Ayoub

AThe origin story

I left school to build.

And I have been building ever since.

EST. 2020FounderProduct leadAdvisor
Ayoub Jouini

STARRING AYOUB JOUINI

SYNOPSIS

The short version

I started freelancing in my last year of high school, and built my first video game because I loved games more than homework. By the time I reached engineering school I was teaching myself far more than I was learning in class, so I left to work.

I have never had a full-time job. Before Hortensia I worked on missions: project manager, business analyst and Scrum Master at Winkom, then product owner for Prominos on the French market.

Hortensia started in 2020 with three people and became a registered company in 2021. We grew it to a team of 30 to 40, with 200% annual revenue growth, building for clients in eleven countries. Then the agency became a studio: client work funds products we own, and some of those are now companies.

My role is product lead more than developer. I decide what gets built, in what order, and what gets cut. I still write code, because opinions about estimates are cheap when you never have to meet one. And I share all of it in public, because most of what founders learn the hard way could be learned by reading.

Stills

Behind the scenes

Ayoub Jouini seated in a dark studio, looking at the cameraPortrait
Ayoub Jouini studying a product roadmap of sticky notesAt work
Ayoub Jouini laughing with a notebook on a rooftop at duskOff the record

Every episode so far

How we got here

  1. 01High schoolFirst freelance work, first gamePaid projects in my last year of high school, and a first video game built for the love of it.
  2. 022014 to 2018Computer science, then outStudied computer science, then engineering at ESPRIT. Learning more on my own than in class, I left to freelance.
  3. 032018 to 2020Winkom, on a missionProject manager, business analyst and Scrum Master. A health platform with its own TV show, a tourism platform, 3D virtual studios in airports.
  4. 042020Hortensia startsThree people building for clients. Product owner for Prominos on the French market at the same time.
  5. 05Sep 2021Registered as a companyHortensia becomes a registered software company.
  6. 062021 to 2024From 3 to 30-40 people200% annual revenue growth. Flash Planning, Project Curve, Stellify's first version, a training platform for Primavera.
  7. 072025 to 2026Building our ownGlowIt, Kollabo and Sparkia start in late 2025. Driva, Sprint and Vectorit follow in 2026.
  8. 08Oct 2026Partner at BIGTECH AfricaSpent the morning with founders and operators at BIGTECH Africa in Tunis.
  9. 09TodayA studio, shared in publicLive products, one in alpha, one pre-launch, and a post a day about what it really takes.

House rules

What I believe

Mostly because it cost me to learn it.

Price the outcome, not the hours.

Hourly billing pays you to be slow. We sell the result.

Scope lives in writing.

If it isn't written down, it will be argued about later.

Profit isn't cash.

You can be profitable on paper and still miss payroll on Friday.

Sell it before you build it.

The best spec is someone already willing to pay.

Keep many bets alive.

Until one of them clearly wins. Then focus.

Off screen

Where the rest of the hours go

VOLUNTEERING

  • Tunisian Association of Gamers

    Co-founder

  • AIESEC

    VP Marketing

  • Carthage Cinematographic Days (JCC)

    Organizer

  • Junior Chamber International Tunisia

    Member

  • Enactus

    Multiple roles

  • Red Crescent

    Member

INTERESTS

  • Gaming
  • Astronomy
  • Travel

LANGUAGES

Arabic · French · English

Bonus content

More from Ayoub

BooksWhat I read and hand to founders NowWhat I am focused on this month StackThe tools the studio runs on

THE NEXT EPISODE

Your product could be in it.

Tell me what it is and where it's stuck.

Book a call
  1. 1You writeWhat it is, who it's for, and where it's stuck.
  2. 2I answerPersonally, with questions or a straight no.
  3. 3We scopeA fixed price for a fixed result, in writing.