These colleagues have been with Most Wanted from the very beginning and have witnessed the birth and development of vPlan. They have every right to be proud of what stands today. Therefore, we are excited to put them in the spotlight and ask them a few questions! Curious about what the early days of vPlan were like? Read on to see how Boes, Remco, and Rick reminisce about the old days!
Who are you, what is your role, and what do you do exactly?
Remco: I'm Remco, and I have been involved in the development of vPlan since the beginning, specifically with the API. You can think of it as the engine of vPlan, providing the logic and data used by our web version, the app, and integrations.
Boes: Mark Boessenkool, my role is hard to describe. Basically, I am a Software Developer, assisting with the API, managing our own integration with Exact Online, and supporting partners in connecting their own integrations. Additionally, I support the mobile apps and infrastructure.
Rick: I'm Rick, Senior DevOps Engineer. This means I ensure the platform needed to offer vPlan (and everything around it) works well. I maintain everything in the data center, research new technologies we might use, and help support my colleagues.
Can you briefly describe your experience during the startup phase of vPlan? What were the workdays like? How did it all begin?
Remco: Before we really had the idea to work on planning, we started with another tool, Jobbly. But then someone came up with the idea of creating a SaaS planning tool. This idea stemmed from a custom package made for one client, and initially, we worked with this party. It soon became clear that we were more focused on the product, so we continued on our own. During the early period, we were still often seconded to our previous employer, which allowed us to lay a solid foundation for vPlan.
Boes: The first real workdays were at Kryptonstraat, but not 9c, rather across the street at number 10. Before that, meetings were held at one of our homes. The first days, or rather months, were just grunt work, establishing a basic foundation to work with. The first version of vPlan was much more minimalist, with perhaps 20% of the features it has now.
Rick: When we started with vPlan, we were above a workshop in Enter. There were days when the noise from downstairs made it hard to hear each other. Workdays were generally longer, with everyone busy developing the application during the day, so strategic meetings were held mainly in the evenings. The original idea came from a custom application and the notion that it could also be offered as a SaaS service to a much larger audience.
What is the most memorable thing about the early days of vPlan (when it wasn't called vPlan yet)?
Remco: At the time, we were six employees at Unit4/i-Signaal. The large and cumbersome structure there decreased our job satisfaction. Then Michiel, Jeroen, and Michel came up with the idea to start their own company. This seemed like a great challenge to me, and with our experience from the previous company, we could design the product's architecture much better. We had a collective goal to make vPlan much bigger, and we succeeded.
Boes: The camaraderie, jointly determining the strategy on all fronts. It’s vital to have different roles and personalities in a startup. We were six people, and I don't think we could have done it as well with one less. Jeroen represented our (future) customers' interests; Michel ensured our financial interests were taken care of; Rick made sure the principles we agreed upon were followed and that best practices were always used; Michiel never settled for a half solution and wanted to meet customer needs down to the pixel; Remco, the calm one, made decisions when needed and built most of the backend; I sometimes acted as the glue, creatively finding alternative solutions to problems with differing opinions.
Rick: The product has always been called vPlan, not the company, which still isn’t. In my role, I do more than just vPlan. What I remember most from the early days is the PlayStation. The agreement was that once we got our first paying customer, we’d get a PlayStation. We did, and it was used a lot. It's still here and has been joined by a racing chair.
What are you most proud of (regarding your own role)?
Remco: How the system is set up now and how it's prepared for further customer growth. Growth always brings challenges, but the foundation is solid to help more and more customers.
Boes: That we’ve created an application used by thousands of customers, with very few disruptions over the past few years.
Rick: In 2020, we moved from a hosting provider to our own hardware in a data center, fully managed by us. I planned, developed, and implemented this, resulting in a stable foundation for all our customer offerings.
What is the most memorable moment you’ve experienced during your time here?
Remco: There are so many that I can't name one specifically. All vPlan outings are always memorable, especially how everyone in the company gets along well and collectively aims to make vPlan bigger.
Boes: There are so many, each vacation (ski trips and Crete) is memorable on its own. On a technical level, the shift from a graph database to a more "normal" relational database in the early years stands out. The graph database concept was great, but it quickly became clear it wasn't a long-term solution as we grew.
Rick: Since the beginning, we’ve had a bar in our office. The after-work moments spent there are always fun. In 2017, we went skiing in Winterberg, in 2018 to Mayrhofen, and in 2021 to Chersonissos - those were the best trips.
What is the best advice you’ve received from a colleague here?
Remco: You get so much advice here, some more valuable than others. 😜
Boes: Take good care of yourself; no one else will.
Rick: A tough question, as I’m usually the one giving advice.
Which aspects of our culture or work environment do you find most valuable and why?
Remco: How everyone in the company interacts with each other is very valuable, working hard but also enjoying celebrations together.
Boes: This is tricky because what I valued most was the time when we were a small team thinking strategically on all fronts. Due to (logical) staff growth, that's no longer the case.
Rick: “Work hard, play hard.” If you work together to create something great, you should celebrate it with fun outings, and the stories afterward are remembered for a long time.
Remco, Boes, and Rick, thank you for your time. It’s wonderful to read about how it all started and how you contributed!