It's been more than half a decade since the city of Banja Luka got introduced to a way of work that is usually found Silicon Valley.
This was when FOUNDER.org, an entrepreneurial company (by entrepreneurs and FOR entrepreneurs) decided to base its technical headquarters here. A team of locals was formed – they were introduced to new methods of work and collaborated with colleagues from all around the globe.
Unfortunately, the doors of FOUNDER.org closed, for the most part, in 2016. In Banja Luka, it left behind a very unique successor: the company known today as WaySeven Technologies.
Of the original technical team, seven members decided to join forces and keep the spirit of development, innovation and quality alive. One of those members was Dejan Balaban, current Product Director at WaySeven Technologies.
Although the company counts much more than seven members nowadays, their methods remain the same: dynamic, organized, ready to adapt to change and to requests from clients and employees. All this is overseen by Dejan, who takes his role very seriously:
“The job of a Product Director gives you a lot of responsibilities. As a connector between team and client, it is very important that I am always open and correct in my communications. There's nothing worse than promising something you can't deliver, so you sometimes need a lot of diplomacy. We all believe in quality above all other measures of business, so I try to use quality as my compass. “
During his career, Dejan had a chance to cooperate with clients from the USA – this experience was deepened during his time at FOUNDER.org, adding an additional understanding of his clients and market.
“A client isn't just somebody that gives you tasks and waits for results. Some non-technical matters (such as work ethics, understanding of the goal market and the agility of the technical team) can be the key to successful cooperation. Our whole team understands that we need to be on the same page with our clients”, states Dejan. “Technical excellence is a base, but it’s everything else that helps form good relations and trust.”
According to Goran Gašić, one of the co-founders and current CEO of WaySeven Technologies, “Our two years at FOUNDER.org helped us experience entrepreneurship, form an idea about our company culture and understand the importance of personal satisfaction as a driver in professional development. We try to stick to what is important to us, but we’re never shy about introducing new ideas.”
Some of those new ideas include forming a School of Programming for children ages 10 to 13, sponsoring the GAMBIT chess club, opening 6 new internship positions and constant participation in regional entrepreneurial projects.
“Our reputation has been forming and growing for years. We want to keep up the high quality of our work in every aspect of our professional lives – which is why we work hard to be more than just a place of work”, says Dejan.
WaySeven Technologies has been a member of Bit Alliance for several months now. This blog is a translation of their article about us – we’ve shared it on our Facebook page, so go ahead and take a look!