He's been a bit of a craftsman all his life - tiling, woodworking, always liked to turn electric cables... Just as women buy shoes, he buys machines, he says. "Sometimes I buy one, and then I realise I don't even have a place to put it anymore." It's a good thing his friends offer him a garage. Another of Nin's specialities is that he makes the machine he needs himself.
The beauty of creativity is that you find what really makes you happy. He found it. But at the same time, he realised that lately he's just been trading time for money. And he wants to create something more. But what?
When we hear about success stories, many of them start at a turning point. But it is also the journey before that. A path of rejection. A path of testing. A journey of giving up. And so it was for Nino.
Sašo Knez and Janez Cestnik encouraged him to join the team Aformxa, i.e. the composites industry. That's where he met carbon. Whereupon, over coffee, the coomer mentioned to him that "I've been in my new flat for three years and I still don't have a club table", which confirms the saying that the cobbler's mare is barefoot. "Would you do me a favour?" Nina asked. "Let's make a carbon lifting table. Yes, a lift table - that will sell well. And health." Terna! This could have been his breakthrough business idea!
He boldly took the idea to Jureta Knez. Lifting carbon tables. Jure listened, thought, stayed quiet, asked questions and offered a few contacts... "Well, I had to admit that he let me know, after a few twists and turns, that boy, there's no bread made of calf's meal," Nino admits.
But perseverance is a trait of the successful, isn't it? That's what he had, perseverance. He went as far as Miša Gornika and presented him with the same idea. But Mišo also did a little fidgeting... "This won't work," Nino had to admit to himself.
And then?
"It's okay, I had to get a grip." Meetings. Consultations. Seminars. Learning. Renders. No successes yet. Then one table, a turntable. It didn't work, too mediocre. He knew it had to be something different, something special... Many more hours of thinking, trying, testing... Until the point where he came to the Mentoring Panel, where several of the key mentors of Katapult and Dewesoft come together to judge ideas.
This time he did a prestigious club table (not lifting) in the form of the Dewesoft logo. He knew it would be something special - he just didn't know whether it would be for the better or for the worse. They could be angry that he was using the logo without permission. He could not offer such a personalised table to anyone else. They could have driven him away. But they could react positively. Hm ... He walked into the mentoring panel with such nervousness. It's a good thing he insisted on coming to see it in person, because when Jure saw it in the corridor, he immediately said, "I'll buy that one." Sold!
This is the first major confirmation that it is heading in the right direction. Luxury furniture in carbon. Due to the specific processing, few people are able to produce from this material. It is therefore rare, and rarity drives up the price. Thus, carbon products are classified as prestigious. Only connoisseurs of the uniqueness of the material buy it.
Nino has therefore focused on boutique production, mainly made to order. If he convinced Jureto, we have no doubt that he would not have convinced many more customers... Just recently, he got a picture of his desk decorating an office in Beijing.
Impressed by the overwhelming response he received at the Ideas Assessment to validate his idea, he can tell anyone who doesn't yet have the courage to present their idea: "If it's a good idea, if you believe in it, go for it. I am at a stage where I have no idea how I am going to develop it. I have a very clear global picture, but the details are still unknown to me. We will cross the bridge when we get to it, but until then we won't bother."
What about long-term goals and aspirations?
"I want to create a company that adds value so that I can pay good people well." Nino, we wish you every success on this journey!
