Octalysis Primers Start Consulting Business – Part 2: Joel Schmidt
In our last post we introduced two passionate Octalysis Primers: Joel and Daniel Schmidt from Germany. If you missed it, check it out first.
⚡ Speed Run Notes
- Starting a consulting business from a certification is the real test of whether the certification produced a practitioner. Certifications that don't lead to applied work are trophies. Certifications that do are apprenticeships. Featuring graduates who started businesses is the clearest signal a program produces the second kind.
- The first consulting engagement is the hardest one, and the most educational. You don't know your pricing, your scope, or your process. You learn all three through one messy project. Every subsequent engagement is cleaner because the first was messy. The mess is tuition.
- CD1 (Epic Meaning) carries early-stage consultants through the doubt phase. Without meaning, the first rejected proposal ends the business. With meaning, rejection becomes data. The meaning is the renewable energy source that gets practitioners through the first 12 months.
- The best consulting practices are built on one deep niche, not broad expertise. Generalist consultants compete on price. Niche consultants compete on outcome. Joel's advantage is framework specificity — he can offer something no generalist can match.
- The deepest insight: consulting is applied learning at scale, and the consultant learns more than the client. Each engagement sharpens the framework. The consultant becomes expert not because they were trained to be but because they've used the tool in 50 messy real situations. Experience is the curriculum; clients are the classroom.
These brothers, friends and now also business partners, started a consulting company named Smithery.
They do UX consulting with a focus on digital learning experiences. Shortly after launch they were already working for two clients!
Author Credibility: Yu-kai Chou
Yu-kai Chou created the Octalysis Framework after studying gamification since 2003 — years before the term entered mainstream vocabulary. As a Human-Systems Architect & Behavioral Designer, his framework has been applied by LEGO, Microsoft, Porsche, Coca-Cola, Salesforce, and MrBeast, impacting over 1.5 Billion Users.
Chou has taught the Octalysis methodology at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Tesla, Google, BCG, and IDEO.
His work has been cited by Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Wired, US Department of Energy, NIST, NSF, NCBI, US Department of Education, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar — with 3,700+ more academic publications. Explore his books here.
Joel Schmidt
Joel, age 21, is the younger brother of the two.
“After High School I took a year of Bible School with the aim to find myself and figure out what I wanted to do.
I have experience with outdoor experiential education: group activities and team-building exercises and more and more got the feeling that I should do something with business consulting.”
During the interview we observed that we could really see Joel in a consulting position as he comes across as disarming and kind.
We had a good laugh together when we mentioned that people would likely accept him telling them what they do wrong and should improve. To which Joel simply replied: “Yeah that’s true“, with a perfect disarming smile.
What is it like to work with your brother?
In April 2021 I felt in my heart that it was time to move on. I quit my job as a scaffolder and started Smithery with Daniel.
It is great to work with my brother. We’ve had our difference in the past, but we grew close together now.
We often take a walk in the evening to really talk about stuff. Yeah, it’s really nice to have such a brother.”
Daniel adds: “Amen to all of that. And Joel adds so much value to the way I do things. He sees so many things that I would completely miss because I’m all about the structure.
Joel is like fluid; he understands my structure but can flow through it like water, making all sorts of connections.”
How did you land on Octalysis Prime?
“When I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do, Daniel suggested to sign up for Octalysis Prime.
He reasoned that no matter what I would choose, when working with people, understanding motivation will always help you.
Also even if it is just for yourself. It is useful to learn more about what moves you, what you are hard-wired to do, and how to motivate yourself to do stuff.
What did you get out of Octalysis Prime?
“Actually, the ‘side-stuff’ has helped me the most. I really resonated with the videos on how to improve your life.
It has helped me a lot to structure my life better and make better choices.
For the business, the core about Gamification and the Octalysis Framework provides a solid foundation.
Particularly useful are the videos that cover the importance of thinking through the four phases of the User Journey.
Something great, and fun, about Octalysis is that it provides a language to talk about motivation in a much more meaningful way. We now see Core Drives everywhere!
When watching a TV show we often point out to each other things like: “That is a really good Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment example!”
Can you tell us something about your Octalysis Certificate?
Of the brothers Schmidt, Joel was the first to earn his Octalysis Level 1 Certificate.
“It is really fun to analyze a product, like an app or website, and figure out how to make it more fun and engaging.
Going through the steps of defining the Octalysis Strategy Dashboard definitely helps. It helps to make clear what is important for the design, and you can refer back to it during the Brainstorming to get the focus right.”
What the Future Holds
We are looking forward to seeing Smithery grow into a recognized consulting business in Germany, and to read your updates in the Slack Community.
This is just the beginning. Good luck and Prime On!
Related Reading
- Octalysis Primers Start Consulting Business — Part 1: Daniel Schmidt
- Octalysis Certificate Achiever: Joel Schmidt
- The Octalysis Framework for Gamification & Behavioral Design
- What is Gamification? Definition, Examples & Framework (2026)
- Books by Yu-kai Chou