From Frustration to Influence: A PM’s Guide to Organisational Dynamics

Every company with digital products does product management — the question is who is doing it, and how well. There are many ways for roles and expectations to overlap in confusing ways, leaving product managers feeling frustrated or overwhelmed.

For our next event we will host Mišo Duplančič, a seasoned product leader and consultant whose journey lead him from software engineer to VP of product management at Loftware, a global leader in Label Management Software.

In his talk, Mišo will show how Product Management fits into the wider organisation and how product people can elevate their impact, product managers by better understanding and navigating their environment, and product leaders by actively shaping their organisations to enable great product work.

After his session, Mišo will be joined by Gregor Smrekar (ex. Celtra) and Jure Repnik (Mesi Medical) for a round table discussion.

Product people from companies of all sizes (that's you, the audience!) will get a chance to share experiences and what worked for them and their organisation, both by participating in the round table discussion as well as in the networking session that will follow.

About the speaker:
Mišo Duplančič led product management at NiceLabel, one of Slovenia’s most successful software companies, operating in the supply chain sector. Following NiceLabel's integration with Loftware, a US-based competitor, he became VP of Product Management for the entire Loftware organization, overseeing a product portfolio generating $100M annually. Mišo is passionate about creating great products, he recently transitioned to consulting, specializing in product strategy, product management and growth initiatives.

About the panelists:
Gregor Smrekar is a freelance consultant to scaleups and a mentor to founders and senior leaders. A 35-year software industry generalist, he blends Product, Engineering, GTM, and org design to help companies scale with clarity and speed. Former COO at HERMES SoftLab/ComTrade and Celtra, he built and scaled Engineering as well as Support, Customer Success, BI, and Product Management. In the last five years he has advised leaders at 40+ startups/scaleups. He’s passionate about empowered teams—and about simply getting things done.

Jure Repnik is a Product Manager at MESI, building connected medical devices and digital solutions that improve how healthcare professionals interact with technology.

📍 This time we'll be guests at Celtra. Their software solutions empower marketers, media platforms, and agencies to push the limits of digital advertising and have been one of the biggest success stories on the Slovenian tech landscape since their establishment in 2006. Our thanks for providing the venue and treating all guests to pizza and drinks! 🍕🙌🏻

Agenda:
17:45 - doors open
18:05 - organizers say hello
18:07 - Mišo takes the stage
18:40 - round table discussion with Mišo, Gregor and Jure, moderated by Marko Jukić
19:30 - networking and 🍕

Hope to see you there! 💫