OSLO/DRAMMEN “It's pretty cool to be 21 and be able to say I'm “just going down to the office for a walk,"” says Oscar Winther.
It has almost been one year since the Konnerud boy dropped out of university and started the web design agency Blink together with the friend Vinh Nguyen from Hillside. Now they have their own office in central Oslo.
When I left school, I didn't tell my family. I was afraid of the reactions,” Winther says.
Winther began her nursing education after her grades didn't hold up to medicine.
I wanted to make my grandmother proud. In the culture my family comes from, higher education is a strong expectation,” he says.
He completed the first semester, but lost motivation. Finally, he told his family that he was not going to continue.
They were disappointed. But when I showed I could pay the bills and live off this, they accepted it. At the same time, they said I should always have education to fall back on.
Winther and Nguyen met on the science line at Drammen High School. After high school, Nguyen started in full employment as a phone salesman.
“I promised my parents that I would get an education eventually. It was expected. But we chose to bet,” Nguyen says.
He believes it helped that he had a fixed income at the start -- it made it easier for his family to support the election.
According to Utbildning.no, web designers have different backgrounds. Some have education—others are self-taught, like Winther and Nguyen.
We learned everything from YouTube. We don't have any formal courses,” Winther says.
He is the general manager and designer. Nguyen is the chairman of the board and a designer. They also brought Audun Dalen, who works in content production.
I've always wanted to work in film and photography. It was perfect to work with Oscar and Vinh,” says Dalen.
In less than ten months, Blynk has completed 18 projects, including websites for a folk high school and a health service.
It was difficult at first. We had no references and zero followers. Who wants to work with someone with no experience? says Winther.
We sent a thousand emails. Maybe 20 responded, and 1—2 led to meetings. And even then, we may not have been commissioned,” Nguyen adds.
Sometimes I feel like I'm lagging behind. My friends will soon finish my bachelor's, while I'm still in the startup phase,” Winther says.
“At the same time, many of them say they look up to what we have done. Many say they would like to do the same.
