The Tai Lopez Show
The Tai Lopez Show
Robert Nikic with Tai Lopez
The Tai Lopez Show
Robert Nikic sits down with Tai Lopez on starting over with five suitcases, 18-hour shifts, and building a two-time Inc. 5000 company without investors.
5
suitcases
18-hour
days
#418 → #35
Inc. 5000
At a glance
- Show
- The Tai Lopez Show
- Host
- Tai Lopez
- Format
- Video interview
- Topic
- Starting over with five suitcases
- Robert's role
- Founder and CEO
- Key numbers
- 5 suitcases · 18-hour days · #418 → #35
Last updated
What Robert Nikic told Tai Lopez
Five suitcases
Robert tells Tai Lopez how his family, with a Serbian mother and a Croatian father, fled the Balkan wars and arrived in the U.S. with five suitcases. He was the first in his family to learn English, which made him the translator at home while he was still a kid.
Waiting tables
He describes working 18-hour days waiting tables. That stretch taught him how to read people and treat them fairly, and it is where his line "I look at people as people" comes from.
Becoming the stock
From there he built a software and e-commerce company without outside investment. It made the Inc. 5000 twice, rising from #418 to #35. Near the end he gives Tai's audience his advice on ownership: "Instead of investing in… a stock, why don't you become the stock?" In other words, the best bet many people can make is on building something of their own.
Related: Mario Lopez on failure as fuel · Business Insider on growing without investors
"I look at people as people."
"Instead of investing in… a stock, why don't you become the stock?"
In Robert's words
My parents are Serbian and Croatian, and when the war came we left with five suitcases. I was the first one in my family to learn English. I worked 18-hour days waiting tables, and I failed at startups before anything worked. What I took from all of it is that you look at people as people, whoever they are. We built the company without investors and made the Inc. 5000 at #418 and then #35. When I told Tai to become the stock, I meant it. In 2026 I stepped away to work on SDG 8 & 9, so more people get the chance to try.
Robert Nikic
Key takeaways
01
A family that started over
Serbian and Croatian parents fled the Balkan wars with five suitcases.
02
People as people
Long shifts waiting tables shaped how he treated customers and staff.
03
Become the stock
His advice: invest in building something of your own.
Where this fits in his story
2011
First platform launched
2018
Relaunched as a full platform
2023
Inc. 5000 debut at #418
2024
Climbs to #35
This feature
2026
Steps away to work on SDG 8 & 9
Where it led
"Become the stock" is a personal-finance line, but it maps to Robert's policy work. People can only bet on themselves if starting a business is realistic. Under SDG 8.5 he focuses on decent work and second chances, and under SDG 8.3 on lowering the cost and paperwork of starting. This interview shows the life experience behind both.
Then
Robert tells Tai Lopez how his family, with a Serbian mother and a Croatian father, fled the Balkan wars and came to the U.S.
Now
SDG 8.5: second chances and decent work for people rebuilding their lives. SDG 9.3: fair access to credit based on real sales rather than collateral alone.
See Robert's SDG 8 & 9 workWatch
Questions
What did Robert Nikic discuss with Tai Lopez?
Fleeing the Balkan wars with five suitcases, 18-hour days waiting tables, and building a company without outside investment.
What does "become the stock" mean?
His advice to build your own business instead of only investing in other companies.
Where can I watch it?
The full interview is embedded on this page.
Original article
Read the original article · Published in YouTube
About The Tai Lopez Show
Tai Lopez is an American entrepreneur and investor who hosts interviews with business founders. Wikipedia
About Robert
Robert Nikic is an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker and Advisory Council Chair at Reseated Councils (United Nations SDG 8 & 9). He came to the United States as a refugee, and from 2011 to 2026 he built and led an e-commerce company that was twice named to the Inc. 5000. Today he works to make it easier for anyone, anywhere, to start a business and grow it.