Mentors

Po končanem magisteriju industrijskega oblikovanja na ALUO je ugotovil, da je marsikateri problem s katerim se danes srečujemo, večji od samega področja oblikovanja. Efektivne rešitve potrebujejo širši pogled in zares delujejo le z dosledno izvedbo, zato kot oblikovalec deluje tudi v podjetništvu in managementu. Proces oblikovanja izdelka je pomemben, ampak prav tako je pomemben tudi process oblikovanja tudi samega podjetja ali ekipe, ki ta izdelek podpira. Zadnje desetletje deluje kot freelancer, kot vodja projektov je delal v Hong Kongu in Dubaju v okviru podjetja Alphacrypt, ter v Ljubljani vodil svojo pop-up ulično restavracijo JEDU Wurst & Dogs. Trenutno dela kot industrijski in grafični oblikovalec pri EQUA in Goat Story.

Emilija Stojmenova Duh is assistant professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Ljubljana. She is the initiator and coordinator of the national FabLab Slovenia network, a technologically supported platform for innovation, prototyping and invention that promotes local entrepreneurship. Executive director of DIH Slovenia from February 2018 to October 2019 she currently serves as Head of 4P DIH (Public, Private, People Partnership Digital Innovation Hub), whose main aim is to create awareness and provide services to grow digital competencies, share digital experience and case studies locally, regionally and internationally, and support the government to adapt regulation and open its data to foster entrepreneurship. She was head of Demola Slovenia, part of Demola Network, which was recognized by OECD and the World Bank as a best practice example for innovation policymakers. She coordinates several national and European research and development projects in the field of digitisation and innovation for rural development and collaborates with the European Commission within two thematic groups on rural development and digital innovation hubs. 

Emilija’s work is focused on open innovation, co-creation, user-centred design and digitisation for sustainable development. She takes part in an international team of researchers developing a methodology for measuring and monitoring social and economic return on investment of digital products and services through open innovation.

Rok Govednik graduated in cultural studies, focusing on the theory of film and photography. He currently works as an expert associate for film, animated film and photography at the School of Arts, University of Nova Gorica. He is also a habilitated professor of media studies and lectures on the art of film and media at colleges, high and elementary schools, and also works for the National Education Institute Slovenia as a film mentor for school teachers and professors. Govednik is the founder of VIZO, Institute for Advancement of Visual Culture, where he has been designing and running projects for children and young adults since 2013. He has completed more than 460 projects, including a film festival, summer camps, international projects (EU, Norwegian mechanism) and exhibitions. He works with many organisations in Slovenia and has extensive experience with the Animated Film Festival Animateka, where he served as PR and project manager, as well as Festival of Slovenian Film and LIFFe. His experience extends to distribution, audience development, crisis management, internationalisation and, most importantly, management of organisations, human resources and cultural projects. In 2013 he took part in the Entrepreneurially into the World of Business programme, organised by the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region.

Jani Kozina graduated and completed his doctoral degree in geography at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He built his research skills at the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies at the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2006, between 2007 and 2009 at the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, and in 2014 and 2015 at the School of Management at Cardiff Metropolitan University. In 2009 he joined the Anton Melik Geographical Institute at SRC SASA as a young researcher and has been working there as a research fellow since 2013. Assistant professor in geography since 2016, he became lead lecturer in cultural geography at the Postgraduate School SRC SASA in 2020. He is the leader and associate in numerous research and applied projects dealing with cultural and creative programmes and their spatial and wider socio-economic implications. Recently he has been preoccupied with social innovation and social responsibility. Jani is the recipient of numerous awards and commendations, including Europa Nostra, 2015, Social and Economic Innovator, European Commission - DG MARE, 2019).

