Mountains, Milestones, and Magic - Company Retreat V5
Head of Product
Twice a year, we block our calendars, say goodbye to the familiar lag of Google Meet, and trade our home offices for the buzz of in-person conversations, shared meals, and the kind of spontaneous laughter you just can't schedule. These retreats are more than just a change of scenery and pace - they are how we stay connected. Through moments that spark important conversations, ideation over gentle rain and warm kebabs, or much needed pauses during late-night board games, we reconnect not just as coworkers, but collaborators united by a shared vision.
In alignment with the fresh energy that spring brings, we experienced our own season (buh-dum-tss) of growth. Since our last retreat in Zurich, Switzerland, the Zitadel team has nearly doubled , welcoming a vibrant mix of fresh faces across Sales, Support, Data Engineering, Marketing, and other functions - expanding the talented team that drives us forward.
Nestled between a lake and mountains in Switzerland, Thun gave us the perfect backdrop for this retreat: misty weather, glistening water, and just the perfect amount of old-town charm to settle in, slow down, and welcome our newest members.
Arrivals
As the team found their way to the beautiful city of Thun through the surrounding snow capped mountain range, much of the crew settled in from 20+ hours of travel adventure having traversed a wide variety of trains and airports. The laughter and camaraderie filled the air of the hotel lobby as the “long timers” welcomed “newbies” to the Zitadel crew.
White table cloths and delicious local cuisine lined the restaurant tables as discussions unfolded from the team around what they hoped to get out of the offsite and excitement on topic discussions ahead that were sure to make a positive impact ahead. Smiles filled the room as the vision alignment connected effortlessly across the room and secured the fact that this was going to be a productive trip!
Activities and Exploration
Over the next several days, the team participated in planned and ad hoc discussions on topics including how to deliver value through our content strategy, tooling deep dives, empowering our developer community, and elevating our user onboarding experience.
Key takeaways are:
- Enhancing Onboarding experience: With the recent additions of the initial account setup checklist for new account creations, it is important to continue improving onboarding with Zitadel!
- Elevating Zitadel’s Content: Our community's feedback on which content delivers the most practical value drives our commitment to creating content that matters. We are strengthening our blog articles and documentation by prioritizing high-impact topics such initial setup, feature use cases, and competitor platform migrations to address the real-world challenges technical teams face in their IAM implementations.
- Internal Tools and Team Efficiency: With team expansion in mind, discussions centered on how strategic use of tools like GitHub and Asana can proactively address communication challenges that emerge at scale. The focus was on implementing robust processes and workflows now that will reduce communication friction and maintain team efficiency as headcount increases.
When we stepped away from the meeting room we had a chance to bond as a team at a few different special locations. The St. Beatus Höhlen cave tour showcased a stunning cave’s inner workings that is millions of years old. The Rubigencenter offered fun and games for some team competitions. Finally the walk through the Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht) set the stage for the perfect backdrop for an updated team photo as Zitadel nears 25 employees from access the globe.
Wrapping Up
Every retreat leaves us more connected, aligned, and certainly more inspired! We returned home energized (after recovering from the jet-lag, of course!), full of fresh ideas, shared memories, and the kind of momentum that only comes from in-person connection. We are not only committed to building a great product, but a company we are proud to be part of - and this retreat reinforced just how far we've come, and how much possibility lies ahead as we keep growing together.
💜 Here are quotes from some of our newest team members about their retreat experience:
“What an amazing week! I feel truly privileged to have finally met my teammates in person and to experience the beauty of Switzerland together—it was one of the best bonding experiences I’ve had. I had meaningful conversations, lots of fun, and walked away feeling truly part of something great.”
- Matías Racedo, Sales Engineer
“The Zitadel team retreat in Thun was an amazing experience, both professionally and personally. I really enjoyed getting to know the team — all the insightful and fun conversations had a very positive impact on me. Having joined the company less than two months ago, it felt great to meet everyone and see firsthand the culture that drives the team. It's inspiring to be surrounded by so many smart people. I’m genuinely excited to start contributing and help take Zitadel to new heights!”
- Federico Coppede, Sales Engineer
"The retreat in Thun is something that I'll remember for the rest of my life. As a new joiner, being with a new team in a foreign place, I'll admit I may have been a tad nervous. But I quickly realized that this was all for not. Though I met many people for the first time, it felt like I was talking to old friends that I've known for years and every day I got to experience different personalities and different conversations. I feel very fortunate to be working with such an intelligent, talented group of genuinely good people. I learned a lot from the workshops and it didn't hurt that we were surrounded by crystal clear waters and beautiful mountains. I got back feeling recharged and I'm chomping at the bit to work with this team to take Zitadel to new heights! 5 stars-would highly recommend :)"
- Joshua Chae, Account Executive
“The team retreat in Thun has been a fantastic event on so many levels. I had the chance to meet the team for the first time and connect with everyone. It was my first time seriously visiting Switzerland, despite not living that far from it. It was such a great discovery, such a beautiful place with its mountains and lakes. The scheduled workshops we had were also very insightful and they helped me to know the company better, how it operates in the OSS world and its objectives for the future. It has also been a moment for rediscovering Magic The Gathering, one of my hobbies, with my coworkers: the draft game we had was amazing and it was so exciting to teach others how to play!”
- Marco Ardizzone, Backend Engineer
“Joining a remote team can be a puzzle, but this retreat instantly clicked everything into place. It was wonderful to finally put faces to names and feel like I'm part of a genuinely fun and supportive family right from the start.”
- Mridang Agarwalla, Product Engineer (SDKs)