Ollie Micek — Founder of SampleSync
The Architecture Years
Master's from Melbourne. Studied at TU Delft. Worked five years on large projects in Rotterdam and Melbourne.
Three weeks into one facade design, the material got discontinued. Lost ten days. That happened more than once — wrong data, vanished samples, poor communication.
The Factory Year
Left architecture. Joined Plasticiet. Made sheets, furniture, and sample packs. Sent out hundreds — most disappeared.
Same problem, new perspective.
The Moment
Plasticiet's co-founder said, "If only we could attach a code to each sample."
I thought: I can build this.
The Build
I'd started a CS degree before architecture. Dropped out.
During COVID, taught myself to code properly. Built SampleSync in nine months — nights and weekends. Paused it. Picked it up again when Dutch Design Week appeared.
The Test
August–October 2025: 500 samples tracked, 5,000 scans, €500K order logged.
It works.
Now
Working from my studio in Schiedam. 12-hour days.
SampleSync is 20% of my week; client dev work fills the rest.
Goal: three more paying customers by year's end. You could be next.
The edge: I've lived both sides — specifying and producing. No one else building sample-tracking software has worked in a material factory and watched their own samples vanish.