Editor’s note: In an ongoing series, INMA is profiling our most engaged members — our super fans — to give members a chance to learn more about each other. Today we profile Stipe Grubišić, head of digital for Hanza Media in Zagreb, Croatia.

As head of digital for Hanza Media in Zagreb, Croatia, Stipe Grubišić sees a significant challenge for the industry with the divergence of the subscription model and advertising model. “Will they cancel each other out, or is a symbiosis possible? This seems to be the big question many media outlets are asking,” he observed.

The last few years have been challenging for all, but Grubišić is really proud that his team managed to pull off big projects such as changing the company’s content management system (CMS) and implementing a paywall model — all during the worst parts of the COVID-19 years.

INMA recently caught up with him to learn more about what’s on his mind.

INMA: What big lesson have you learned over the past couple of years that helped shape your plans moving forward?

Grubišić: Expect the unexpected. We used this as a mantra before. But in the last two years, we saw the whole landscape shift and reshape multiple times, faster than ever before. It made us reconsider even the fundamental truths about this business, re-inspect all the business aspects, and try to build a more resilient business model for the future.

INMA: If you had your career to do over again, what would you want to know in the beginning?

Grubišić: Well, everything. It would make me the best junior in the business.

INMA: What makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

Grubišić: Innovation and the prospect of learning something new.

INMA: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Grubišić: Never think you mastered something; careers are just endless cycles of learning.

INMA: What do you do to relax?

Grubišić: I’m pretty much standard in this — books, games, movies.

INMA: If you hadn’t gone into news media, what was your backup plan?

Grubišić: Probably something nearby, like an agency or a tech company.

INMA: What is your favourite thing to read?

Grubišić: I’d kill for a good sci-fi or a good politics or economical politics book.

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