Marino Miletić
Episode · #658
PAMETNA HRVATSKA Marino Miletović
Guest Marino MiletićHosted by Boris ŽivkovićMay 3, 2026
Marino Miletić
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation
Imagine your pet falls ill while you're vacationing on a remote island, far from your trusted vet. This precise scenario, faced by a friend of Marino Miletić's co-founder, sparked the idea for PetChat: a platform connecting pet owners with licensed veterinarians via online video calls. Miletić, co-founder of PetChat, joins us to discuss the nuances of building a digital health service for animals, from navigating the 'chicken and egg' problem of attracting both vets and users to discovering unexpected B2B demand. You'll hear how a simple solution for benign pet issues can evolve into a valuable offering that reduces stress for owners and even impacts employee absenteeism.
Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
A friend's repeated need to call a vet for his dog while on vacation on Krk — solving problems like overeating or skin rashes remotely — was the initial spark for PetChat. The most compelling business ideas often stem from personal pain points where location is a barrier to instant, expert help.
02
PetChat started as a browser-only minimum viable product (MVP), focusing solely on connecting users to vets for video consultations. Don't overbuild; validate the core interaction and demand before investing in complex features or native apps.
03
The biggest challenge for PetChat was the 'chicken and egg' problem: how to attract veterinarians without existing user demand, and vice versa. It’s a common dilemma for marketplace platforms; the solution often requires incentivizing one side first to build critical mass.
04
PetChat primarily addresses 'relatively benign problems' that don't always require a physical vet visit, offering owners peace of mind and reducing stress. A service doesn't need to solve life-or-death situations to be valuable; convenience, reassurance, and preventing unnecessary trips are strong market drivers.
05
PetChat discovered an unexpected B2B market: companies offering the service as an employee benefit, branding themselves as 'pet-friendly.' Your initial target market might not be your most lucrative one; pay attention to how businesses might repurpose your solution for their own internal needs.
06
Marino Miletić notes that employees, on average, miss two to three days of work per year due to pet-related issues. Quantifying such hidden costs for businesses can open doors to B2B opportunities for services initially conceived for consumers.
07
The financial model for PetChat is a simple percentage split: a portion of each transaction goes to the veterinarian, and a portion to the platform. Straightforward monetization models, especially in early stages, simplify operations and align incentives for all parties.
08
Expanding PetChat regionally in Europe presents significant challenges due to language barriers and cultural differences between countries. International scaling isn't just about market size; linguistic and cultural fragmentation can be a substantial, often underestimated, hurdle.
09
PetChat found a direct competitor, Eci from Split, launching almost simultaneously in Croatia. The emergence of parallel solutions often validates a nascent market need, confirming that you're addressing a real, shared problem.