Josip Knežević
Episode · #174
VRIJEME JE ZA GOSPODARSTVO Josip Knežević
Guest Josip KneževićHosted by Darko BukovićMay 3, 2026
Josip Knežević
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation
Josip Knežević's journey began with a bold, almost naive declaration in his youth: "I want to be the best." That internal standard of excellence, formed long before he had capital, connections, or even a market, defines the story of Mana, his frozen bakery products company. He started with a few thousand kuna, a family freezer, and the audacity to sell croissants to retailers who didn't even stock frozen goods. His path from drawing a logo as a child to building one of Croatia's leading food manufacturers is a testament to what happens when vision meets relentless perseverance. Readers will walk away with a renewed understanding of how deep personal conviction can overcome every external obstacle, even when it means going it alone.
Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
As a child, Josip Knežević drew the Mana logo on paper and declared he would be "one of the biggest producers of frozen bakery products," a concept then unknown. The businesses that scale often begin not with a market opportunity, but with a deeply personal conviction about what *should* exist, long before anyone else sees it.
02
Knežević spent years approaching banks with his business plan, only to be repeatedly rejected for lack of collateral and capital, even once showing up at the wrong bank from sheer exhaustion. The true test of an entrepreneur isn't avoiding "no"; it's how many times you can hear it and still show up for the next meeting.
03
Starting Mana, Knežević bought his first machines with a small, staggered loan and operated out of a tiny incubator space, using nothing more than a family freezer and a small mixer. The "lean startup" model isn't always a choice; sometimes it's the only way to begin, forcing resourcefulness that builds resilience.
04
When first selling frozen croissants to small Croatian shops, retailers would tell him, "We don't have that here," prompting Knežević to offer: "Give me a chance, I'll take back all returns and I won't ask when you'll pay me." To introduce a new product category, you often have to de-risk the experiment entirely for the first customers. Their "no" isn't about your product; it's about their fear of change.
05
After a year and a half of struggle, an "old friend" approached Knežević and said, "Josip, let me lend you money so we can move into a normal building and properly equip it." Sustained, visible effort often attracts unexpected capital from personal networks, not just institutional investors, when the conviction is clear.
06
Family members who worked with him initially eventually left because, as Knežević observed, "it was my path, my vision... they went their own way. Unfortunately, they are where they were in 2014." Entrepreneurial vision is intensely personal; it rarely transfers to others, even family, and expecting universal buy-in can be a distraction from the work itself.
07
Mana's first dedicated cold storage, measuring five by five meters, felt "enormous" like a "football field" to Knežević at the time, prompting him to wonder, "Who will fill that?" Your definition of "big" will constantly shrink with growth, underscoring how quickly early infrastructure decisions can be outgrown.
08
Mana's production jumped from 1,000 kilograms per month in its first three years to 40 tons per month today, with a single ton now produced in half a shift. Exponential growth often follows a long, flat period of foundational work; the hockey stick isn't instant, it's earned through years of effort.