Many Minds. One Team.
We are database nerds, UX tamers, and crypto talents, concept professionals and planning heroes. Creative and analytical thinkers, loud voices and quiet ones, introverts and team entertainers, sports enthusiasts and couch potatoes.
Above all, though, we are a team. And we have been for many years.
As different as we are – we have something in common that unites us: we love our jobs, and we are still fascinated by the possibilities offered to us by digital technologies.
Because we breathe software and digital processes and want nothing more than to use them for making the world a better place, we put our heart and soul into creating digital products we are profoundly convinced of. That’s why we ourselves develop the concepts for those products. With a diverse team and a few select partners, so that a variety of interesting perspectives and a whole lot of expertise flow into our products.
Who works here
Annika Schröder
People & Culture Manager
Berra Hüner
Sales & Marketing Manager
Clemens Maaßen
Requirements Engineer
Daniela Fritsch
Project Manager
Dorkas Wittenburg
Captain
Dr. Katja Flinzner
Head of Content
Lars Naber
Requirements Engineer
Moritz Heidkamp
Head of Development
Pablo Beyen
Captain
Sebastian Glanert
Finance and Administration
Gordon
Feelgood Manager
...and many other great brains
Experts in
software development, software architecture, system administration, UX/UI, layout, QA ...
How we work
We know that our work has an impact on society, too. We bear this responsibility with conviction and a clear attitude.
We stand for an open, diverse, and free society. Our commitment to diversity is reflected in our team: where our employees come from and with whom they share their lives is just as irrelevant to us as their skin colour or school grades. We employ people with and without disabilities, with a secondary school certificate or a PhD. But all our colleagues have one thing in common: they are really good at what they do.
We’re not just good at our work, we also love it – with all our heart and soul. That’s why we only initiate projects that are compatible with our values, projects we can fully support. The same applies to our cooperation with business partners or contractors.
We are convinced that we can only face our planet’s critical problems by developing sustainable solutions and by a turnaround in energy and traffic policies. That’s why we use efficient hardware, energy-saving code, and renewable energies. We support electric mobility, ride sharing, and intelligent intermodal transport concepts.
Our Favourite Tools
Our projects and products are always “leading edge“ and state-of-the-art. We mean that quite literally, as we have a genuine connection to science and always keep up to date with new findings and methods. We are not influenced by trends and hypes, but we make our decisions based on what’s best for a particular project. We use the latest cryptographic methods as well as well-proven programming languages.
For our software projects, we can draw on a huge pool of technologies with which we build sustainable solutions that pay for themselves in the long term.
Clojure
Clojure is a functional programming language based on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). As a modern LISP, it offers our developers all the advantages of this language family as well as all the advantages of the large Java world. Similarly, ClojureScript offers us a convenient and efficient way to program web applications.
CHICKEN Scheme
CHICKEN Scheme is one of our favourite programming languages. It is based on an MIT standard; one of our team members designed and implemented the Chicken compiler and interpreter. Today, there are several dozen people working on this project. We value it as a very portable, high-performance and dynamic high-level language.
Debian
Debian is a free operating system based on Linux that has been doing its job reliably since 1993. The advantage of Debian is the large number of available applications and tools. We especially like to use Debian to run servers.
Erlang
Erlang is a programming language that enables very simple implementation and high availability of a product. That’s reason enough to use it to develop server-side software.
Facebook React
React is a framework developed by Facebook. We like to use it to develop user interfaces for web applications. The big advantage is that React works seamlessly with other technologies we value, such as ClojureScript.
Git
We rely on Git for version control and source code management. This allows our team to work together safely and efficiently on all our projects.
GitLab
GitLab is a web application for the version management of software projects. It helps us to keep track from a technical point of view and to carry out our binding code reviews.
Java/JVM
Many companies use the Java programming language and therefore the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Thanks to many excellent libraries, we think the Java ecosystem is a good choice for the development of new projects.
Linux
We operate our notebooks, servers and mobile phones with Linux-based systems. For us, this is the best environment for developing and operating software.
