We’re a small, passionate team based in Leipzig, Germany. Marcus Fehn and Max Seelemann, who both founded the company in 2011, have a 14-year history of creating writing software for OS X.
Back in 2003, Ulysses’ predecessor was the first text processing software on the market aimed specifically at creative writers.
Max started programming when he was still in primary school, and he never stopped. After graduating (with distinction) in computer science, he decided against a career in academia. Instead, he took the development of Ulysses full-time, together with his partner Marcus. Today he is enjoying the many upsides (he’s involved in almost everything) and accepting the little downsides (he’s involved in almost everything) of pulling the strings of a company.
In 2002, when working as a staff designer in a web agency, Marcus wanted to write a novel, but struggled to find a suitable tool. He came up with a design of his own, and convinced Max, who was still in high school, to take over the programming part. That’s how Ulysses came to life, and that’s basically how things work until today – with the only difference that there are more people to make Marcus’ impossible ideas become reality.
After graduating from the computing faculty at the Dresden University of Technology (where he met Max), Friedrich was the first to join the team as a full-time developer. As a little boy, he wanted to be a tool-and-die maker. Luckily enough, he inherited his older brother’s C64 at the age of 6 and discovered a passion for coding. To date, Friedrich loves to delve into complex programming problems, and take his time to find not just any solution, but the perfect solution.
It must have been the wind which blew Fernanda first to Germany, then to Ulysses. Born in Mexico, she inherited her family’s awesome cooking skills. Anybody in the mood for Mexican food? She holds a degree in Communication Sciences and has worked with several advertising agencies. Fernanda loves reading, swimming and traveling. Next on her “must-do” list: Play Holi in India.
Götz is the third gang member from the University of Dresden. During his studies of computer science, he took over occasional jobs for Max and Marcus, but also gained comprehensive professional experience as ice-cream maestro, supermarket cashier and adventure course instructor. Besides being involved in Ulysses’ development, he is responsible for managing the customer support team. If customer support is at a loss, Götz usually still has an ace up his sleeve.
Among his friends, Lucas has long been the one to ask for technical help with Apple devices. A couple of years age, he stumbled upon Ulysses’ “help-wanted” ad at the university, where he was (and still is) studying computer science. So problem solving became his part-time job, this time for Ulysses users. For quite a while, Lucas had been responsible for customer support. Today, he takes over more and more tasks in development. He owns two cats and a moped.
As Ulysses’ communication allrounder, Rebekka can rely on professional experience in PR for 1 festival for radio plays, 1 major e-commerce platform, 1 university and 2 research institutes, as well as a Master’s degree in Communications and Sociology. Rebekka loves literature and yoga, and truly enjoys to make sense of things by writing about them. She maintains a close albeit unilateral relationship with the office’s coffee machine.
Eline, originally from The Netherlands, is currently writing her Master’s thesis in the field of English linguistics. Eline answers customer emails, writes the occasional blog post, and is currently starting an exciting traineeship in the ever changing field of horticulture (i.e. watering the indoor plants). She follows the philosophy of not letting herself be distracted by what others deem normal, but instead taking life as it comes, making the most of every breath.
Lara loves to give advice, not only to Ulysses users seeking support. She is a student of linguistics and aims to become a forensic linguist (to help the police identify the author of blackmail letters, as a purely ransom, err, random example). Having grown up as an only child, Lara had to find ways to entertain herself – so she recorded her own one-woman-show on tape, many episodes over the years. Today, singing is still one of her creative hobbies.
If based on age, Lea would be the baby of the team. As a struggling student of humanities – Lea is aspiring a double degree in English and Communications –, she was in need of money when she joined the team. Helping Ulysses users from all over the world not only fills Lea’s purse, but also brushes up her karma: “Anything you do will get back to you by some means or others”, she says. Lea plays the drums, and is a lover of languages, books and plants.
Lina likes being busy, and she’s got a serious travel passion that needs to be funded. So, when she started studying media informatics in Leipzig, she looked for a side job — a job that relates to her studies, actually; that’s why she ended up with Ulysses and not in the bar in the ground floor. Lina started in the support team, reporting customers’ wishes to the developers. Now she’s herself helping to make these wishes come true and, thereby, learning new things everyday.
Martin did freelance gigs on his own before he decided that it was time to find a nice team to work with. After a childhood in rural North Germany, he spent a gap year working in a Japanese kindergarten, then settled in Leipzig for his studies. Martin loves music, playing jazz on his piano, and people who listen more than they talk.
For Philip, creation is a basic need, that’s why he became a designer. In years of working for web agencies, the demands of ever-changing customers refined his skills — now he makes use of them for shaping Ulysses’ visual appearance. Philip believes in the power of empathy for problem solving and the harmonious coexistence of men. He is an occasional bowman and, at all times, a car lover. And he composes music and plans on starting a band project.