In Zagreb ยท building ReleaseRocket
Damjan Dabo
Hi, I'm Damjan.
Indie developer in Zagreb, Croatia. I build small software businesses with my wife: ReleaseRocket on the SaaS side, Itemlist, QRGenie, and BarcodeCraft on iOS. DJ Glanz at night. Two Birman cats, Haru and Ren, take turns claiming the keyboard.
Building
ReleaseRocket (late MVP)
Shipping
Itemlist, QRGenie, BarcodeCraft
Spinning
EDM sets as DJ Glanz
Where
Zagreb ยท Novalja in summer
Background
Before Munich 2017โ2020
Started writing iOS at Infinum in Zagreb in 2017, on apps for Philips and Porsche. Loved every second of it. Six months later I recommended my wife Sara, and she joined Infinum as an Android developer.
Munich 2020โ2025
We moved to Munich in 2020. I worked on the iATROS health app and the BMW Motorrad Connected app, then went full-time indie in May 2022. Launched Golden Squirrel (now Itemlist) that November. Sara became an engineering manager, and her salary paid the bills while three apps earned a quiet monthly stream. Never quite the main thing.
Coming back home 2025โnow
Took a full-time freelance iOS gig in March 2025 to bridge the move home. Moved back to Zagreb in October. Opened Dabotech Studio d.o.o. in December 2025, the company that now owns everything I build. Quit the freelance gig in April 2026. Sara writes the code with Claude, I handle product, marketing, and UX.
Timeline
- 2017
Joined Infinum in Zagreb. iOS engineer on apps for Philips and Porsche.
- 2020
Moved to Munich. Worked on the iATROS health app and the BMW Motorrad Connected app.
- 2022
Went full-time indie in May. Launched Golden Squirrel that November.
- 2023
Rebrand to Itemlist. Downloads doubled overnight.
- 2025
Shipped QRGenie and BarcodeCraft. Stopped full-time indie in March and took a freelance gig. Moved back to Zagreb in October. Opened Dabotech Studio d.o.o. in December.
- 2026
Started building ReleaseRocket in January. Finished DJ Academy in Zagreb. Quit the freelance gig in April. Fully indie.
What I'm working on
ReleaseRocket is the main thing. AI-native release distribution for dev teams who ship fast. GitHub commits in, multi-channel announcements out. Sara writes the code with Claude, I handle product, marketing, and UX. Currently in late MVP, launching soon.
Portfolio apps. Itemlist (items tracker), QRGenie (QR codes), and BarcodeCraft (barcode generator). Three native iOS apps that ship steadily and let me focus on ReleaseRocket. There's also MacImgAI, a free macOS image-transform tool that some people rediscover every month.
DJ Glanz. EDM sets at night, in bars and at private events. A brand of its own. Different creativity, different energy.
This blog. Hopefully a place I'd want to read myself in five years.
Why the blog exists
I wanted a place for specific, dated field notes from the middle of building indie software, with receipts.
Expect posts about:
- AI-assisted development, honestly. I haven't written code in over a year. I'm senior dev, system architect, and designer rolled into one, a whole cross-platform team in one person. Claude is the personal Jarvis. The blog explains why this is working better than I expected.
- The iOS-to-SaaS transition. The App Store does work you don't notice until you start building beyond it.
- Life in Zagreb after Munich. The move back was the biggest shift in years. After five years away I finally feel at home, and that changes product decisions more than you'd think.
- Anything else worth a post. Other topics I find genuinely interesting where I have something real to say. I'm Croatian, so expect honesty and less filter than usual in the IT world.
Everything else
Two Birman brothersHaru & Ren
Haru (chocolate point) thinks the AirPods case is a toy and claims every keyboard within reach.
Ren (lilac point) is vocal, brave, and loves to sleep on the floor.
Novalja, Pag Summer base
Novalja on Pag island as a summer base. Starlink because coastal Croatian internet gets overrun every tourist season.
Say hi
If you're another indie, I'd love to hear from you. Mobile engineers thinking about the indie SaaS jump, indie business owners, musicians, anyone shipping outside the corporate track.
If you're running a SaaS, indie, iOS, mobile, or any other interesting conference and need a DJ for the after-party, even better. I'd love to be in the room either way.