I'm Manoj Hortulanus,

When I was 13, I decided to build my own website for fun. After days of struggling with platforms like Wix and Jimdo, my father suddenly said: “You can also just make a website yourself, right?” Those words set something in motion. Weeks and months passed as I immersed myself in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Before I knew it, I was creating login systems with alert boxes — pure fun. 😉

When I started to find my way around that, my father gave me the golden tip: “Why not try PHP?” Two months later, I was unstoppable. Everything revolved around code. At school, they could barely get me away from my laptop. Economics lessons? For me, that was the time to put together cool programs and creative projects. 😜

From the age of 14 to 16, I was completely addicted to programming. And halfway through 2023, when I was 16, I joined Vormkracht10. That was a bit of a switch — my first real side job, and immediately a completely different world. 😆

But since I started working there, a whole new world has opened up for me. I really enjoy what I do and get satisfaction from creating beautiful things for others. And the best part? Every day that eureka moment when something works exactly as you had in mind. 🙂

And what I'm building now? I never thought it would be so incredibly cool!