01 Starting advantages
4/24 starting-position score
Strongest documented signals: Frontier geography, Exceptional peer / cofounder, Direct domain exposure.
Describes the starting position, not what the person later made of it.
Cohort percentile: 15
Goran Bregović
Creators / artists · Music · milestone at age 24 ·T2 Field-leading
Milestone (age 24)
Released debut album with Bijelo Dugme in November 1974 at age 24, which broke the Yugoslav record for best-selling rock album and earned a gold record by February 1975.
Bregović started playing bass guitar in school bands as a teenager in Sarajevo. After his mother left when he was 16, he supported himself by playing folk music in a kafana, working construction, and selling newspapers. He joined Kodeksi in 1969 at age 18, then formed Jutro in 1971, which was renamed Bijelo Dugme on January 1, 1974.
Starting point
Born in 1950 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; father was Croatian and mother Serbian; began violin at music school but was expelled; played folk music in kafanas as a teenager.
Current position (2025)
Internationally renowned composer and musician; performs worldwide with his Weddings and Funerals Orchestra; continues composing film scores and solo projects.
How this path compounded
02 Built or converted leverage
11/25 multiplying-capacity score
Strongest observed levers:Started serious reps before 20, Prior reps, Scarce skill depth.
Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
Cohort percentile: 41
03 Compounding trajectory
9 documented steps
The timeline below shows the sequence of work and transitions around the selected early milestone. It is evidence of a path, not proof that every step was necessary.
Milestone at age 24
04 Observed career standing
T2 · Field-leading
Dominant figure at the top of a field. The tier summarizes documented career recognition through the data cutoff—not Goran Bregović's worth or future potential.
Question four · where did the leverage come from?
Goran Bregović's leverage provenance
Each non-zero lever gets a best-supported origin, evidence signals, and confidence. Unresolved is the honest default when the biography cannot distinguish self-built, advantage-enabled, earned, external, or mixed.
Started serious reps before 201/1
Unresolvedlow confidence
No current annotation distinguishes self-built, enabled, or earned origins for this lever.
No decisive linked signal
Prior reps2/3
Unresolvedlow confidence
No current annotation distinguishes self-built, enabled, or earned origins for this lever.
No decisive linked signal
Scarce skill depth2/3
Unresolvedlow confidence
No current annotation distinguishes self-built, enabled, or earned origins for this lever.
No decisive linked signal
Structural wave / timing2/3
Externalmedium confidence
A structural wave is external to the person, even when their position improved access to it.
Frontier geography (1/2)
Complementary team1/2
Advantage-enabledmedium confidence
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
Exceptional peer / cofounder (1/2)
Domain proximity1/2
Advantage-enabledmedium confidence
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
Direct domain exposure (1/2)Frontier geography (1/2)
Native distribution1/3
Unresolvedlow confidence
No current annotation distinguishes self-built, enabled, or earned origins for this lever.
No decisive linked signal
Concentration intensity1/3
Advantage-enabledmedium confidence
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
Adversity / constraint catalyst (1/2)
This is a bounded inference from the current annotations—not a claim about private effort, merit, or the percentage of Goran Bregović's outcome attributable to any origin.
Structural luck, Encounter luck, Event luck, Outcome variance can change every arrow in the path. This successful-only dataset cannot observe the near-identical paths that did not break through, so luck stays visible and unscored.
Within Creators / artists, Goran Bregović's starting-advantage total is at the 15th percentile. Separately, their built or converted leverage total is at the 41th percentile. Other T2 profiles average 7.9 / 24 starting advantage and 12.3 / 25 leverage. Similar scores appear in other tiers, so these figures describe positioning—not a cause.
Trajectory
- 1966 · age 16Started playing in bandsJoined school band Izohipse on bass guitar, later moving to Beštije and playing folk music in a kafana to support himself.
- 1969 · age 19Joined Kodeksi bandInvited by Željko Bebek to play bass in his band Kodeksi, beginning his serious musical career.
- 1974 · age 24Founded Bijelo Dugme and debut albumFounded Bijelo Dugme and released their debut album in November 1974, which broke Yugoslav sales records and earned gold by February 1975.
- 1980 · age 30Bijelo Dugme dominanceBy the early 1980s, Bijelo Dugme had become the most popular rock band in Yugoslavia, selling millions of records and filling stadiums.
- 1989 · age 39Disbanded Bijelo DugmeDisbanded Bijelo Dugme amid rising nationalist fervor, embarking on a solo career and film composition.
- 1989 · age 39Film score for 'Time of the Gypsies'Composed the score for Emir Kusturica's 'Time of the Gypsies,' launching his internationally acclaimed film composition career.
- 1995 · age 45Score for 'Underground' (Palme d'Or)Composed the score for Kusturica's Palme d'Or-winning film 'Underground,' further cementing his international reputation.
- 1995 · age 45Score for 'La Reine Margot'Composed the score for the Academy Award-nominated film 'La Reine Margot,' expanding his reach to Western European cinema.
- 2000 · age 50International solo careerEstablished himself as a globally touring solo artist with his Weddings and Funerals Orchestra, performing at Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and l'Olympia.
Primary leverage engine
Product/design taste
Product / domain insight
Secondary engine
Early band collaboration
Built/converted leverage
11 / 25
evidence: Medium
Built or converted leverage
Multiplying capacity documented later in the path. Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
Starting-advantage scores (0–2 each)
Access or conditions documented near the beginning of the path. Zero means "no clear evidence in reviewed sources," not "advantage was absent."
Family context
Bregović's mother left when he was 16, forcing him to support himself through manual labor and playing folk music. No evidence of family financial support or musical background in reviewed sources.
Parent / family domain
Not documented in reviewed sources; no evidence of parental musical expertise or industry connections.
Archetype & tags
Self-created domain repetitionself-supporting musicianband collaborationSarajevo rock scenefolk music gigs
Evidence summary
Bregović began playing in school bands in Sarajevo and joined Kodeksi at 18 in 1969. After his mother left when he was 16, he supported himself through construction work, selling newspapers, and playing folk music in a kafana. He formed Jutro in 1971, renamed Bijelo Dugme in 1974, and their debut album released in November 1974 broke Yugoslav sales records. No evidence of family musical background or financial support; his early advantage was self-created through relentless band activity in the vibrant Sarajevo music scene.
advantage confidence: Medium · source count: 4 · audit: not_independently_audited · status: subagent_researched_beta
Sources
Related — same primary engine
Alexandr Wang
Founder/Entrepreneur · age 19
Co-founded Scale AI
Leverage 19/25T1
Dylan Field
Founder/Entrepreneur · age 20
Co-founded Figma
Leverage 19/25T1
Steve Jobs
Founder/Entrepreneur · age 21
Co-founded Apple and began selling the Apple I
Leverage 18/25T1
Aaron Levie
Founder/Entrepreneur · age 19
Co-founded Box
Leverage 18/25T1
Melanie Perkins
Founder/Entrepreneur · age 25
Co-founded Canva after building Fusion Books
Leverage 18/25T1
Evan Spiegel
Founder/Entrepreneur · age 21
Co-founded Snapchat
Leverage 18/25T1