Rok Colarič is the founder and CEO of the company that launched the Sleepy Bottle, a portable baby formula maker that can prepare fresh baby formula in only a matter of seconds. It is sold in high-end department stores such as Selfridges, Virgin Megastores, KaDeWe, Steen & Strom, Magasin Du Nord, De Bijenkorf and ProIdee. In the last three years the bottle has already won eight international awards, including the 2018 Central European Startup Award. Rok also secured an important investor from Great Britain who has held a leading role at companies such as Google, Apple in Nest. Rok’s extensive experience spans market research, preparing and delivering pitches, and negotiations with potential partners and clients. He can assess a project’s market potential, design innovative projects or products and prototype them, and prepare financial projections. He is familiar with the global copyright databases and utilises them to assess the current situation in copyright, and has experience with preparing patent documentation. His skills extend to sourcing investments and launching a product in the domestic and foreign markets. His colleagues describe him as someone who sees a solution for every problem and every problem as an opportunity. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience with startups that develop physical products.

Mihael Leskovar graduated in political science and has more than 15 years' experience in institutions promoting regional development and offering a support environment for entrepreneurs. In his current position at the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region he focuses on promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation in society, and on supporting sustainable development within the programmes and projects in the fields of economy, internationalisation, tourism, cultural industries and human resources. He has been actively involved in more than 20 development projects and initiatives. His main competences include challenges for young entrepreneurs, business idea development, project management, research and development processes and good relations with the interested public, and are backed by his extensive experience in EU-funded projects in these fields. Mihael has accumulated his experience through working with companies in private and public sectors. He worked as a project manager in marketing Agency Kainoto d.o.o. and served as director of the business incubator Styrian Technology Park for five years, where he was in charge of monitoring the operation of incubated companies on a daily level.

Jožko Rutar, film producer. Having graduated from the School of Economics and Business of the University of Ljubljana he worked as an event organiser and cultural manager for Break 21 festivals and the contemporary dance group EN-KNAP. In 2004 he joined the newly-founded production company STARAGARA. He is an EAVE graduate (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs, one of the leading training and development providers for producers in Europe) and its national representative. From 2011 to 2016 he served as managing director of Slovenian Film Centre, Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia. 

Since then he has worked as a film producer, lecturer in film production at the School of Arts in Nova Gorica and a consultant in film development and financing. He works with the European Audiovisual Observatory and Creative Europe – Media programme, and is a member of the board of directors of CEE Animation network. Jožko Rutar is actively involved in the collective management of copyright and related authors’ rights in Slovenia, and serves as president of the expert-consulting body of the collective organisation AIPA and president of the council of public institute Viba Film Ljubljana.

Sanja Zelko’s references are first and foremost entrepreneurial (product or service development, logo and corporate identity design, product launch in the Slovenian market, advertising and media relations). Having founded her own company Sanja launched two innovative products in advertising and tourism (with the support of the EU). She co-founded a youth cooperative and mentored a team in launching an innovative youth tourism product. With five consecutive years as event manager of Bujta repa and Prekmurska gibanica, two of the most crowd-drawing cultural events in Prekmurje, Sanja has extensive references in organising cultural events and has also served as head of protocol and PR of one of the most popular student entertainment events in Slovenia, Škisova tržnica. As technical adviser at ŠKIS Association (Association of student clubs of Slovenia) she mentored student clubs in market communication and public relations. Between 2014 and 2020 she served as expert adviser and mentor in market communication in the DOSOR company. She is head of marketing of tourist resort Pannonian Village (Panonska vas), where she runs and mentors tourism advertising programmes. 

Sanja has a master’s degree in strategic market communication from the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana and is the co-founder and director of GF inspiro, družba za celostno komuniciranje d.o.o. - so.p., which offers comprehensive communication services; she is the project manager and mastermind behind Goldfish, an app for making wishes come true, and the innovative tourist product Panobiketrip – an app for tourist cyclists in the Pannonian Plain.

Olga Košica holds an MA in goldsmithing, silversmithing, metalwork & jewellery from the Royal College of Art, and is a textile and fashion design graduate of the University of Ljubljana. Since 2005 she has been working as head jewellery designer of Zlatarna Celje’s LENCIA line of silver jewellery. She is the co-founder of internationally acclaimed OfR jewelry and works with globally recognised fashion makers and newspapers. Her brand is active mainly in the international market. Olga also runs a jewellery design studio AgAu at Gornji Trg in Ljubljana, where she organises workshops in silver jewellery design. The recipient of numerous (inter)national design awards she is also a visiting lecturer working with the Faculty of Design Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering – Department of Textiles (University of Ljubljana) and Faculty of Technology (University of Banja Luka), among others. Olga has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Slovenia and beyond (France, Italy, the USA, Spain, Norway, Great Britain etc.).

