Archive 2013

Today is a big day for us: Jimdo is now available on iOS.

We wanted to take some time to write about what this app means for us and how it has helped grow our company.

At the beginning of 2011, I moved from Hamburg, Germany (where Jimdo’s headquarters are located) to San Francisco, to open our office here. I want to share what I’ve learned so far during these 2 years. The focus will be mostly on general lessons (not SF- or US-specific) related to starting a new office far away.

Everything is constantly changing. We can sense it. It's even more noticeable for internet companies like ours. New technologies, trends, browsers, and devices ensure that the internet is always in a state of flux.

What does that mean for us? It means that we don't plan projects in their entirety. Instead we break them up into small parts that are relevant now. In other words, we take an agile approach to software development. There's also the fact that we're no longer just a German company: we offer Jimdo in 11 different languages. We ourselves as well as our customers are affected by changes and upheavals all over the world.

Everybody knows it: meetings often suck. At Jimdo we've had these meetings as well, and sometimes we still do. But we've learned one way to make meetings more effective – and more fun: adding a moderator.

It all began when Nadja, our flow manager, was annoyed by some of our meetings. She decided to start moderating the ones she was involved in. Nadja's goal: give the meetings more structure and never leave without a specific result again. The impact of her moderation was huge!

The trick is really easy: the moderator's only purpose is to guide the discussion so that you reach your goal.