A remarkable 25 years ago, subshell saw the light of day in the software world. Since then, it has experienced a number of ups and downs, won the hearts of many customers and developed into a place of well-being for around 70 subshellers.
subshell is a place where people like to stay longer. This is symbolised by the colleagues we were able to recruit for this anniversary interview: Melanie and Vasilis, who are currently celebrating their 10th anniversary with the company, Isabelle and Sebastian Kö., who work side by side in Team Korora, and Philip D. and Jonas K., who joined subshell as students and have now been part of the Sophora cosmos for several years.
Melanie and Vasilis are not only connected by their 10 years of being part of subshell, but also by the fact that they started working in the same office at the same time as students and now work together as project managers in the Barracuda team. Here is what they have to say about their early days at subshell:
Melanie: Back then (2014), I was a student doing marketing. There wasn't a team yet. Instead, I worked with Nils (member of the management team). We took care of the website and gradually expanded everything. Very soon, the website was relaunched, and we quickly published more press releases. To gain more technical knowledge, I was in close contact with the development teams from the very beginning. Vasilis and I were the only students at the time. I was therefore very happy that I wasn't alone and could even sit in the same office as Vasilis. And, of course, that he was so nice (laughs).
Vasilis: Yes, I'm happy to return the compliment! We didn't start out on the same team. I started at subshell in software development back when we were much smaller and there were only two development teams, Vegas and Weasel. At that time, the working students still had their own room across from Jan's office. You worked there on your own, somewhat apart from the team. That's why it was great that Melanie started as a student shortly after me and we were able to share the room and exchange ideas.
Melanie and Vasilis are prime examples of how it is possible to gain insight into other areas of work and subshell teams. Today, however, both are reunited in Team Barracuda:
Vasilis: After about seven years in development, I felt the need for a change and wanted to take on more responsibility. I felt that I wanted to be more involved in planning and organisation and that I wasn’t afraid of communication, both internally and with customers. So it happened that I became part of the Barracuda project management team and was able to gain experience in a completely new field of work. However, I have always retained my (secondary) role as a developer since this reorientation: in the initial phase, I was not only able to supervise my first small projects, but also continue to support my development team as usual. Shortly afterwards, I was given more responsibility and could take on project management for larger projects. One example of such a project is the integration and further development of the Sophora Metadata Supplier for delivery to the ARD Mediathek and Audiothek, which I have been supporting for several years now with various customers. It has been a lot of fun to be involved in the creation of a new product from the very beginning (both from a project management and development perspective).
Melanie: I started full-time in 2015 and split my time between marketing and project management. At that point, the Barracuda team didn't exist yet, so Lisa and I worked alone for the first six months. I don't remember exactly how long I stayed in marketing. There was so much to do in project management that it became difficult to switch back and forth between the two areas. And yes, I just enjoy PM. I also love writing texts, but coordinating with clients is something special. And then in 2016, my first major projects came in. That's why I ended up working full-time at Barracuda quite quickly.
Our second duo, Philip and Jonas, also have in common that they started out as students at subshell. In addition, both took a short break and then returned to subshell. But let's take a look at how they got started. Jonas joined subshell in 2020 as a fairly young student. He remembers his application as if it were yesterday:
Jonas: Well, I applied to subshell towards the end of my first semester. I wanted to do some practical work beside my studies and realised that I had the time for it. Thanks to my time at subshell, I learned Java faster than I did at university. Since I had to do a lot of coding and reviews, I learned a lot in a very short time, so I hardly had any difficulties during my studies. Everything complemented each other very well. Finding my way around Sophora, on the other hand, took much longer. Understanding the entire Sophora cosmos is not easy – I still don't fully understand it today (laughs).
Philip (nods): Even 10 years wouldn't be enough for that.
Jonas: Yes. So the first year was an extremely steep learning curve overall. You try to take in as much as possible, going from 0 to 100. Recently, I took some time off from subshell and went to Hanoi in Vietnam for a semester abroad. Of course, I took the opportunity to raise awareness of Sophora in Asia (smiles), so that subshell will soon be able to compete on the global stage of content management systems. When I returned to subshell, I noticed that a lot had changed in that short time. Nevertheless, my colleagues quickly and smoothly integrated me back into the team.
Philip joined subshell towards the end of his bachelor's degree and remained with the company as a working student during his master's degree. In 2018, he became a full-time employee – but then came a turning point…
At the turn of the year 2019/20, I resigned from subshell. subshell was my first ‘real’ employer, and as a young employee, I naturally wondered what it would be like to work elsewhere on different projects with different technologies and perspectives. However, I quickly realised that I did not enjoy the new working environment and decided to return to subshell. A quick phone call with my boss Jan sorted everything out. I called him and got straight to the point, and all I had to put up with was a joking comment. At the end of the call, I think we were both happy. And then I got the contract by email the next day (it was in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic), so everything went relatively quickly and easily.