Robi Rodman specialises in sales process efficiency and customer dialogue management focused on winning new projects or contracts. Having graduated from the School of Economics and Business in 1996 he completed the regular MscBA at the same faculty. After different jobs for different companies and involvement in sales challenges in Slovenia and the wider region, he co-founded a sustainable energy startup and took part in the entrepreneurial training programme Grow organised by the CEED institute. Robi also took part in setting up and running the Entrepreneurship course at People’s University Ajdovščina. Since 2013 he has been providing different services for companies in Slovenia and abroad, from sales development, sales channels and market positioning, to the identification of potential clients or partners, and organises workshops on the effective sales dialogue with customers – teaching how to compel prospects to say “yes” to the offer. Robi is also a certified Mastermind Academy trainer (since 2017).

Matija started his career as a designer already as a fine arts student at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts and Design. He has worked with different advertising agencies and design studios, accumulating experience and learning different skills from the best of Slovenian creatives. As head of design and innovation (CDO) at Pristop he has been responsible for the agency’s design department and its design excellence. His work has won awards at Slovenian and foreign advertising and design festivals, and contributed to the successful appearance of the agency at the Slovenian Advertising Festival, where they have won seven titles of the agency of the year.

Matej Požarnik is an ambitious entrepreneur, strategy planner, business organiser and motivator. With a PhD in mechanical engineering and MSc in economic and business sciences he has always sought complex research challenges; first as assistant professor in process engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Maribor, and later as director of the Cohesion Policy Office at the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy in Ljubljana. For more than 12 years now he has been running his own company ProFUTURUS d.o.o. Every year, he works with more than 80 companies, guiding them in developing project ideas, networking and fundraising; he organises 15 workshops on European Cohesion Policy and mentors graduates of Alma Mater Europaea – ECM master’s degree programme in Maribor. He has more than 150 posts on COBISS. Matej Požarnik specialises in business idea development, business plan design, feasibility studies and financial projections. As a business mentor he seeks development potentials and guides them towards socially responsible behaviour, agile operations and digital transformation. He advocates teamwork and lifelong learning.

Marko Bucić graduated in economics at the University of Ljubljana and has more than 15 years’ experience in the field. He has worked for different companies (insurance, IT, legal IT services, daily deal platforms, online advertising) and gained experience in the Slovenian and CEE markets. A B2B sales and communications expert he worked as head/director of sales for eight years before going independent. He has extensive experience in work organisation, team leadership and motivation, business process optimisation, remuneration systems, new product launch, and B2B negotiations with major partners. Since April 2016 he has been running his own company and offers sales consulting services, optimisation of sales departments and various professional training. He is also the author of a business vlog Sales Police, which serves as a new communication channel through which he wants to redefine sales and business.

Having graduated from the Faculty of Economics Mirijana Koporčić Veljić worked at the Agency of the RS for Restructuring and Privatisation, Triglav insurance company and KD Group, dealing mainly with privatisation, corporate governance and corporate finance. Already at Triglav and later at KD she had the opportunity to serve as a board member in holding companies, which was her first encounter with direct corporate and HR management. As a board member she was responsible for ongoing activities as well as company strategy setting, finance, accounting, liquidity, HR policy and operations management. In 2010 she took the reins of Nama d.d. and gained a thorough insight into retail, fashion, marketing, product knowledge and PR as well as HR management and motivation. During her term of office as Nama director the department store set up a Slovenian designers’ corner. For the last two years she has been working as COO and CFO at CEED Institute.

Miha Vedenik is the co-founder of Lean Rešitve, head of finance and human resources, lecturer, shop floor (Gemba) consultant, mentor to future Lean managers and a lean process enthusiast. He embarked on his career at Odelo Slovenia, where he gained his first experience in lean production and work in an international conglomerate. As a project manager he successfully introduced methods that won recognition from international auditors. He achieved returns that exceeded investments by 400% and more, which allowed the company to optimize investments. He went on to work as production manager at Iskratel, where he focused on reorganisation, modernisation and cost optimisation. As the co-founder of Lean Rešitve since 2013 he built his own success story in parallel with his regular job. In 2017 he focused on Lean Rešitve entirely. Since then, he and his team of exceptional lean production and organisation experts have been helping clients to achieve excellent results.

