As we continue to strengthen our portfolio we’ve hired some of the most talented professionals with many years of experience to provide counsel to the portfolio members strengthening their position and enabling accelerated growth. Today we are presenting our newest member of the team in the Skopje office, Eli Zhabevska Muratovska. She is a friendly and outgoing person who loves to meet and talk to people and her friends say that that is usually accompanied by loud and honest laughter. We had a pleasant Q&A time with Eli to get to know her better and would like to share her ideas and views.
About Eli: A finance professional with over a decade of experience in analysing credit portfolios and supervising credit institutions. She has a proven record of successfully evaluating financial risk management processes, capital requirements and impairments models. Her previous role in The National bank of the Republic of North Macedonia gave her thorough understanding of EU/Basel regulations regarding the banking sector. Her prudent approach to analysing and evaluating projects is surely going to help her recognize the best companies and their projects that should be supported.
Role: Senior Associate, Skopje office
Why SCV?
I learned about SCV and the work it does in our region practically by accident, but nevertheless, I got immediately impressed and fascinated. My professional background is rather different, so I considered the opportunity to become part of something new, with such dynamics and importance, a great challenge from both a personal and professional perspective. Before my official start, I had the chance to participate in the SCV Summit where I met all the team members and portfolio companies first-hand and realized that the choice I made was definitely the right one. I look forward to supporting and add value to the work that SCV does and assist in building a better ecosystem in our region.
What do you consider the biggest change from banking environment to VC world?
The banking sector is robust, heavily regulated and in many aspects risk-averse. Coming from that environment, I believe that the biggest challenge for me would be to embrace and appreciate the projects that lack proven track of records and are considered risky. However, I am certain that my prudent approach to analysing and evaluating projects is only going to help me recognize the best companies and their projects that should be supported.
Your view on the future of tech industry (and maybe your role in it)?
The environment is continuously changing and our dependence on the tech industry is increasing every day. We witness how technology has improved the quality of our everyday life and increased the efficiency of our work, and it will certainly continue with this exponential growth in the future. However, we still have much to look for and expect from these developments and I hope that the stars in the tech industry will concentrate and challenge the increasing environmental issues globally. I am thrilled to have the chance not only to be the consumer of technological developments but also to take part in this environment and assist good innovations.
What’s the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?
I believe that the best advice can come from parents and siblings or at least from people that you consider as a family if you are lucky enough to be surrounded by supportive and loving people. The advice that I consider as best was given to me by my father and if I have to paraphrase it, it would read as: no matter how bad things might look in a certain situation you must never allow them to define who you are and who you should become. I always try to stay and find a positive niche in every situation.
What is the latest book/movie you’ve read/watched?
I enjoy watching movies and TV shows especially when I find good European production. The latest TV show that I watched was Money heist (La casa de papel) which is a Spanish crime drama series. The first season is actually very addictive and you just can’t leave Netflix.
What’s something—big or small—that you’re really good at?
I believe that I am a natural talent in telling stories and interpret various everyday situations as fairytales. You might laugh about it, but it’s really something that comes from within, and my stories are so good that you could easily believe in them despite knowing what the real truth is (at least that’s what I was told). However, my talent has done an amazing job in entertaining my four-year-old daughter. I love spending time with her and she enjoys a good story, so we are a perfect match.