Journey that began with a late-night chat between brothers and evolved into a venture that brings the thrill of simracing to the corporate world.
interview
What’s simracing and what does it have to do with companies?
The beauty of the idea – not much, before we stepped into the game anyway. Simracing is nothing else but virtual racing based on simulators that are technologically advanced, simulating tyre-to-asphalt contact, engine behaviour, mass transfer, and weather – demanding you use real racing techniques – from the comfort of your apartment, or, in our case, the comfort of simracing centres we partnered with later down the route.
Don’t think of it as a typical Need for Speed race; we’re talking proper simulators that are much more difficult to grasp – touching the kerb at the wrong angle or making contact with your opponent can put you out of the race immediately.
Timeline
2023—2024
Team size
6+
My role
Design Lead, Project Manager
How did your brother convince you to turn his idea into a fully functional business?
How did your brother convince you to turn his idea into a fully functional business?
It’s a memorable moment of us two chatting late on a Christmas night, when our parents had already gone to bed. I remember us talking in a dark room lit only by the Christmas tree.
Initially, I wasn’t sold on the idea, and my brother had mentioned it briefly a couple of times before; however, that night was indeed magical. I tuned in and started asking a bunch of business-oriented questions: what benefits would participating companies gain, how would we manage challenges, and how would we divide the work between ourselves? Could the two of us even manage that?
For readers benefit – what was the core of the idea?
It was all about bringing simracing into the B2B world as a unique tool for team building and employee branding. Imagine this: as a virtual driver, you’d be surrounded by colleagues – every team comprised of at least three drivers, with a racing engineer whispering strategic advice in your ear to keep you on track, both literally and figuratively. And your car’s livery? It would reflect your company’s branding.
On top of that, the whole concept was wrapped in a competitive format streamed live, so that even coworkers not directly involved – and family – could watch you in action.
It was absolute cinema at times.
Branding is indeed the foundation – but what came next?
You’ll likely start to understand the pattern here. Simply listening to how my brother introduced the idea to our friends and family – based on his words and the way he presented it to people who had no clue that simracing could be a thing – allowed me to get a glimpse of the tone of voice we should use.
After listening to many conversations, examining key visuals, and observing our ever-extending, evolving brand, we eventually got landing page wireframes settled. And we kept on pushing.
As you can see, my brother did the talking while I did the heavy lifting. Jokes aside, it’s tremendous that we pulled it off together.
Were there any unique design elements?
Other than design, what was your role?
How was the first race?
It was a blessing, really. Despite all the stress, it was the moment my brother, our partners, and our small team had long awaited. Imagine working so hard for months – through endless nights and tense moments – only to finally watch it live, right from one of the locations where it happened.
My heart was pounding as the teams pressed the throttle and began their first race.
We watched it live from one of our partnered simracing locations, which allowed us to get firsthand feedback – both verbal and non-verbal.
Seeing drivers and engineers battling for every position, with my brother watching proudly, made it all well worth it.
How was the first season then?
Since the introductory season was successful, what was next?
It was time to take things global – well, virtually, in our case. My brother came up with a brilliant concept called Worldwide Challenge.
What's the Worldwide Challenge then?
Why change the branding that, by this time, must have been known?
Why come up with something as unique as this in the world of racing and simracing?
Why not, right? The world belongs to the brave.
But seriously, the company’s idea was unique. Our lessons from season one clearly indicated that we should drop esports references and change our visual direction and narration – capturing that travel vibe of racing on each continent. I had to do it. By that time, I’d already proven myself to the team, and I got them on board quickly.
Was getting the second season launched easier?
I assume they were happy, weren’t they?
Getting a bunch of creative people organised wasn’t easy – I had to do some convincing. But just a few days later, the team was running like a finely tuned Swiss watch. Everyone knew their role, and managing everything eventually became second nature. While my brother wasn’t initially too keen on the new ways of working, he eventually bought into it.
Yes! My role changed completely. Unfortunately, I had to step away from the project to focus on other endeavours – after all, how many sleepless nights can one manage? Once I set the team on the right and winning course, I moved on, consulting with them occasionally. And as of now, I’m even one of the companies racing in the league under my side project, Gentype.io.
Final thoughts?
Don’t do business with your family. Although myself and my brother were a perfect duo getting to perfect match took some time. After all I believe our relationship has grown and evolved, but we could avoid few arguments. I’m really happy to now look at the project from participant view and I’m proud that the team, now fully managed by my brother, continues to expand and evolve making his, and later ours, ideas of bringing companies to the simracing industry alive.
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PRZEMEK KOWAL
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