, and how do you see it impacting your work in the future?

There are three major trends to watch. Firstly, blockchain technology has potential in various applications such as smart contracts for easier land/real estate ownership transfers, and settling trades for asset trading. Secondly, metaverse, VR/AR technologies, are still in their early stages but have immense potential. Finally, the third major trend right now is AI/ML. While ChatGPT is a groundbreaking achievement and currently most talked about, the real potential for AI/ML goes far beyond it with applications like self-driving car tech, early stage cancer cell detection from CTs, finding new cures for diseases.

If you had to recommend one place in Zagreb that one must experience, what would it be?

I don’t think there’s just one place in Zagreb to visit. It doesn’t have a main thing like Paris has Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty in New York. I think the best thing you can do in Zagreb is to visit it at some point in December during Advent (it was voted as the best in Europe a couple of years in a row), start from main train station where you can do some ice skating, move on from there and pass through the Zrinjevac park and continue to the main city square, then visit the Cathedral which is like 100m above the city square and then have some Croatian “štrukli” (baked pastry either sweet or salty with stuffing like cheese, blueberries, apple, truffles etc…) at my friend’s place called “La Štruk” close to the Cathedral.

We just wanted to say a huge thank you to Mario for the amazing interview! It was a pleasure to read your insights and learn more about your life and work. We wish you all the best of luck with your future endeavors! 😊👍