About Nikola Balić

Architecting Growth in the AI Era

I build go-to-market engines for technical products that matter.

At Daytona, I transformed our GTM approach as a solo growth/marketing role and early hire. Over the course of 2 years:

Scaled GitHub stars to 20,000+
Secured #1 and two #2 Product Hunt launches
Elevated Daytona.io from DR 0 to 51
Built engaged communities across platforms (2.8K X, 5.4K LinkedIn, 700+ YouTube)
Pivoted our core offering from cloud development environments to AI runtimes for agentic workflows

This builds on 14+ years of scaling innovation ecosystems, deploying €34M+ in EU funds, and driving product growth at 54% YoY. I've established business incubators, guided fintechs through explosive growth phases, and mastered large-scale communication strategies.

I lecture in Data Science at university, focusing on NoSQL and Complex Network Analysis, while pursuing doctoral research in Digital Transformation with published academic work.

My Approach

Innovation thrives at the edge. I test boundaries—from AI-native databases to LLM-powered code environments—publishing experimental work on GitHub. My current focus: multi-agent AI orchestration and how it will transform our building, learning, and scaling paradigms.

The Difference

I translate complex technical concepts into accessible outcomes. My specialty is taking engineer-built tools and making them irresistible to broader markets. I move fluidly between development, data science, growth marketing, and business strategy—creating clarity where there was confusion.