PAMETNA HRVATSKA Vedran Cindrić, powered by JANAF

Guest Vedran CindrićHosted by Boris ŽivkovićMay 3, 2026

Vedran Cindrić

About this episode

What you'll hear in this conversation

The digital world runs on invisible conversations. Every time a smart thermostat adjusts your home temperature or a car feature activates with a subscription, it’s an Application Programming Interface, or API, at work, exchanging data behind the scenes. Vedran Cindrić, founder of Trebol, built a company to make these critical, hidden interactions visible. Cindrić describes Trebol as an "X-ray" for these digital arteries, providing clear insight into what exactly is happening with an API: who is using it, how often, and where problems arise. His platform streamlines development and analytics for businesses that rely on interconnected services. You’ll hear how Trebol quickly attracted over 15,000 users across 1,000 companies, including Fortune 500 firms, in just 16 months, and what it takes to build a product for developers who, as Cindrić puts it, are often "inherently lazy" about trying new tools.

Insights from the conversation

What to take from this episode

BMW's decision to offer heated car seats as a subscription, activated via an API call, signals a shift: APIs are no longer just developer tools but the infrastructure for monetizing physical products. If you can connect it, you can gate it.

Vedran Cindrić explains Trebol as an "X-ray" for APIs, showing what's happening inside the system just as a doctor's X-ray shows a broken bone. The most complex technical concepts often become clear when explained through a common, non-technical analogy.

Building an Instagram-sized API might take three months, but the documentation alone could take three weeks of manual effort. Trebol's core value proposition isn't new features, but fully automating the tedious, often-dreaded tasks that consume developer time.

The classic developer problem: "I built an API, gave the documentation to another programmer, and they said 'it doesn't work for me.'" Trebol provides instant, shared visibility into what any user is doing, proving that the fastest way to debug across distributed teams is to eliminate verbal explanations entirely.

For companies embracing the "API First" model, where the API itself is the core product, Trebol provides detailed analytics on who uses it, from where, and how. If your product is data exchange, then understanding your API's usage is as critical as audience metrics are for a podcast.

Cindrić candidly notes that programmers are "inherently lazy" about trying new products, preferring not to invest time in something unproven. Trebol's strategy of offering a free tier and focusing on "developer adoption" first shows that initial resistance is best overcome by building trust and proving value before asking for payment.

In just 16 months, Trebol went from zero to over 15,000 registered users across 1,000 companies, processing 60 million API calls monthly. This rapid adoption suggests that in developer tools, solving a universal, often-frustrating pain point can scale faster than introducing a niche feature.

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Explore further

ScenariosBusiness challenges CardsEducational cards TimelineTopic evolution