Vedran Rešić built Autoclose, a sales-automation tool for personalized email outreach, after leading teams for Microsoft, Cisco, and IBM. He grew up during wartime in Eastern Europe and emphasizes staying persistent on compelling problems. He recommends Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow for understanding how people actually decide.
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All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Vedran Rešić with us. He's an entrepreneur with extensive experience in delivering successful product strategies and building high-performing teams. He's managed a sales force of over 100 people, and his clients, uh, that he's worked with include Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Samsung, and BCG. So welcome to the show, man.
Hey, it's great to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
Of course, man. Grateful to have you here. We'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Got it. I'd say the best story that started really badly is, you know, kind of I was born in Eastern Europe during the wartime. Things didn't start well, but there are some things in life that you can influence, the other things you just can't. My family and I, we managed to accumulate a couple of good decisions that we made, and throughout the course of my life, we basically managed to do one thing really well at a time that we could actually influence. Then at the end of the day, here I am in North America doing business here like every other person born here away from problems. I believe that is a fact. Just work on things you can influence yourself.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Got it. So I'm currently working in the sales automation space. We built this great software called Autoclose that helps people send emails at scale that are very personalized. And so it's incredible how many times you can actually get no But then weeks or months later, with you being kind and persistent, kind of, you know, and aligned to your kind of value system, you can turn that no into yes. So, you know, we experienced the Pareto within our software where 20% of our customers being able to execute on the sales cadence of like, you know, 10 or more follow-ups have 80% of the results on the whole platforms. Basically, they hold 80% of the results. By just being kind, persistent with the proper messaging. So, yeah.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice?
Hmm. So, I'd say definitely, I mean, work on a problem that you find interesting and worth solving, or just keep searching and also important, working until you find something worth your time, because people end up, you know, just being in between of whether should I start something or not, just start and be persistent and then things will slowly pan out. So kind of more entrepreneurial than exact business advice.
I agree. If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Hmm. You know, thing that comes to mind is kind of, you know, be bolder, but then probably I wouldn't be who I am today. So kind of also no thanks, right? I'm fine with my past decisions, so I guess we all should be, you know? It's our best kind of abilities at that time, we made decisions that we could, so that's kind of philosophical, but it is what it is, right?
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Right. When you're basically young, whatever that means to you, go for the extremes. Then I guess slowly start finding your balance and that's where the magic would happen. I actually experienced that with my own life. So I'm not sure whether to actually be chasing, whether people should be chasing happiness because this is just yet another extreme of not being happy. So not super healthy to live in a constant state between the two extremes, right? So bumping from one another.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Yeah, I got it. So I'd say the one that really comes to mind is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner. I don't know, have you heard of that book?
I have heard of it. I have not read it yet though.
Oh, I definitely recommend it. Basically, you know, it tells us about our reasoning and our two minds that we have, our two operating systems if you want. So the one that acts instinctively, basically requires little effort, and the other part of the brain, or operating system, that is more kind of deliberate, requires much more of our attention, etc., kind of, you know, the thinking brain. And so the book teaches you how to sync between the two and actually gives you some, you know, hands-on data to support the reasoning behind the whole book and the system. So it's very, very useful. I recommend it.
Yeah, very interesting. And what is your favorite quote and why?
This is a good one, right? There is not a single, you know, good quote. I'd say it really depends on where you're at in your life. But I really like one old, you know, adage that goes something like, you know, accept what you cannot change, have the courage to change what you can, and have the wisdom to know the difference. Okay, so I like that one because it just helps elevating the general truth. No hype, no motivation, no speech or anything like that. Just write it down somewhere and come back to it because, you know, you can study it your whole life and kind of never master it. It's a fun project to have, wouldn't you agree?
Yes, I love that, man. Thank you so much for coming on, dude. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?
Got it. So, you know, when I had time, I kind of started playing around with some articles on Vedran.xyz, which is V-E-D-R-A-N.xyz. But then probably the best way to get in touch with me is my LinkedIn. So it's just my first name and my last name. I think I come up with a search. There are not too many people with that name.
So perfect, brother. Thanks again for joining us.
Perfect. Yeah, this was really good and short, brief and short. But sweet. Thank you.
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