Who is Kaan Gören

I am a 22-year-old software developer based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. I run GörenLabs, a one-person studio where I handle strategy, design, and engineering myself. No team. No layers. Just direct work with the people who hire me.

The name GörenLabs comes from my surname. In Turkish, "Gören" means "the one who sees." That meaning stuck with me because it describes how I approach every project: looking past the surface to find what actually matters.

How I got here

I graduated from ROC Amsterdam in 2024 and started my career as a junior software engineer at Synetic. Three months later I moved to Autodisk, where I work as a front-end developer, mainly with Vue and Nuxt. In December 2025, I started my own company, GörenLabs.

I am partially self-taught. School gave me a foundation, but most of what I actually use day-to-day I learned by building. I would pick a problem, figure out how to solve it, ship it, then move on to the next one. That cycle taught me something that formal education often skips: taste develops through decisions, not theory.

The biggest project that shaped me early on was my personal website, kaangoren.nl. I handled every aspect — from planning and wireframes to design, content, development, and SEO. It was the first time I owned a project from start to finish, and it set the standard for how I work now.

What drives me

I care about the details that most people never notice but everyone feels. The way a page loads. The rhythm between sections. The moment a hover state responds. The weight of a font at a specific size.

These are not cosmetic concerns. They shape how people perceive quality. A product that feels considered earns trust faster than one that simply looks good in a screenshot.

I also believe in restraint. Adding more is easy. Knowing when to stop is the harder skill. The best work I have done always involved removing something that seemed necessary until it was gone.

How I work

Every project at GörenLabs is founder-led. That means the person you talk to is the same person writing the code, choosing the animations, and making the deployment decisions. There is no telephone game between departments.

This model works best for founders, small teams, and companies who value precision over process. If you want a direct line to the person building your product, that is what I offer.

Outside the screen

I ride a Yamaha MT-07. It is a great way to clear my head and feel free after long hours behind a screen.

I make beats in FL Studio. It started during my first year studying software development at ROC Amsterdam when a friend got me into music production. I had tried FL Studio before and gave up, but the second time it clicked. Now it is a creative outlet I genuinely enjoy.

I also work with wood, turning raw pieces into something useful. A few times a year I play airsoft with friends, and recently I picked up mountain biking again. I shoot photos and video with a Panasonic Lumix S5 and edit in DaVinci Resolve.

I am based in Haarlem, close enough to Amsterdam to stay connected but far enough to stay focused.