NixOS
NixOS is a Linux distribution based on the software management tool Nix. Features such as reliable, simultaneous updates for different software versions make it the preferred environment for our developers.
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is a very fast, stable, versatile and reliable relational (SQL) and document-oriented (NoSQL) database. Its liberal Open Source licence is as user-friendly as the support of all relevant operating systems.
Python
Python is a universal programming language that is easy to learn and read. We like Python for its wide range of application possibilities. Python shows its strengths especially in projects that process large amounts of data (big data) or use artificial intelligence.
Ruby
Ruby is a programming language that enables the pleasant and efficient development of software products. Designed by a developer for developers, it offers exactly what we value most.
Rails
Rails is the prototype of the modern web framework and is based on the Ruby programming language. Rails has been the basis of many of our projects since 2006.
SQLite
SQLite is a database library for numerous common programming languages. We value its lightweight use in mobile devices or embedded devices such as cars and other machines.
Who we work with
Eventphone
Sascha Ludwig & Friends organise the telephony on all important hacker events and also other events in and around Germany. Our experience: the network only works sometimes, telephony with Eventphone works always. We contribute some of the call numbers.
PC Office Cologne
PC Office Cologne are specialists in computer hardware and have been our partners for over 15 years.
Snom
Snom Technology AG manufactures high-performance IP telephones that we use in numerous setups. Together with Snom, we have implemented several projects such as the World/European Cup ticker and an Advent calendar accessible via the internal browser of Snom telephones. We also write applications for Snom phones, like the Open Source Phonebook.
StormForge
A project by Sebastian Cohnen and Lars Wolff, experts on large-scale load tests. They use StormForge to test large offers in the media sector with several million simulated users. Their tests also helped us with our development of the encrypted messaging platform sayHEY.
Storrito
Storrito is an editor to create Instagram Stories. Like us, Storrito uses Clojure and is based in Cologne – only two of several reasons why we feel a connection.
Tweag
Experts for our favourite Linux distribution Nix(OS). They support us when questions get tricky, take care of upstream fixes or just lend a hand when there’s a lot going on.
Whom we support
Astropeiler
The Astropeiler is a fascinating piece of technical history. For us, technology is not only a means to an end, but also an elementary part of our culture. It’s important to us to preserve "old" technology as a cultural asset. The impressive radio telescope in the Eifel region (Stockert) offers the general public access to space that is only rarely available. Therefore we support Astropeiler e.V.
More information about the Astropeiler available in the Podcast/CRE by Tim Pritlove…
CanSat
In the German CanSat Competition, student teams design and build their own real satellite, integrated within the volume and shape of a soft drink can. In doing so, they have to meet not only technical, but also organisational and financial challenges. We provided satellite internet access for the start campaign of the German CanSat Competition and also give financial support to this competition for the promotion of young people in the field of space engineering.
eco e.V.
We are children of the Internet and the net is the air we breathe. That's why we are a member of the German Association of the Internet Industry (eco-Verband der deutschen Internetwirtschaft e.V.) – out of conviction. For us, eco e.V. is not just a trade association, but stands for a free, equal Internet without surveillance, something that we really care about.
Startplatz
At the Cologne Startup-Incubator Startplatz we help founders to choose the right technologies for their projects. Almost all start-ups these days have to deal with information technology, but not all prospective entrepreneurs are familiar enough with it. We believe that more powerful and reliable technologies make the world a better place. That's why we offer our free initial consultation not only to start-ups, but also to established companies.
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
Knowledge is power, and free knowledge is power for all of us. For us, free access to knowledge is a pillar of modern society. That is why we support Wikipedia, not just with content, but also financially, because for us it is the modern library of Alexandria. Never before has there been so much good and well-structured information in one place.
Trainees welcome
For our software projects we use powerful technologies, and real experts are hard to find. The obvious thing for us, therefore, is to train the next generation. Our trainees don’t spend the day at the coffee maker, but get involved in our projects as quickly and as completely as possible. We think it’s important that they gain practical experience. As part of our training program, we regularly offer in-house training courses, which are also open to other employees, and optimise the internal training program at the same time.
