About us
The yellow wall
We used to have a Yellow Wall at home (anyone who has been in calls with us might have noticed), we now have this digital version. You can read more about Orange Minds, what drives and moves us.
Who we are
The team
Margriet buseman
I quit my job at a corporate organization back in 2015, hoping to find a smarter, better and more fun way of working. I fell in love with Design Sprints as a way to energize teams and get results. A decade later and fuelled with flat whites I’m still passionately facilitating teams all over the world. I’m always ready to embark on a next adventure. Currently focussing on how to scale myself.
"On the other side of fear, lies freedom."
Things you should now:
Favorite country: Nepal
Free time: spent outdoors
Rain: on the couch with a book
Loves: bikepacking adventures
Dislikes: wet socks
Expert: getting things done
Robert westerhuis
I traveled to 78+ countries around the world. I hitchhiked from China to Turkey and cycled from Amsterdam to Italy. I love the adventure of embarking to the unknown and found my passion in facilitating others on their adventurous change and innovation journeys. With 200+ Design Sprint weeks done and countless training and programs, I can't wait for the next adventure to start.
Things you should now:
Favorite country: Kyrgyzstan
Free time: skiing/Hiking/Biking
Rain: frustration
Loves: to face language barriers
Dislikes: ironing
Expert: booking train tickets
With amazing partners
It’s just two of us at Orange Minds, but we collaborate with a remarkable network of freelance professionals and other agencies to deliver the most memorable experiences and the best results.
a green mindset
Dutch roots, working globally
The full orange minds story
2014
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Margriet Dreaming of something different
Margriet quit her job at a corporate organization hoping to find a smarter, better and more fun way of working. She spent 3 months hiking across the Himalaya searching for what's next. She came back very well rested and with a mega endurance, but without a brilliant business idea, yet...
2014
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Robert hitchhiking from China to Turkey
Robert returned from his third time traveling around the world and refused to believe that being employed by someone beside himself was a good idea. Robert registers Orange Minds at the Chamber of Commerce.
2016
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Design Sprint start!
Early 2016 a client asked if we ran Design Sprints. Of course! We read the book, saw the similarities and differences compared to the workshops we already did and traveled to Prague. The first Design Sprint was a fact. Each day started at 06.00 to read the book before the Sprint day started. In the months that followed it was learning by doing. By the end of the year we’d also traveled to Madrid, Istanbul, Berlin, Budapest, Amsterdam, Arnhem and Rotterdam to facilitate Design Sprints. We were hooked and the Design Sprint was here to stay.
2017
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First Work retreat at Azores
We’d always been big travellers and why not work from somewhere else? We decided to go somewhere exotic; the Azores. During our month on the Azores we envisioned that we’d work 8 months per year and travel and invest time in ourselves the other 4. We wrote it down and, spoiler alert, it’s still how we roll today. Full of focus and energy when we work. Full of (active) relaxation and inspiration when we don’t.
PS. This was also the year we painted our office (then living room) yellow. #forever sunshine
2018
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Hello Orange Minds 2.0!
The relationship prototype was tried and tested during workshops, holidays, multi-week bike trips and living together. We found out that when we would actually work together, we would also be able to live the life we envisioned. A life that was not just about helping each other in work, but also helping each in finding relaxation, inspiration and doing what we really like: traveling, meeting others and learning and experiencing other cultures. This year we decide to truly join forces in business, Hello Orange Minds.
2019
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18 Sprints, One week!
In 2019 we visit beautiful Lebanon for holidays. While there, we met innovators from a local Accelerator program, funded by the Netherlands. Fast forward 10 months and we’re back in Beirut to facilitate 18 Design Sprints, at the same time. It was the start of a great partnership. This was the year we perfected facilitating Design Sprints at Scale.
2019
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no innovation without validation
This year, our Design Sprint facilitation took us to diverse locations, with the most exotic being Ivory Coast. Robert conducted a Sprint there, gathering customer feedback on public ferries in Abidjan and university dorms - a truly immersive experience despite the sweltering heat. Such real-world insights are invaluable for validating business propositions.
2020
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Celebrating our 100th Sprint, online
This is the year that we perfected the online Design Sprint, because like the rest of the world, we had to (Covid-19). We hit Design Sprint # 100 and traveled more than ever. From behind our screen we met teams in Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Hong Kong, Poland and many more.
2021
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First Design Sprint Train-the-Trainer
Sprint. Sprint. Sprint. Most people know us as Design Sprints facilitators. We genuinely believe in the Design Sprint as a tool for decision making, teamwork and validated learning. A tool that should be mastered by many others. This year we invested time in building our Train-the-Trainer program and did a lot of coaching too.
2023
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2x Robert this year
What if a government organization asks you to create 4 different programs based on everything you learned and developed over the past 7 years? If that happens, you focus and deliver. We designed, developed and facilitated. Iterated, re-designed and facilitated again. Results after a year of focus: 20 teams with results from Design Sprints, 14 new innovation facilitators trained and 100’s of employees onboarded with a Design Thinking mindset.
2024
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The year of the 200th Design Sprint & Ready to rumble
This was a year of reflection and transition. A lot is happening in the world, including that AI has shifted the pace of innovation. We bundled our knowledge of our 200(!) Design Sprints and 20 combined years of hands-on innovation and facilitation experience and asked the powerful question: What if we did things differently? How can we keep teams moving ánd keep things fun? We empathized, made bold decisions, we brainstormed, prototyped, and tested. We emerged ready to shake things up in 2025.
2025
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The year of Business Games
Tada! 2025 is all about games! From board games like the Transformation Quest to immersive experiences like the Design Thinking Experience and Mission X. We're on a mission to help teams become self-guided innovation facilitators. No more waiting for the facilitator to arrive - teams equipped with the right tools can lead their own innovation adventures. It's work in progress with loads more coming soon…
What else kept us busy the past years?
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