We celebrated one year of Symphony Belgrade on June 1 and we couldn’t be more thrilled about how far we have come over the last year and the exciting future that lies ahead. To mark this milestone, Symphony CEO and co-founder Haris Memic and Country Director Serbia Ivan Dragosan described, in a bit more detail, their experiences at Symphony Belgrade.
Happy first anniversary to us!
Haris Memic, CEO and co-founder
If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice before starting the hub in Belgrade what would it be?
Since more than a year has passed since our Symphony Belgrade story began my only advice to myself would be to start sooner! We set some major goals in front of ourselves but when I see that all of them are now accomplished I know that we should have been there earlier!
Share with us your favorite memory at Symphony Belgrade!
When I think about all of the great memories and moments at Symphony Belgrade one special day remains different and unforgettable. It was the day of our official opening in Serbia and Belgrade in 2016. I don’t think I will ever be able to forget the warm welcome we received from the Serbian people.
Ivan Dragosan, Country Director Serbia
What was it like when you first started work at Symphony Belgrade? Tell us more about your first day.
We had a big challenge in front of us. We had to build a hub intended to bring a whole new work experience to Belgrade. A clear vision was in front of us but our first working day was dedicated to creating an activities plan designed to lead us to great results, of which we are already proud. We were also searching for the right place for us: a place that we now call home. I met a lot of people for the first time that day and some of them are still working at Symphony. Their support, energy and enthusiasm actually brought us the results that we planned that first day.
Can you describe some of the most significant challenges that you had to overcome as well as how you got past them?
Our truly ambitious plan brought a lot of challenges our way. We had to pick the right people in order to build a culture based on the true values of Symphony. We could not forget the fact that we had to create a place where people can work and build the amazing projects and products for which the Symphony community is already well known.
A clear vision and hard work but also timely and well executed reactions made overcoming the challenges much easier. Additional motivation for us was the happy faces of our community members we had the opportunity to see each day.
Do you have any major goals for the next year at Symphony?
All of our goals at Symphony are big. We have one goal that we are always chasing and that is to create an environment where our community members feel inspired to deliver world class work that matters. However, if I had to choose one goal to emphasize today I would say it is further internalization. We are working hard to build more Symphony hubs based on our own experiences in Belgrade and the success of this hub represents the right course to continue our growth.
Please share with us your favorite memory at Symphony Belgrade!
That has to be an unforgettable gathering with my colleagues from San Francisco, Belgrade and Sarajevo. We were in Dubrovnik celebrating ten years of Symphony and at that moment, ten months after we had started our Symphony Belgrade story, I felt so proud to be surrounded by those people who make our goals and plans possible every single day.
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