12Rockets

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Sonic Studio develops high-end audio software for consumers and recording studios.

What is your position?

I am the CEO and head of development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with 12Rockets?

We wanted people to be able to access our software on mobile devices.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

My experience and knowledge of mobile applications is slim, so 12Rockets came in with their expertise and provided a whole framework to allow our customers use our software on mobile devices as well as through our website. We went through a server-based architecture, and they implemented a Rest API [application programming interface] for it.

How did you come to work with 12Rockets?

I looked at a couple local developers in San Francisco, and another offshore in addition to 12Rockets. What set 12Rockets apart besides the quality of their work was the software and procedures they had in place for managing the project, which were far more extensive than anyone else's. This aspect was crucial as I did not have the time or inclination to manage the project myself properly.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was between $50,000 and $100,000.

What was the project timeline?

We started in earnest around April [2015], although we spent a little time before that understanding the project scope. We won't ship the product until early October [2015], and we're putting the finishing touches on it now [August 2015]. It's an iOS app for now, and we're considering expanding to other platforms in the future, depending on the success we have.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

No, as the project has yet to launch.

What distinguishes 12Rockets from other providers?

Two things stand out for me. One is the quality of their user interface expertise. Their ability to go through the workflow, and come up with mockups and designs was helpful. The other is the skill of the engineering. The contacts I have there are all extremely good. It's a combination of top-notch engineers who know what they need to get done, and the user interface. The rigor with which they develop their apps is very evident.

Is there anything 12Rockets could have improved or done differently?

They've done very well. There are challenges with scheduling with every project, but they've met every agreed upon deadline. I suppose the real test is how they handle any problems that arise after we go live but, up to this point, they've been great, and I don't anticipate that to change.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

We're a wearable technology startup. Right now, we're focusing on building products for athletes.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I am a software engineer. My responsibilities range widely. I've done everything from firmware work all the way up to the high-level algorithm and host side, user interaction software – things like that.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal in working with 12Rockets?

Our launch product is a mouthguard that measures the severity of head impacts, and we recruited 12Rockets to help us with a mobile alert application for that. Briefly, our hardware collects impact data in real time and transmits it to the sideline. Athletic trainers, coaches, and consumers of this data aren't tied to one particular spot. Often, they're running all around the place. We needed a method to alert them, preferably via their smartphone. We settled on Bluetooth low energy as our technology of choice for that. We recruited 12Rockets for the mobile side of that implementation. They actually helped with the host side, too.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

I planned the project and made many of the initial technical decisions. When we first reached out to 12Rockets, we had already decided on Bluetooth low energy and many of the protocol details. They came in and offered some feedback on the design and suggested a couple of modifications based on their experience, which was very helpful. We budgeted about three and a half weeks for their work. We had reasonably frequent communications with them – once every couple of days; more frequently when there were problems and early on in the project where there were more open-ended questions.

They built both Android and iOS applications. They handled all of the low-level Bluetooth communication. They also helped a little with the host side. I had written a test utility that was decoupled from the rest of our application, and they went in, extended it, and modified it as needed for their own work.

What was your process for selecting 12Rockets with which to work?

I don't remember exactly how we found them. I think maybe our CEO ran into somebody who worked with them at a conference. I had developed a short list of potential partners, and 12Rockets was one of them. I put together the scope of the work for a proposal, and I sent that around to vendors who seemed interested and had the time and skills we needed. 12Rockets came back with good questions, which showed a deep understanding of the technology we were working with. It was clear that they read and understood the proposal, and they came in with a very favorable bid. So, the combination of those two factors made them the easy choice.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they've done for you?

We've spent somewhere in the $10,000 to $50,000 range working with 12Rockets.

What was the timeline of the project?

We contacted them initially in mid-January [2015]. We were on a short timeline. They got back to us right away, and we tried to keep things moving as quickly as possible. I think the work started the first week in February and continued through the end of the month. There was a week or so of testing in the first week of March. We had a soft launch for the project in early March, and we got our first customer almost at once.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics, metrics, or general feedback to show the success of the project?

We got it done on a very short time schedule, which was amazing. We had run into a couple of interesting technical challenges along the way, so I was very impressed that we actually pulled it off. It surpassed everybody's expectations, including all of the non-technical people, which was important because we needed an application that was simple and intuitive enough for a football coach to take a quick look at when on the sidelines. It was exactly what they were looking for.

Overall, everyone here is extraordinarily pleased with 12Rockets. The technical people who were working with them were very happy with the kinds of technical questions they were asking, their responsiveness, and the quality of their work. The non-technical people were happy that we had such a solid working relationship. There's been talk around here about calling them up again because we've got a couple of projects coming up that we don't have the staffing for here.

Is there anything unique about 12Rockets that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

There was a point where we felt the technology was trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Their communication and problem-solving ability surpassed any outsourcing vendor I've worked with in the past. These guys just got it.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

No. Everything that could have gone better came from our side.