In conversation with the two, it quickly became clear how different the projects the subshell teams are actually working on are:
Philip: I have been involved in many projects. But I don't know if I have a favourite project. At the moment, I am working on converting the server API, which I am really enjoying. So my favourite project is probably always the one where I can realise my vision for Sophora's future and know that the project will benefit from it. Before that, it was Unified with the cloud setup. That was really cool because we had to get something up and running quickly as a task force. I'm proud that, despite the time pressure, the project wasn't rushed and botched, but on the contrary, has been running very stably and reliably for two or three years now.
Jonas: I generally find it exciting to do things that involve customers, e.g. the tagesschau API. It's just cool when you do something where you can see the effect and you feel like you've made a difference.
Finally, we also wanted to know whether, and if so, what stories the two of them actually tell their friends and family:
Jonas: Some anecdotes better stay at the Christmas parties (laughs). I found one incident at the summer party funny, where a colleague lost his phone in the canal and then successfully took a short dive. Overall, the moments I talk about from subshell are mostly things that happen in passing:: watching the European Football Championship at the office, table tennis tournaments and so on.
Philip: Yes, it's the same for me. I can't think of any anecdotes right now. But I must have spoken positively enough about subshell to my family, otherwise my sister wouldn't have applied to subshell – that was my doing.
And now we come to the sister mentioned above – our last anniversary interview with the duo Isabelle and Sebastian.
Isabelle and Sebastian work as developers in the Korora team and both celebrated company anniversaries in 2024.
Isabelle: I've been here since 2019, which is about half as long as Sebastian. I celebrated my 5-year anniversary at the beginning of the year and Sebastian has been here for 11 years.
Sebastian: That's right, I joined subshell in 2013. At that time, I was in the Weasel team. There was only one other team, Vegas, and the teams were divided into DeskClient and Server.
When it comes to onboarding, the two recall quite different processes.
Sebastian: Back then, there was no onboarding as such. You just started. I was shown the projects, but there weren't any practice tasks to help me get up to speed. At some point, you were just given a ticket that was supposed to be easy. Of course, you could ask questions. But yes, it's definitely true that the whole onboarding process back then was not like it is today. There was a major development process. But Isabelle can tell you more about that, right?
Isabelle: Well, my onboarding experience was better, but still not nearly as transparent and well thought out as it is today. I did have a kind of introductory round back then, but when it came to the big stand-up meeting, for example, I was told to stay away so I wouldn't disturb anyone (laughs). But at least I had mentoring, even though I didn't know anything about it. Every week, someone else was responsible for me. And at least there were exercises to do. So my start was a bit nicer than yours, Sebastian. You had time to settle in and get to know people. Today, there are proper team introductions. Getting to know my team back then was different: everyone on the team said their name during the stand-up meeting and then we got straight down to business. But two days after I started at subshell, I had a team event. That was great for getting to know people, of course.
Today, both are quite happy to be able to work on various audio and media library topics at Korora. Sebastian still remembers the founding of Team Korora well:
Sebastian: Weasel was getting bigger and bigger, and at some point we needed a new team. That became Korora, which was directly responsible for the client ‘Das Erste’. Olli was the team leader at the time. (Thinks) Who else was there? And which office were we in at the time? Back then, we only had the rooms at Hongkongstraße 5, and it was only later that the rooms across the floor were rented.
Team Korora has grown together quite well:
Isabelle: Overall, we are very friendly with each other. Even when giving feedback, we are always very respectful and understanding towards each other. When dealing with serious issues, we manage to remain constructive. The team spirit is great and we often have a lot of fun together. No matter how tough times were, we always managed to strengthen our team spirit. We also get on very well privately, which is of course a big advantage.
A glimpse into subshell's future…
Jonas: Above all, I hope that the working environment at subshell continues to be characterised by a relaxed atmosphere. That feeling can quickly be lost when you grow and everything starts to feel more anonymous. I hope that in the future, the working environment doesn't lose its current charm and that we can maintain our sense of community.
Philip: I hope for exciting projects and that the company does well, which will then also have a positive impact on the staff. We are lucky to work in a good industry that is solidly positioned. And don't forget: hopefully we will continue to have great company parties! My dream is to have a party in Hawaii, where we can ski and celebrate in the sun at the same time. I'd be fine with just one party that year (laughs).
Sebastian: I hope we continue to have such a great team spirit, both in my team and in the subshell team. I hope we continue to have exciting products and projects in the future and a great working relationship with our customers.
Isabelle: I look forward to maintaining and nurturing our team dynamics in the coming years, implementing exciting projects and products, and continuing to work closely and successfully with our customers. Hopefully, we will retain the flexibility we are used to – whether working from home or in the office.
Melanie: After another 25 years at subshell, I would like to be able to say that I still enjoy working at subshell, that I have many fond memories of the past years and that I am looking forward to retirement 😉. My wish for the coming years is to maintain the feel-good atmosphere, the relaxed and helpful way we treat each other and the strong customer loyalty.
Vasilis: Even though I can't look into a crystal ball and predict the future, I firmly believe that subshell will celebrate many more anniversaries and successes. Above all, I hope that all the good things that make the company what it is – its family-like character, its commitment to sustainable customer relationships and projects, and the open and understanding way we treat each other – will remain forever.
