03: From Tinder to teams

Every team has a beginning, and ours didn't just happen overnight. At the end of 2018 I officially registered Smagotcha at my university in order to earn credits. By then, I had already put a lot of thought into how to make it work. Sometimes, what I initially thought would work proved false and many aspects continually needed to change. Many weeks and months had passed and it was a real challenge to assemble a proper team without being able to offer financial compensation. The best I could offer was a common vision and a work space that encourages genuine listening to one another.

In summer 2018 I had asked a friend of mine, Jana, if she wanted to join to help with the website and the logo design. As the second founder, she's been there from the very beginning and there have been many ways how she supports the project. She managed to acquire our first scholarship, she designs our moodboards and online content, and recently started administering our Instagram channels.

Soon after, I started looking for a programmer to code the app. I sent out tons of emails and asked many different people. After months of searching I had a tinder date and it was her who finally recommended Zsombor. Experienced in programming for smartphone applications for iOS, it turned out he loves both computer games and mindfulness. I must have been quite desperate… but what a lucky date! 

Mette followed our team in a time when it became clear that we would need a 3D designer. She was able to envision and model the substance of ORRO: the world that must evolve throughout the mindfulness game. With her many years of experience in working with 3D she has guided other teams in their creative processes. Mette lives in Denmark and is our third co-founder.

Finally, it felt like four elements completed a core team. That is Zsombor, Mette, Jana and me.

As things evolved, I started writing our first few meditation stories. Here, my friend Brad helped enormously. Having worked for the governement as an English instructor, he was our text corrector as well as text creator for our website and social media channels. On top of this, he’s been a great advisor of my personal journey. Brad is an experienced actor for theater and one of the last 100 finalists of MarsOne.

My sister Kathi joined us in her last year of the Dutch “International Marketing” program to maintain and support us with the social media channels like Instagram and Tiktok. As our youngest peer she applies her knowledge in the best way she can. Soon, she will start a six months study-abroad-experience in Mexico.

In the same year of 2019 two important members of Smagotcha added some more tinder to the fire. First, our lead musician Frederik Raumann. He creates dreamy atmospheres for our guided meditation tracks and decorates them with a pinch of emotional magic. He studied music and media in Düsseldorf where he teaches youngsters the jazz piano. After him came our sound designer Suhyun Park. She creates environmental soundscapes. So, let’s call her Su! ...all three of us studied the same program here in Duesseldorf. We all enjoyed the same courses such as composition, visual music or even music informatics. Recently, Su went back home to Korea where she is currently writing her bachelor thesis. Meanwhile, I took over her job as the sound designer. "Hope to see you soon, Su!"

In 2020 I myself have worked on the bachelor. With a team of twelve we managed to finalize the first release of ORRO. A colorful garden with a few short poetry stories, plus a paper with the title: "Reception of pauses within digital entertainment media", was written. One more former fellow student of mine Sebastian Heidelberg advised the gameplay and optimized our first garden system. While my thesis went at full speed, the startup had to stay on track, too. Daniela Grego, my former room mate got inspired by the undertaking. We went through several rounds of repeated briefings on how to organize our young company and likewise she made us aware of the key roles in agile work environments.

Then, 2021 was the the year of rebranding. The website was brought to life including this shiny blog. Counting a collaboration of seven people, including my former flatmate Buket Elci, the team has managed to do the vision statement, corporate and website design including all imagery, videos, texts and the final website development. What a great learning experience!

Now, who else is to join? Soon, we wanna see ORRO's first release! We wanna take the challenge and learn a lot. You dare to jump into cold water with us? There are still the waters of marketing, UX research and game development. All these fields feel a bit like ice bathing. Maybe you could support us with a towel or two. Keeps the fire running, too!

Stay tuned!