Hi, I’m Harry and I’ve been professionally slouching over a laptop for ~20 years, most often as a developer, but also product owner, technical project manager, scrum master and copywriter. To this day I’m enthusiastic about the possibilities opened up by technology and design, while also retaining a healthy skepticism about this strange new world we live in. Or maybe I’m just getting old and cranky … “Alexa, play some uplifting music" … yeah, that’s better. Now where were we?
Right. In 2015 I co-founded diesdas.digital, a studio for digital products. We grew to 30+ people and worked with clients big and small, from independent type foundries to global corporations, newspapers and non-profits. In March 2022, I left diesdas, because I wanted to explore how an employee-owned + democratically governed organization would function. This led me to co-found the worker’s cooperative Village One in July 2022, where we design and build digital products + infrastructure, as a socialist island in the vast ocean of capitalism.
Another focus over the years has been democracy tech, and since 2017 I’ve been responsible for the technical steering of My Country Talks, a platform to foster political dialogue and strengthen democracy through conversations. The project has received a Grimme Online award and also the “Jean Monnet: Prize for European Integration”.
It has always been important to me to create inclusive and equitable work environments in which each person can bring their whole self and grow, where we could laugh together and do meaningful work. As a cis white tech dude I enjoy a ton of privilege in this industry and I see that as a responsibility to pass it on and empower those around me. At diesdas we assembled a team of wonderfully humble and kind people, among them developers, researchers, designers and project managers from all over the world. If you want to know more, you can still find my writing on their company blog and the employee handbook. With Village One we’re turning all this to 11, making everyone an equal owner of the organization.
As a side project I’ve hosted the UNREAD book club for almost a decade. We pick a new book approx. every two months, read it and then share our impressions via Zoom. This has led to super fun and eye-opening discussions which always make me appreciate the books so much more. Join us on meetup.com!
I also take way too many photos with my GameBoy Camera. Yes, that toy camera from 1998!
In the past I’ve studied computer science + media, worked at 11 Freunde → Edenspiekermann → A Color Bright, taught students at HTW Berlin about web development and utopian dreaming, and gained quite a bit of experience in public speaking. I’m always happy about speaking opportunities at meetups/conferences or interview requests.
Questions, inquiries or simply want to say hello? Contact me via mail, on Mastodon, on Instagram or send me a text: +49 178 55 29 111.
Thanks for stopping by; live long and prosper! 🖖
—Harry
PS: I secretly wish to never touch a computer ever again, but I don’t have any other noteworthy skills.