Henrik's Story

The story of Donkey Mobile founder Henrik Wienen

Prefer to create apps for churches rather than for brands

I proudly take my mobile phone out of my inside pocket and show the CEO of a large clothing brand the Scotch & Soda app. The app looks fantastic and it works smoothly, intuitively and lightning fast. For the user it feels like you can buy the products straight from a magazine. The quality of the app guarantees that millions of euros worth of products will be sold through it. That makes a perfect story to sell and that is what I do eagerly as an account manager of Highstreet Mobile. In the period January 2016 to September 2018 we successfully sell an app to wonderful brands such as Marlies Dekkers, Denham the Jeanmaker, La Dress, G-Star, Riviėra Maison and Omoda. A fantastic time. But in the meantime the idea for a new groundbreaking mobile solution is forming in my head. Only one for churches, not for brands.

“At Highstreet Mobile I learned in detail how to be successful on mobile.”

For two and a half years I was busy day in day out telling retailers how to make as much money as possible through a good mobile strategy. I learned why certain things worked and others didn't and more importantly: I could also put it into words. Little by little I started to understand the vision of Highstreet Mobile founder Thijs van Schadewijk better. That vision can be summarized as follows: To be successful on a mobile phone you have to offer the user an experience that is just as smooth as that of the popular apps they use every day. Like Spotify, Instagram, Uber or Runkeeper.
At the same time, volunteers in my church, the Jacobikerk in Utrecht, are doing their utmost to keep the quality of communication at a good level. And although I appreciate all that work enormously, I often notice a gaping hole. On the one hand, I see the way mobile technology and apps are used in the world in which I work every day. And on the other hand, the way they use the same resources in the church I am a member of. Around me, I hear people take that for granted: "Yes, you can't expect the church to have anything of quality." And, perhaps even more annoying: "You have to accept that, nothing will ever change that". The idea of working on a very high-quality mobile solution for churches is slowly starting to form in my head.
Voorbeeld van apps van Highstreet Mobile

“My dream is an app that works so well that users say, Wow, is this from my church?”

When I sit in church, I see the possibilities passing by one by one: A friend asks if he can borrow change for the collection, because he never has any with him anymore. The flower greeting goes to a lady whose face I wish I could quickly find. Situations that can be made smoother. But there is more than just the purely practical application. Involvement with each other and sharing inspiration can be made so much easier. That is the reason thatI founded Donkey Mobile. We want to support the church with its timeless message of love for God and neighbor with our knowledge of apps and mobile.In concrete terms, we want to create a technology that enables churches from different locations to create their own app. That is possible, because ultimately the requested functionalities in Utrecht are the same as in Amsterdam or Urk. How wonderful would it be if we could soon give every church an app that users would say: "Wow, is this from my church!?!" But ultimately it would be even better if such a technological tool could lead to more involvement with each other and a closer community. That is really my dream and our mission.


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