They specialize mainly in the development of AI solutions using different language models, web and mobile applications, solutions for digitization and automation of business processes, and software for robotic systems.
Their story began long before the company was founded. Co-founders Žiga Patačko Koderman, Matej Marinko and Miha Majetič have been working together since high school, where they developed their first projects together and gradually learned and grew over the years. Over the years, they have accumulated experience in programming competitions, in hackathons, with their own projects, through small projects for first clients. Out of this long-term collaboration is zerodays.
TODAY'S TIMES AND CHALLENGES
“There are as many challenges as there are days of the year. It is difficult to single out one of the biggest obstacles. All this contributes to the fact that you are constantly on the move, looking for new solutions, which in turn also keeps us in shape, so that we can jump higher and higher obstacles.”
PEOPLE, CULTURE, TEAM
The team is currently made up of 10 people - they are a small group, which has many advantages - from being really quick to “turn around”, as well as being really close to each other and being very well connected. When hiring, they look at the bigger picture: everything that a person shows says something about him. Own projects, interest in new technologies and the desire to learn are often more important than the number of years of formal experience. They also put a lot of emphasis on a good “fit” with the team, as this is one of the most important things for long-term cooperation. Self-initiative, responsibility, curiosity and willingness to learn mean a lot - they are looking for people who are important to them as a team and want to grow with them.
They are also very connected outside of work, many of them friends from times before they became co-workers. About once a month they meet for informal gatherings after work, sometimes they go to the Rožnik, have a beer or play board games and make Lego cubes, and a few times a year they also have a little bigger and longer teambuilding, where they really socialize and connect even outside the office.
SOCIAL ROLE AND PUBLIC IMAGE
They often attend events in the tech community, sometimes as lecturers, often as listeners. But they especially love the Dragonhack student hackathon, in which almost all team members competed in their student years, and now they have been attending the event as partners for several years.
“It's wonderful to be on the other side of the story and contribute back to an event that gave us so much at the beginning of our journey. That is why we return every year with the greatest pleasure and listen to young people who take up projects and with what advice we try to help them in their realization. Or at least we argue a little so that at 3.00 in the morning they do not give up and throw everything in the trash, but try to the end and successfully present their product.”
They communicate with the outside world primarily through LinkedInand their websitesOccasionally, they also write blogrecord when they have something interesting to share.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND FUTURE
Like any business environment, Slovenia has its own challenges. They try to be as flexible as possible and create as much as possible in a given environment. Slovenia is a native and well-known environment in which they have managed to position themselves adequately and establish trust in the market over the years.
They operate in the industry, where references and personal relationships play a key role. Their “product” is a software development service that requires a very high level of trust on the part of the client. Therefore, it is also the most effective way to acquire new projects mainly through acquaintances, recommendations, referrals and already successfully completed projects.
When entering foreign markets, whether within the EU or in individual other markets, new challenges are emerging. These are environments where customers do not know you yet, where you do not have established references and where trust must be built from the beginning. This requires more time, systematic presence, participation in events, fairs and active networking. However, despite the greater complexity, the expansion abroad also brings new opportunities, different projects and long-term growth potential, which is why they see it in zerodays as an important part of their further development.
As for the improvementsin the business environment in Slovenia, we would like even more system support for companies at the beginning of the journey. The most difficult thing is to start when no one knows you, you have no references and you are still building trust in the market.
“We think it would make sense to even more actively identify projects with clear potential and long-term vision (not just those that meet bureaucratic markers of potential) and to support them in a targeted manner — both financially and mentoring. Such support could make an important contribution to the development of quality and sustainable entrepreneurial stories.”
zerodays are just recently Celebrating their fourth birthday. “If someone had asked us five years ago where we would be in five years, we probably wouldn't have guessed where we would be today and what we would be doing. The technological and especially software environment is changing extremely rapidly and is largely unpredictable, so we are constantly learning, adapting and developing.”
Their vision for the next five yearsit is not so much tied to specific numbers or static goals, but to the way they operate: they want to build quality projects, work responsibly and transparently with their customers, create good products and services, and build a work environment in which employees enjoy and can develop. The most concrete wishis to bring as many of their own products into the world as possible, seeing them as a way to ensure a more predictable business and long-term orientations.
It's over one of their advantagesis that they have a really wide range of knowledge from a wide variety of areas. “Working on projects for clients really gives you a huge breadth because you get to know a diverse range of areas, but otherwise we have always been very interested in everything technological, so we have tackled practically everything possible.”
FUN RUBRIC
If Zerodays were a musical group, they would play jazz fusion, with a lot of improvisation.
Applications most often open on a work phone - Definitely Slack, which they use for all internal communication and project coordination.
”There are quite a lot of us on the team somewhere on the spectrum between geeks, nerds and entertainers. Since we bought a coffee machine, more of us have become Coffee Enthusiasts(which is definitely better than an energy drink for breakfast) - surely someone stands out, but we will not name it;) but you can quickly see who had a sleepless night behind them (one way or another) - these people are often the real winners of the day!”
Which emoji best describes a company or product?
🚀 and 🔥 for the “launch” of new projects or functionality and a 🎙️ that best describes our first product, VoiceFill Medical, an application for converting speech into structured medical reports, which we released recently.
The internal motto is:“We don't produce trash.”
They have a lot of interior scarves, many of them their “house comic” also immortalized with post-it sheets, which have now formed a real art installation on the wall in the kitchen.
CONCLUSION
“I would especially advise young people to start their own projects as soon as possible. Let them be self-initiated, try as many new things as possible and take advantage of all the opportunities offered by the student years - from attending hackathons, doing various internships, to experience abroad. And get to know as many people as possible. All this helps to build the widest possible set of knowledge, skills and acquaintances, which are extremely valuable later.”
As a company, they want to build a work environment in which every employee can realize their potential, feel good at work and participate in interesting and rewarding projects. Externally, however, they want to create solutions that have a positive impact on the world and contribute something good to the wider community.
Entrepreneurship lessons are often clichéd, the reality is that you have to learn most things on your own, break through such and different challenges yourself, for some things no advice or experience from someone else will help you.
The most important thing is that you start, so boldly test new ideas, start projects, start companies and build an environment that you can design according to your own desires, values and vision.
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