Ladies and gentlemen. The year is almost over, but your trusted Black Unicorns, as the mythical creatures they are, are still hunting for journalists’ insights. This time, we spoke to Bojan Stojkovski, from the rising star in CEE media – The Recursive. The Recursive initially started covering news from SEE (Southeastern Europe). Their success and influence in the region has helped them grow and set their sights on all of CEE (Central and Eastern Europe).
However, they retain a strong SEE identity, extremely present in events like How to Web, and are the place to go for startup news and analysis on Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and the Western Balkans – Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro.
PART I: INTRODUCING BOJAN
BUPR: Where are you from and where are you based?
Bojan Stojkovski: Born and raised, and based in Skopje, North Macedonia. Moving around the Balkans quite a bit though, so you can also find me from time to time in either Belgrade or Sofia.
BUPR: Most people don’t know much about North Macedonia or Skopje, what are the first things they should know about it?
Bojan Stojkovski: Delicious food is the first thing! Regarding the tech ecosystem, it is still growing and developing, and we’ve also seen successful startups such as Cognism partially (founded in Croatia, but with a team in North Macedonia) emerging from the country. So there is definitely more of the same coming up in the following years.
BUPR: What are some of your favourite and less favourite things about living in Skopje?
Bojan Stojkovski: Favourite thing is again related to the local cuisine – and that’s starting every morning with a delicious beef stew that we call “chorba”. Less favourite things – traffic and bad public transport, both making life in Skopje a bit more stressful than usual.
BUPR: What’s the path that brought you to the world of journalism?
Bojan Stojkovski: I always wanted to write, even as a kid I this was my favourite activity, so it became kind of natural for me to take my journalism degree later on and to continue on this path.
BUPR: And how did you end up joining The Recursive?
Bojan Stojkovski: For most of my career I had been working in local media, following foreign policy. However about five year ago I switched my focus to tech and business, mostly for Western and European media that were looking for corespondents from the region that would cover those topics. I knew some of the people that founded The Recursive a few years back, they were also looking for someone that would cover the Western Balkans, and we matched.
BUPR: What is The Recursive all about?
Bojan Stojkovski: We are all about exploring and showcasing the success stories that are coming out of tech and startup ecosystem across the CEE.
BUPR: What is your role today at The Recursive?
Bojan Stojkovski: Making sure that no success story from the Western Balkans has been left untold.
PART II: JOURNALISM, STARTUPS, PR
BUPR: How is startup journalism different from traditional business journalism?
Bojan Stojkovski: In my opinion, the main difference is that it’s much more dynamic and also gives you a lot more space to express yourself through shaping the stories of the founders and startups you’re interviewing.
BUPR: What things about startups make them newsworthy, in your opinion?
Bojan Stojkovski: Most colleagues would say that it’s down to how big is the investment that they have raised, for myself I’d say that it’s also about the founders themselves and their vision – and the passion and the energy that they are putting into their work.
BUPR: What hygiene things do startups need to have before considering any PR activity, in your opinion? (e.g. polished LinkedIn, Twitter, good-looking website, previous coverage)
Bojan Stojkovski: I believe it’s always down to having an honest approach – don’t try to just sell you me a story about how good and innovative your product is, show me what the benefits are and what is the actual value that these products or services bring for your users and society in general.
BUPR: What does your day look like?
Bojan Stojkovski: Wake up in morning, eat, write stories, read pitches, write more stories, sleep, repeat 🙂
BUPR: How busy is your inbox and how do you manage it?
Bojan Stojkovski: I’d say on a really busy day there can be up to dozen of pitches, follow ups, or intro requests.
BUPR: Is the press release dead?
Bojan Stojkovski: I wouldn’t say it’s dead – what we usually do is that we take the basic info out of the press release and always follow up with the founders to get an additional angle on the story. So in this sense, it still can be useful to have press releases around.
BUPR: How do you prefer to receive information about news?
Bojan Stojkovski: Email, LinkedIn, and the occasional call 🙂
BUPR: What do the best pitches you’ve received have in common?
Bojan Stojkovski: Pitches that feature human stories and focus on the actual benefits of the products, without buzzwords or promotions.
BUPR: What’s a weird / unusual pitch that worked?
Bojan Stojkovski: I once got just a 30 second teaser video about one startup and their work, without any type of additional explanation about them. It was enough to make me curious and interested to find out more.
BUPR: What is your biggest pet peeve about PRs or the PR industry?
Bojan Stojkovski: When PRs are trying to convince you that they have a “really great story worth covering”.
BUPR: The best PR pros work in which ways?
Bojan Stojkovski: Those that are being straightforward and honest in their approach, and don’t look to sell you BS just to get a story out.
BUPR: What do you love about being a journalist?
Bojan Stojkovski: When it comes to writing about tech – you’re constantly learning, meeting new people and get to have the most interesting discussions.
BUPR: What stories do you enjoy writing about the most?
Bojan Stojkovski: The human angle behind the tech itself – each founder has a different path of how he got to where he is, and it’s truly amazing to see where life can take you.
BUPR: What excites you in the world of startups?
Bojan Stojkovski: I’ve always startups as tiny beacons of hope, and that’s something that we do miss nowadays with everything that has been going on lately.
BUPR: If you were to start a startup, what would it be?
Bojan Stojkovski: I’m thinking of a super app for journalists, that would be a cool thing to have!
BUPR: What does the future hold for The Recursive?
Bojan Stojkovski: Expanding the coverage across the CEE and showcasing even more success stories.
PART III: BOJAN’S LIFE
BUPR: What is your favourite holiday – the beach, the mountains or something else?
Bojan Stojkovski: I love going to big cities and wander around, getting lost in all of the noise.
BUPR: You’ve told us about North Macedonian food. But what is your favourite cuisine?
Bojan Stojkovski: Hmm that’s a tough one… I’ll go with Korean, and a dash of Japanese ramen.
BUPR: What do you like doing when it comes to hobbies?
Bojan Stojkovski: Jogging and reading sci-fi literature.
BUPR: Bojan, where might one find you on a weekend in Skopje?
Bojan Stojkovski: Drinking coffee and eating chorba in Skopje’s bohemian district 🙂
Have you seen the rest of our blog yet? Here is more from our Journalist’s Insights series:
Startups, the Media and CEE with Zosia Wanat from Sifted
Connecting the European startup scene with Patricia Allen of EU-Startups
Busting Journalism Myths with Lindsay Dodgson from Business Insider
Diving into fintech journalism with Doug Mackenzie from Fintech Finance
Securing media placements during COVID-19 with Yessi Bello-Perez from The Next Web
From PR to Media With Remco Janssen of Silicon Canals
The importance of regional media for startups, with Anda Asere from Labs of Latvia
