Filip Ljubić
Episode · #9
VRIJEME JE ZA GOSPODARSTVO Filip Ljubić
Guest Filip LjubićHosted by Darko BukovićMay 3, 2026
Filip Ljubić
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation
Filip Ljubić co-founded Q Software in 2013 with two friends, quickly growing it into a company of nearly 400 people and 50 million kuna in revenue within five years. Their unusual approach? From day one, almost all their business came from exporting their expertise, not from the local market. Ljubić shares the hard lessons of building an international IT powerhouse from Zagreb, from taking on projects they didn't want just to get a foothold, to the paradox of a global talent shortage that still doesn't guarantee new contracts. He offers a direct view of how relentless ambition, coupled with strategic client acquisition, can scale a service business across continents.
Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Q Software's entire 50 million kuna revenue, until very recently, came from export, with no domestic clients. A local market isn't a prerequisite for starting; a global market can be the only market you need to scale to significant size.
02
The company's first local project is a life-saving app for the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, transmitting hiker coordinates and medical data even without a GSM signal. The highest-stakes problems often require the simplest, most direct solutions — and those offer a powerful sense of purpose for a team.
03
Filip recalls taking one office floor, thinking it would be too big, only to find it "too small after a few months." This constant need for more space, even after ambitious projections, shows that rapid growth often outstrips even optimistic internal planning. Don't build for today's size; build for tomorrow's ambition, and then expect to outgrow that too.
04
When an Italian family approached Q Software to revive their grandmother's old skincare recipes into an e-commerce brand, the company offered to handle everything from design and branding to marketing and coding. Clients aren't just buying code; they're buying a partner who can consult, design, and market their entire vision from concept to launch.
05
Filip notes that while everyone in places like Stockholm claims a severe shortage of IT professionals, it still takes "a very long, arduous process" to convert that need into a signed contract. Talent scarcity doesn't automatically mean demand for your talent; the market still requires immense effort to convert need into a signed agreement.
06
In the early days, Filip and his partner went to Dubai, taking on projects they "absolutely didn't want to do, but you have to do them to feed yourself." This early reliance on "bad work" to survive highlights a crucial step many overlook. The path to desirable clients often runs through undesirable projects; early references, even from less-than-ideal work, are currency for future growth.
07
Today, Q Software's track record with "blue chip companies" like BBC and Volkswagen means smaller clients seek them out, saying, "Look, these guys work for them, so they'll be good for us." Once you have a few big names as references, their brand halo does more to attract new business than any direct sales effort.