By 1. What led you to this moment?
It all started with a car ride on my birthday. I was sitting with three near-strangers, driving from Bad Steben to Nuremberg after a three-day escape room trip across Bavaria. We were laughing and bonding over puzzles, and our team dynamic was so good that people we met didn't believe we had just met two days ago. Driving down the highway, feeling incredibly grateful for this moment, it hit me: Finding people to play escape rooms with shouldn't rely on pure luck.
Playing escape rooms has always been a massive part of my life. Since 2016, I’ve relied on them to provide a unique kind of entertainment wherever I go. Escape rooms are almost everywhere - the small town you visit for a summer vacation, the city you explore with friends, or the dull business hub you travel to for a conference. They always provide a unique experience and a story to uncover. The only real downside is that you need a team - these games are typically built for groups of two to four people.
When I went through a divorce in early 2025, amidst all the personal chaos, I also had to figure out how to continue my favorite hobby without my usual teammate. I tried everything. I travelled a lot for marketing conferences, so I’d awkwardly ask colleagues to play, or I’d just play solo. But most games aren't built for one person - you need multiple hands, and you have to constantly call ahead to ask if companies even allow solo players. I tried Facebook groups, but finding relevant posts was pure luck.
Then, I saw a random Facebook message from a player looking for teammates for a trip through Bavaria starting exactly on my birthday. I jumped on it. That trip changed everything, and on the drive back, my "birthday wish" was born: a single platform to make things simple.
Even though I have spent the last five to seven years as a technical marketer, my academic background is in Software Engineering. One summer weekend, almost as a joke, I sat down and started building "the platform that will make finding escape room teammates easy."
That "joke" quickly started taking shape and became a passionate side project. When I started showing it to other players, they loved it. For the first time in my life, I was building something entirely on my own. And building something I truly cared about. I was solving my own problem, but also helping a community of like-minded people connect, make new friends, and experience more of the hobby they love.
After a few months of building it in my spare time, I realized I wanted to do this full-time, ran the numbers on my savings, and quit my job at the end of the year. Since then, I’ve been fully devoted to creating the ultimate space where escape room players can connect and plan their next adventures.
2. How has your life changed since you left your corporate career?
Being a solopreneur is a complete rollercoaster.
Having the freedom to choose my own goals, targets, and deadlines is one of the most liberating feelings in the world. And also one of the most terrifying. There is no manager pushing me to go further. There is no one but me.
On some days, I catch myself questioning everything: Am I doing enough? Can I optimize my time better to fit this or that in? Work-life balance suddenly sounds like a fairy tale, and sometimes I have to remind myself to take a step back and rest, both physically and mentally.
What a corporate career does best is provide a predictable path. It’s not always easy, but it’s clear: meet the goals set by someone else, and you'll be fine. Being my own boss means I have to be both the person setting the goals and the person achieving them. There is no one to turn to and say, "I can't deal with this today." It simply has to get done, so I do it.
During any given day, I wear a dozen different hats. I’m the software architect, the developer, and the marketer. I’m pulling from all the knowledge I accumulated over years in the corporate world, but I’m also having to learn entirely new skills every single week. Juggling those contexts and constantly shifting gears can be exhausting.
Today, I’ve redefined what success looks like. I am happy with "just progress." Some days I am amazingly productive, and on others, life happens, and I have to handle it. I’m learning to be kinder to myself when things move slower than expected, but also learning how to properly pace myself when things start moving incredibly fast.
3. What's the most ridiculous problem you've encountered since you left your corporate job?
The most ridiculous problem I’ve encountered isn't a technical glitch, a server crash, or a bad line of code. It's not that I don't have those problems, but those are the "normal" ones.
Instead, it’s the terrifying reality of being in the spotlight and having to be seen.
As a software engineer and technical marketer, I am used to being in the shadows. I built things, optimized campaigns, and let the brand or the corporation be the face of the work. But when you launch your own thing, you become the brand.
To make it work, I have to talk about it. I have to pitch it, do interviews, show my face, share my personal story, and put myself on display.
It feels completely ridiculous how paralyzed I can get just trying to post an update on social media or talk about myself. Learning to step out from behind the curtain and be brave enough to be noticed is easily the most unexpected and challenging "bug" I’ve been trying to fix since going solo.
