The story of Tim Jooste
A shy gamer in South Africa
Tim describes himself as a shy, homeschooled child who spent hours with games, especially World of Warcraft. Gaming was not a casual distraction. He studied systems, character builds, competition, and the social worlds that formed around play.
His early circumstances in South Africa also made ambition feel concrete rather than abstract. Visualization became a way to set a target before the route was clear. That combination of deep gaming knowledge and deliberate goal setting later helped him move into technology sales, where reading people, understanding incentives, and repeatedly improving a process mattered as much as raw confidence.
Leaving a proven sales machine
Tim rose into leadership in technology sales, managed a team described as roughly 700 people, and helped lead an organization associated with about $2 billion in revenue. Success created its own problem: the career proved he could operate at scale, but it also raised the cost of leaving. He eventually decided he was ready to build a company himself and apply the best lessons from his prior industry to gaming.
The shift demanded focus. Web3 produced constant fear of missing out, so Tim had to resist every new opportunity and protect the main goal instead of letting the market redirect the company each day.
A game first path for Project O
Tim's current work centers on building a gaming product that can bring a large Web2 audience into Web3 without making the blockchain layer the main attraction. He emphasizes creating a strong game first and adding token mechanics only where they improve ownership or participation. Project O and the studio reflect his long history with digital card games, systems thinking, and sales leadership.
He also automates peripheral work so his attention stays on product quality. The ambition is large, but the operating lesson is narrow: ignore daily noise, design for players, and build something durable enough to survive beyond a market cycle.