Tanja Kožuh has 20 years’ experience in various jobs and companies, mostly in startup mentoring, company management, strategic development planning, business model development, team building and motivation, and fundraising. Since July 2012 she has served as director of Primorska Technology Park, responsible for developing corporate programmes for startups and scaleups. She mentors and advises startups and scaleups that participate in the SIO-PTP-2018/19 and SIP-PTP-2020-2022 projects (call for proposals by SPIRIT, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology) within the technology park. Between 2013 and 2017 she participated as an assessor in the pre-selection procedure of the P2 call for proposals Start:up Slovenia competition, and in 2016 she served as a member of the national expert committee at the international startup competition CESA – Central Eastern Startup Awards 2016.

Entrepreneur, marketing expert, copywriter, mentor and lecturer in Spirit Slovenia’s programmes supporting women entrepreneurs, head of the Dyslexia Institute and president of its expert council, associate of the Slovenian Third Age University and co-founder of an organic food company. In 15 years as a sole proprietor Petra Bališ has guided numerous Slovenian and foreign clients in their marketing decisions, building their professional competences and showing them a faster way to achieving the goals set. Petra’s primary focus is on digital and content marketing, marketing strategy and brand identity development. In 2011 she founded an innovative company LiberEko d.o.o. (Ekošara), an organic food home delivery service, which she later sold. Her clients include Abanka, Spirit Slovenia (Entrepreneurship Portal), Sodexo, Pro-Implant foundation Berlin, Originate Trieste, Ministry of Public Administration (e-VEM portal), Caritas Slovenia (an international project), Development Agency Sora, Development Centre Murska Sobota and others.

Janja Viher has been in charge of various complex projects in her career, and has experience also in running a municipal administration, development agency, company and institute, both private and public. Having served as director of the Development Agency Slovenske gorice she took the reins of Maribor-Pohorje Tourist Board. For several years she worked with NGOs in the framework of the Slovenian Tourist Board and served as its vice-president, active member of the Regional Chamber of Craft and Small Business Maribor as well as president and vice-president of numerous committees and supervisory boards. Today she is the CEO of Agency SIV, where she works as a mentor to entrepreneurs, and project manager at the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Maribor. Janja has experience with smart villages and cities in the context of creativity and innovation building and promotion of stakeholder participation for improved competitiveness and visibility. She has also served as editor of newsletters and social networks for various projects.

Nuša Šolar convinces with her driving optimism, which she invests in every challenge she tackles, creating a productive atmosphere in the work environment. She has been working in tourism for 15 years, specialising in congress tourism, and has extensive experience in communication with key clients, and B2B and B2C sales. Before she went independent in 2019 she was in charge of marketing and sales at Union hoteli d.d. Since 2019, she has served as director of SmartestHR, a company working in HR management and consulting for the hospitality industry.

Together with Jasmina Ferček and Katja Burger Kovič, Tjaša Bavcon runs Oloop, a successful and active group of artists and designers who have made a name for themselves in different fields of visual creativity: from product design, interior installations and textile art to participatory art and design. She runs training programmes, lectures and workshops, integrating design into socially engaged projects. For years, Oloop group have been showcasing their products and projects in Slovenian design exhibitions at home and abroad, gaining international exposure as well as winning prestigious awards and recognitions. Their work addresses social issues such as health, ecology, sustainability and the purpose of life in general.

Gašper Fele-Žorž, PhD, is an assistant in Digital Forensics and Communication Protocols and Network Security courses at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science of the University of Ljubljana, where he has been running the FRI computer centre since 2018. Already as a student he gained experience in the media, first as co-presenter of programmes at Radio Student and later at RTV Slovenia’s programmes Resnična Resničnost (True Reality) and Tranzistor. At the faculty he serves as a mentor in several student projects under EPSIAE, HESUDI, PKP and ŠIPK programmes. He also works as a mentor in the Crea project.

