In July 2006, my first company, KristalLabs Software Limited, commenced operations. I was in my twenties - young, fearless, full of ambition and energy. Failure never even seemed like a possibility. I poured my heart into the dream of building my own business and creating a new and better DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).
Together with a small group of talented people, we achieved something remarkable. In 2009, Studio One was launched. That same year, KristalLabs became part of PreSonus, where I would go on to serve as CTO for more than 12 years.
There is also a YouTube video that captures much of this journey:
The Entire History of Studio One
KristalLabs sign and my desk at our first office in Hamburg, Germany.
In 2021, PreSonus was acquired by Fender. My team and I became part of the Fender family, and eventually Studio One was rebranded to Studio Pro. Regardless of the name, the product's DNA remains the same.
My responsibilities have evolved over the years, but the core mission has remained unchanged. I've had the privilege of being part of the entire journey, from a small startup with three people to leading an international team of more than 30 engineers. Through all the changes, acquisitions, growth, and new chapters, what stands out most is the continuity: many of the same people, the same passion for building great products, and the same underlying technology.
The foundation is Crystal Class Library (CCL), the cross-platform C++ framework I originally started during engineering school in Austria. Over the years, many more products were built on top of it, including desktop and mobile apps, digital mixers, and audio interface firmware. Today, CCL is open source under the AGPL and also available for commercial licensing at ccl.dev.
Looking back, I feel grateful for everything that happened along the way - the successes, the challenges, the risks that worked out, and the many lessons learned. The harvest eventually came, but so did a deeper sense of humility and perspective.
There are 20 years between these photos - less hair, more wisdom.
Today, I'm a little proud of my younger self. He couldn't have imagined where this journey would take him, but he was willing to take the leap. And while 20 years feels like a significant milestone, I'm excited about what is still ahead to build, discover, and learn.
Some journeys are worth taking even when you have no idea where they'll end.