“The more intriguing stories? The real ones…”
And the real stories are ones made of successes and failures.
These are stories born from courage and the desire to do, to realize projects right where you are and with what you have at that moment. Even if it is little. Very little.
Orangedev is born
It’s November 23rd, 2016 when the constitution of the new start-up, the software house named Orangedev, is signed in Lucca.
In the background, a complicated historical moment due to the crisis that plays against, and the Mount Etna…
Yes, because Orangedev is located in Sicily, a corner of the world renowned for its cuisine, stunning coastlines, picturesque landscapes, rich history, and deep-rooted traditions.
However, not widely associated with technology and certainly not well-known for producing excellence in the IT field
It is no coincidence, in fact, that many brilliant minds fly away from this wonderful land.
Instead, Orangedev puts down roots right here, a few kilometers from Catania, in Misterbianco to be precise, at the foot of Mount Etna.
Orange + DEV
A few elements to begin with, but the most important ones are the name and the colors of the logo, conceived through the fusion of the fruit symbolizing this land, the orange, and who they are: developer.
Orange + Dev = Developers.
And then, people. Orangedev comes to life through its people, their expertise, and their eagerness to work passionately… and to play. Yes, play.From the beginning, the atmosphere permeating this young company has been boisterous, creative, and unifying. Even today, as the company matures, there are no rigid hierarchical structures. Everyone works in alignment, sharing projects, goals, knowledge… and play is an omnipresent element at Orangedev. Just like the love for good food!
Once upon a time, the company’s leisure time was the half hour after lunch to “fantasize” with “Call of Duty”, the ‘shooter’ video game.
Today we like to test ourselves live, and we have discovered table tennis, the wonderful Ping Pong… Feel free to call us orangepongers!
Conviviality holds a special place in our hearts. We relish celebrating moments, and our successes, events, and news are always accompanied by good food. In short, there’s always a good reason to gather around a well-laid table, whether it’s in Sicily or Tuscany, where many of our long-standing customers have placed their trust in us over time.
Orangedev ‘sets up home’, the first steps
It’s true, initial steps are often somewhat exhausting, but if approached with enthusiasm, they can bring immense satisfaction. Indeed, we cherish memories of those times, captured in photographs of key moments when we were younger and slimmer, building things and moving around to transport the first pieces of furniture we could salvage.
The adventure at Orangedev begins in a vast, 250-square-meter open space, completely empty and devoid of any furniture. It was so bare that the echo served as a disturbing background during the first calls with customers.
There was nothing, except for the first 2-3 desks we got for 10 euros each from Ikea… and makeshift mousepads made of cardboard sheets.
In one corner, the mythical Ficus Benjamin bonsai, just over twenty centimeters high, which still exists today but in other forms, and the indispensable coffee machine… Because, you know, a developer is that human being capable of transforming caffeine into lines of code.
Despite the vast emptiness, the large windows behind us created a scene reminiscent of New York, while also offering a view of Mount Etna.
The impulse of the volcano that never ceases to be active is, perhaps, the image that best conveys the energy and state of mind of a newborn start-up with the desire to do and experiment with ideas.
Not all of our ideas have been successful, but all were pursued to the fullest and implemented without fear of failure. After all, creation inherently involves making mistakes. If you want to create, you must be prepared to make mistakes.
Orangedev takes shape
It originates from the desire to create without overthinking. That’s how the bare open space gradually begins to take shape, and filled with desks and PCs. As the furnishings multiply, so does the team and the list of clients, bringing along the first significant projects to be developed.
Even today, in our meeting room, we have the 5-meter-long table that was donated to us by the venue’s owner, and then transformed by us inspired by the colors and the logo of Orangedev.
Looking at it, one is reminded of the classic American movie scenario where everyone gathers for long and exhausting meetings. But at Orangedev, this is not the norm. We hate meetings!
Our meetings are concise, they aim at the essence, like our approach to work that derives from the Project Management method we have made our own, the Agile one, and that we have tested after years of field experience.
The Agile method
We introduced the Agile method in our company to keep up with software development and its ongoing technological evolutions that may emerge over time.
Because a software can also see the light of day after months and months, and very likely, changes that need to be taken into account may occur during that span of time.
In light of possible changes, we touch base with the client every 15 days to adjust any project goals as needed.
In our team’s early years, ‘the rule of the game’ involved tossing a rugby ball. We would stand and toss the ball to each other.
Whoever caught it had to quickly state what they had accomplished the day before, what they hadn’t been able to do, and what they planned to do that day. Quick, essential, straight to the point!
The rugby ball is still among us, like the bonsai for that matter, even though today internal meetings are mostly done remotely, but always with the same spirit of “less is more”.
Essential, straight to the point.
Orangedev grows up
Do you remember the echo that initially disrupted our calls with clients?
At a certain point, our immense space started to fill up with more desks, even a bit nicer than the first ones… and with real mousepads, in orange, to match our beloved logo.
And our guests also started to increase, among clients and new resources to integrate. But now we see them entering through the sliding glass door, which has replaced the empty hole, welcomed by our technological “doorman”, the tablet with facial recognition software we developed for internal use, or rather, to impress clients who didn’t know us yet.
Today, Doorkeeper, as it’s named, is a much more sophisticated application than what it was originally, and with many more advanced features.
But among the many other things created by us, this application that is giving us so much satisfaction today, was born out of the desire to experiment and do, just like it was for the transparent whiteboard, our technological whiteboard, the 80s arcade game cabinet, the electronic device for quality control of goods stored in warehouses… just to mention the initiatives that really gave us a lot of satisfaction because they were born without thinking too much about it, with the spirit of doing.
And at a certain point, even the echo disappears not only due to the furniture that filled the room, but also because finally, it was time for the cloud-shaped sound-absorbing panels to be installed. And we didn’t choose the cloud shape randomly.
From the very beginning, in fact, our direction is clear and maintained over time: everything is only in the Cloud, there is no hardware, servers, USBs in Orangedev. Everything runs on the cloud. And we don’t even use printers; we are a totally paperless company.
Orangedev is expanding
Now mature and robustly grown, Orangedev is ready to expand.
Indeed, it’s from its core that branches in Tuscany, specifically in Lucca and Massa Carrara, have sprouted. As our client base and projects to be develop increase, we find ourselves already halfway there… with well-appointed and welcoming offices, a dedicated coffee corner, and everything in its place. Even the plants, which we’ve finally managed to keep alive and thriving after years of attempts…
Indeed, the wind has changed but something has remained constant, something that has allowed us to achieve all this and see it grow even further: our spirit. The passion that fuels our work, the desire to build and innovate, the appreciation for camaraderie that underpins each of our accomplishments.
And speaking of new accomplishments… Orangedev’s story doesn’t end here. We still have many more adventures to share with you!