Anja Sečnik is art director for Slovenian brands EQUA and Goat Story, responsible for the brands’ visual identity. She works on project conceptualisation and art direction in designing visual materials. Since 2018 she has been mentoring a fashion brand through the Kočevje Business Incubator.

Samo Rugelj has a diploma in pharmacy, an MSc in economics and a PhD in publishing studies. Entrepreneur for more than 25 years he has been working as a magazine and book publisher for the last 20 years. He is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of UMco, a publishing house that has so far released more than 300 books, among them a number of reference non-fiction books, and Bukla magazine, which has been observing trends and developments in the Slovenian book market for 15 years. The author of more than 15 books in different genres, from books on the publishing industry to personal observations and fiction, some of which have reached wider audiences, has also produced several thousand book reviews, articles and columns on popular culture and its impact on the economy.

Severin Lorenčič is a passionate sinologist, i.e. an expert in Chinese language and culture. His first encounters with sinology were in Slovenia, but he studied also in the east, mainly at Nanjing Normal University. His competences extend to Chinese internet and social networks, such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin as well as the largest Chinese eCommerce website Taobao. His in-depth knowledge of Chinese culture and society is key to successful business with Chinese companies and final success in the Chinese market.

Nika Furlan comes from Intra lighting, a global provider of architectural luminaires and smart lighting solutions. With more than 10 years’ marketing experience she is responsible for project and design management, coordination of creative teams in the development of new concepts and solutions, and their implementation. She enjoys working with designers and copywriters as it allows her to harness the knowledge and skills from different disciplines, strategic thinking and (non)user’s point of view to devise new, intuitive solutions. For the last five years she has been actively involved in the development of new user experience through the company’s transformation from product to user focus. Her experience extends to website redesign, establishment of B2B business environment, sales tools development, process optimisation, design management integration and beyond.

Niko Slavnič is a passionate entrepreneur with extensive experience in Central and Eastern Europe, possessing the knowledge and creative skills required for business development. His first job was in the family company when he was only 16, and he has been an active entrepreneur ever since, developing different projects and organisations. He graduated from Harvard Business School, University of Amsterdam, CEEMAN’s International Management Teachers Academy and the University of Ljubljana. He shares his knowledge and experience as a lecturer (SSCA - École Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers, IEDC - Bled School of Management) and guest speaker at panel presentations and workshops. He has successfully employed his unique blend of business practice and theoretical knowledge in consulting more than 60 dynamic companies in the SEE region as well as the Slovenian parliament. Since 1999 he has mentored thousands of startups in launching their business.

Event organiser with a diploma in economics. Having worked for a large corporation for 17 years Urša made a decision in 2010 to become an entrepreneur and set up Eventio, an event planning business. Urša is the co-founder of the biggest event dedicated to women entrepreneurs in Slovenia – 500 Business Women, which she and her team successfully sold last year. She has organised more than 100 events, from conferences, international congresses, municipal celebrations, corporate events and social meetings for employees and business partners to opening ceremonies and training sessions. Urša is also a lecturer with a track record of more than 50 lectures on diverse business topics, as well as a business consultant/mentor. In recent years she has been busy mentoring (future) entrepreneurs in growing their business. She focuses on each mentee’s idea and social networks (if any), prepares proposals and matches them with useful contacts.

Soon to defend her master’s thesis in smart city management Simona Roškar works as a trainer to promote creativity, social responsibility and sustainable development. She is an international licensed trainer of I.D.E.A.S. (a five-stage model for creatively confronting challenges) and Art of Innovation (a model for organisational creativity) as well as a certified ECQA sustainability manager. Simona helps individuals, teams, companies and organisations acknowledge that creativity is a work process with its own laws. Employing different creative tools allows creators and their teams to generate more creative and penetrating ideas on products, services or business models; ideas informed with sustainability concepts, eco-design and circular economy.

