Before starting my undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Zagreb, I worked as a volunteer teacher at an orphanage near Nairobi, Kenya. During my undergraduate studies, I first worked in Ice & Climate research at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen—this sparked my curiosity about computational modeling. Wanting to apply these skills beyond academia, I joined the hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co in London, my first real job, creating computer simulations of bond and foreign exchange markets. Shortly after, I decided to drop out of my undergraduate studies at the University of Zagreb, leaving Croatia for good and pursuing other projects, eventually landing in the sunny and picturesque city of La Jolla, California. Arriving in America for the first time felt surreal—I'd grown up watching California in movies, and now the places I’d only dreamed about suddenly felt real. Living in the US, I quickly fell in love with the openness, ambition, and entrepreneurial spirit that define this country—my own small glimpse into the American dream. In La Jolla, I conducted Machine Learning research at UC San Diego, published several academic papers, and invented a novel ML algorithm, all of which opened many doors for me later. Although I spent countless hours working, I still occasionally found time to go surfing in the Pacific Ocean.

Shortly after, I started my master's degree in Physics and Data Science at EPFL in Switzerland. While there, I worked as a research assistant in the group of Prof. Giovanni De Micheli on Quantum Computing and at the National University of Singapore on Quantum Optimization Algorithms, with applications in game theory.

In 2020, a childhood dream came true—I joined Harvard University to write my master thesis on "Near-Term Quantum Algorithms for Optimization Problems." However, just three weeks after I arrived, Harvard shut down due to the COVID pandemic. The abrupt lockdown was incredibly stressful, but it also unexpectedly opened my eyes to entrepreneurship, something I'd never seriously considered before. Inspired by these circumstances, I co-founded Assist-o, a digital marketing startup born directly out of the pandemic. Around the same time, I also discovered bodybuilding—a personal passion that quickly became an essential part of my life. Shortly after, I started my Ph.D. at MIT under Prof. Seth Lloyd, finally having the chance to live in America long-term—a huge personal milestone. At MIT, my research combined AI and Quantum Computing, complemented by a minor in Business Administration at Harvard Business School. After earning my master's degree from MIT—a key milestone in my Ph.D. journey—I made the difficult yet exciting decision to leave academia for good and fully commit to entrepreneurship. I co-founded Marveri, raising over $3M from Bessemer Venture Partners and other top-tier investors. At the end of 2024, I exited Marveri, spent some time traveling and reflecting on my next steps, and soon founded KEEPON—a fitness startup that blends my entrepreneurial experience with my deep personal passion for health and bodybuilding.