Unpacking the life of product manager, Željko Prša

Željko is a problem solver by nature and when the Internet Boom of the '90s introduced him to hypertext and programming, it gave him an entirely new and rewarding way to solve complex problems.

Why did you join PROTOTYP, and what has kept you here?

I was familiar with their work for a long time and we even worked together on a project while I had my own company - I always admired their design and development work.

Working on a project together gave me a chance to get to know what they do and how they do it. I thought that it was great so I decided to make a career move and become a part of their team.

Now that almost a year passed it turned out to be a great decision for all. What keeps me here is the fact that my work is appreciated, my skills are constantly challenged and being the oldest there, they keep my spirits up.

What do you find the most challenging at PROTOTYP?

Keeping up with the memes my younger colleagues throw around all the time :) On a serious note, one of the most challenging parts of the job is keeping tabs on working projects and project deadlines.

Number one challenge for any professional especially today when digital products are in great demand. If you want to deliver a great product you really need to devote significant time and effort.

This is where it gets challenging delivering quality service to each client and project you are working on. One the other hand, seeing how you helped their business makes it so rewarding.

What do you find to be the most exciting aspect of PROTOTYP?

One often overlooked and not so emphasised "culture aspect" of the company - You're your own boss here. This works wonders since it completely eliminates micro-management and fosters cooperation between colleagues.

We all work for the end client, whoever that might be. You can pitch your business/ product idea any time, work on that side project you are passionate about and there is always someone that comes on board with you to help you with bringing it to life.

Fostering excellence is exciting and challenging at the same time. That's why it pays off. You never know when someone will pop-up on Slack with an idea they are working on and that makes things invigorating.

How do you spend your time outside of the office?

Inside, mostly. Gaming with the guys from the office, playing music and keeping fit with some callisthenics. Somehow, I can still fit two bands over the Weekend.

When I'm not playing music or games I am reading professional articles on User Experience Design, Product management or some nice non-fictional literature like anything by Douglas Adams for example.

Željko enjoying some free time.

Before working at PROTOTYP, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?

Nothing unusual about owning a small business but it was definitely the most exciting 6 years of my life. Built a company from the ground up, kept it afloat and successfully sold it.

That company is still up and running by the way. Now, all of this is without mentioning my 20s you see... Back then I was doing all kinds of jobs, one, in particular, was selling "high-end" mattresses.

That taught me what not to do again, ever, and how important it is for me to represent only what I would want to use or buy myself.

What is the next life milestone you want to achieve?

Professionally, within PROTOTYP, I want to see one of our digital products take off and gain users that wouldn't want to live without it anymore.

This would complete the company transformation and give us leverage to dream bigger. This would mean that we could reach more people and improve their work.

What did you want to be when growing up?

In retrospect, I wanted to be a lot of things and then I discovered that what I actually wanted to say was that I just wanted to be myself.

What I do is something completely different. It's how you do it that defines you. OK, you win... I wanted to be an actor when I was six. It didn't work out, fortunately, #tiktok.

If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and why?

Douglas Adams, the English author. The more I find out about him and his work the more I believe he would be an exception to the "Don't meet your heroes" rule.

I would have liked having a beer or four with him to witness that humorist glow in person. I don't know if he liked beer as much but I would drink all the same.

The one person that is still alive and I could get the chance to meet would be Paul Davids, my online guitar teacher. So that I can thank him in person for doing great work.

If you were an animal what would you be and why?

A cat. Domestic cat, just like one of the three cats we have at home. Pampered, nourished, groomed, sheltered from the outside world and having personal assistants for their every need.

Either that or a dragon. Dragons fly, they are pretty big so they can't live in a flat and are very rare to find. Seriously, every time someone asks me this question, I have these two on my mind.

I came up with these two since one of those I know very well and the other is a complete figment of the imagination. It's all or nothing with me, thank you very much.

Get to know Željko and the rest of the team.

We’re extremely proud to have Željko as a part of our team as he is a reflection of personalities we attract at our company and can be a role model for every current and future employee. If you’d like to know more about Željko on he’s duties as a product manager, get in touch with us.