Matej Rus, MSc, is a senior lecturer in entrepreneurship. In parallel to his teaching and research career at the Faculty of Economics and Business, which he has been pursuing since 1996, he has also been focusing on entrepreneurial consulting. In 2001 he co-founded the Venture Factory, which has evolved into a thriving business incubator of the University of Maribor. His other roles include head of the organisational committee of the international PODIM conference, a government-appointed member of the working group of Slovenia – the Land of Startups action plan, and head of the Start:up Slovenia platform.

Jernej Špende is in charge of developing advanced digital solutions that connect technological and human resources of the agencies within the Pristop Group. His work at Pristop and Renderspace agencies has been marked by breakthrough projects and numerous awards at the most prominent advertising and communication festivals, such as Digital Communication Awards, European Excellence Awards, Effie, SOF, SEMPL, Midas Balcannes, Gold Quill and others. His work as digital strategist in Grey Ljubljana won him and his colleagues at the agency two Cannes Lions. Active also in other roles within the industry, Jernej has served as a member of the Slovenian Advertising Festival’s competition programme council and a jury member of SAF, the Young Lions and SoMoBorac.

Tilen Ločniškar graduated in sociology of culture and took theory into practice through his extensive career in digital advertising. Having worked for different agencies he gained experience in “corpo” communications and presentation of diverse companies on social media, while devising also more unscrupulous social media appearance strategies for startups. As head of digital marketing at Ulla Labs he has been responsible for smooth running sales of Slovenian products to the USA in recent years, which eventually led him to visit Facebook offices in Dublin and London. As a lecturer in Facebook marketing he consults individuals and companies at the Go-Tel company on Facebook and Instagram sales.

Lenka Puh is a socially responsible entrepreneur and innovator whose main priority is humanisation of work, and work as a human need and right. In 1989 she founded Jazon d.o.o., a company providing organisations with products and services, since 2005 also a disability company. With a mission to optimise work processes and reduce costs, Lenka, a consultant certified by the German Quality Office standard in the field of ergonomics, offers consulting also on workplace health with an emphasis on inclusive employment. She is the author of standards on the flow of patient records and project manager in the field of the labour market and employment of vulnerable groups, always mindful of sustainable development. Throughout her career, she has been designing innovative projects that integrate reuse and create jobs for people with disabilities. Jazon is the promotor of circular economy in Slovenia and a pioneer in the new definition of human relations, aspiring to create green jobs. In 2014, Lenka Puh became honorary member of the Association of Slovenian Innovators.

Lean innovation and agile work consultant, facilitator, mentor and coach in developing startups and products, early growth hacker. Bertoncelj is the managing partner at CorpoHub, the leading Slovenian company focused on facilitating corporate innovation and connecting big companies with startups in Slovenia and the wider region (his previous company 30Lean had the same focus). Prior to that he had worked as an intrapreneurial innovator and developer, in sales and marketing of products and services in domestic and foreign markets for high-profile companies like Merkur, Mladinska knjiga, KD Group and Iskra, among others. With a diploma in electrical engineering and an MSc from the School of Economics and Business, he also has extensive mentoring experience and has served as a committee member at numerous startup events.

Matija Goljar is an entrepreneurial mentor running the business accelerator Ustvarjalnik – one of the biggest international mentoring programmes for new entrepreneurs. He started his first business at only 19 and now dedicates most of his time to teaching and promoting creativity. Matija has helped more than 1,000 entrepreneurs achieve their first business milestones and prefers to work with beginners who have not yet stepped into the market. He completed his master’s degree in Applied Imagination at the prestigious Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Every year, Matija spends a few months in Colorado, USA, as a visiting lecturer at Watson University. In his free time he runs an entrepreneurship club for the youngest at his former school, and prepares radio programmes and articles on creativity, entrepreneurship and future trends.

Enej Gradišek, MSc in international business, works as the Acceleration Manager at CorpoHub, responsible for the acceleration of business models, strategies, processes and transformations within organisations. He guides companies, both internal and external Startup teams, to do the right/valuable things the right way, helping them to accelerate their business development. He has mentored more than 80 startups and development teams, participated at several innovation weekends and served as a jury member, assessing startup teams for the calls for proposals launched by the Slovene Enterprise Fund. In his work he blends design thinking with lean startup and agile work methods.