A New Partner at Waterglass
I'm excited to share that Nemanja Zarkovic and I are now official partners at Waterglass.io.
Here's how we connected and what's coming next.
Buy, not build
I started Waterglass in January 2024 with a simple idea: instead of building software from scratch and hustling/hoping/praying for product-market fit, I chose to skip the 0 → 1 stage and focus on unlocking the full potential of existing businesses instead.
Not long after Waterglass was founded, I acquired the first software business Pxl with my own cash in April 2024.
How to grow a software business
Over the following months, I improved the product, doubled down on its distribution, and along the way made a few mistakes I was able to learn from.
But trust me, it was tough, because Pxl was deliberately an early-stage acquisition, which meant its cash flow couldn’t yet cover significant investments.
My background is in product with experience in building product-led growth motions, yet I was missing a partner with broader growth and finance expertise.
"I came across your profile while looking back at Pxl"
What I didn’t know at this time was that Nemanja was also preparing to acquire Pxl, but it was my offer that ultimately closed the deal.
A few months later, on October 6th, he checked in to see how Pxl had progressed – only to find that a lot had changed. What helped was that I had been documenting the journey on this blog and on LinkedIn.
Funny enough, a day earlier I had hidden a small job posting on the website footer saying I was looking for a partner. I wasn't even sure I should put it out there.
Nemanja’s background is in finance, with experience in New York and London before moving to Austria. He came across my posts, realized I had acquired the company he wanted and decided to reach out.
We met for coffee in Vienna only a few days later for coffee and immediately clicked. Within an hour, it was clear we had the same vision:
- Build a fund that acquires profitable, niche companies that solve real problems
- Improve them operationally and grow them
Let's just get started
Instead of overthinking roles and details, we decided to simply jump in and start working on Waterglass together. Since October, we’ve been meeting every week for long afternoon sessions – spending time on deal analysis, refining our investment criteria and mapping out a clear strategy.
By December, we made it official and became equal partners.
And not only that, just a few weeks ago, we completed our very first acquisition together. This is a big milestone for both of us and for Waterglass as a whole, but more on that soon.
I’m excited to have an equal partner by my side as we work toward our shared dream of building a fund that acquires niche software businesses solving real problems.
Here’s to many more years of building together.