Gearheart.io

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Manager of Bababos

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Bababos is a supply platform provider that provides raw materials for SMEs manufacturers. We offer best price raw materials with flexible payment terms to the buyers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gearheart.io to accomplish?

• Mitigate credit, transaction and operational risks.

SOLUTION

How did you find Gearheart.io?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Gearheart.io over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Gearheart.io were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We are creating an internal tool (we named it ICE, stands for Integrated Credit Ecosystem) to help mitigate credit, transaction and operational risks. This system will enable us to proactively identify and address potential risks, ensuring a more secure business environment. By implementing this tool, we aim to enhance our risk management capabilities and protect our organization from financial & operational vulnerabilities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Precision
• Quality
• Speed

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

There are slight hiccup for the project deployment, however the team did their best and delivering high work quality. They always responsible with their work

What was your primary form of communication with Gearheart.io?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I was impressed with their sense of ownership and proactive culture that really help us in the product development. I feel like working with internal team instead with external vendor

Are there any areas for improvement or something Gearheart.io could have done differently?

I value their open and honest attitude. If there's any imrpovement, i can immediately communicate with them

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the AVP Product, Data & Engineering of Bababos.com

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Raw materials' supply platform provider for manufacturers

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gearheart.io to accomplish?

• Develop a risk management system for our internal team
• Develop in a great quality and timely manner

SOLUTION

How did you find Gearheart.io?

Online Search

Why did you select Gearheart.io over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned
• Great team

How many teammates from Gearheart.io were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Build an internal tool for the risk management team from scratch, with details as below: 

• setting up and deploying application backbone as web app 
• using Google OAuth for user authorization 
• do API integration to the ERP system and 3rd party system 
• build modules as per requirements 
• lightweight & smooth application

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• development time 
• development milestones 
• development results vs requirements

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Gearheart always commits to their work. They are a great team with great accountability and a sense of ownership of the project. They not only strive to deliver on time but also put their heart into the project and give better feedback or suggestions for requirements as well.

What was your primary form of communication with Gearheart.io?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

It's great to work with their team. I'm impressed with how they manage the team and the projects. It's not like working with vendors but it feels like we're working with our internal team when we work with them.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Gearheart.io could have done differently?

They are so understandable, so if there is something to feedback on or to improve, we just can tell them and discuss the way out with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Coderiver

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Front-end Development

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gearheart.io to accomplish?

• We hired Gearheart to develop a comprehensive CRM system to optimize and automate business processes. Our goals included creating a user-friendly experience, ensuring data accuracy, and improving the overall efficiency of customer relationship management.

SOLUTION

How did you find Gearheart.io?

Online Search

Why did you select Gearheart.io over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Gearheart.io were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The scope of work for our project included working with a team of 3 developers, QA and PM. Key deliverables included 

• end-to-end CRM system development: user interface development, seamless data management, and automation features to improve business processes. 
• The main features include: User portal, Templates for different areas of the company's activities, Contact management, Automated data collection, Integration of email and notification tools, and Integration with other external systems. 

These functions have created a complete and effective tool for managing relationships with customers and business processes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Employees who managed to switch to the new CRM immediately felt an improvement in the efficiency of their work. The speed of processes between different departments of the company has increased.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Our collaboration with the Gearheart team has been incredibly effective and productive. Their work process was characterized by an excellent understanding of our needs and clear planning. They not only met deadlines well but also demonstrated a high level of responsibility and initiative. The Gearheart team was open to communication, and always ready to listen to our ideas and suggestions. Regular meetings and reports allowed us to make timely changes and adjust the development strategy.

What was your primary form of communication with Gearheart.io?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The most impressive was how well their team communicated. We always received a prompt report and they were always ready to answer our questions and take into account our wishes. The team demonstrated a high level of technical proficiency and expertise. Their ability to solve complex development challenges demonstrated a deep understanding of the technologies and frameworks employed in the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Gearheart.io could have done differently?

We are completely satisfied with Gearheart.io's work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company provides innovative financial solutions through a digital banking platform for private and business clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gearheart.io to accomplish?

• The platform should be convenient, modern and secure.
• The Gearheart team was engaged in web development.
• Our joint goal was to build a digital banking platform that provides financial services for private and business clients.

SOLUTION

How did you find Gearheart.io?

Online Search

Why did you select Gearheart.io over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Gearheart.io were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We approached the Gearheart team to work with our team to develop a digital FinTech platform. There were 2 developers in our team. The Gearheart team started with 2 developers and then grew to 4 developers, 2 QA, 1 DevOps and 1 BA. 

They understood business needs and processes and started development based on agile methodologies in sprints. It's great that they worked closely with the client and our team to ensure an efficient workflow. All work and releases went according to plan. The Gearheart team completed the following web development tasks: 

• personal and business accounts сreation; 
• functionality for transactions with physical and virtual cards; 
• functionality for basic financial transactions (regular transactions, deposits, loans and bills); 
• ATMs map displaying; 
• cashback setting 
• multi-factor authentication system implementation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Digital banking platform is already launched and works perfectly! Users are satisfied with the functionality and the benefits it brings them.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

ko

What was your primary form of communication with Gearheart.io?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

kok

Are there any areas for improvement or something Gearheart.io could have done differently?

We are completely satisfied with Gearheart.io's work and approach.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of design and project Lead

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gearheart.io, and what were your goals?

We hired Gearheart for an interactive dynamic Wayfinder of public use. We hired Gearheart based on their expertise and managements credentials.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Our selection was purely based on expertise and capabilities.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We needed o to create an application for the end customer to manage that included the management of retail spaces on an interactive map. The application included front-end interactive wayfinding, smart index search, and tenant information as well as dealing with variables such as accessibility. We needed Gearheart to implement and QA/QC our design and user journeys as well as help us with R&D. We used Typescript, Vue.js, Vite, KeystoneJS, PostgreSQL, Gitlab-ci, Renovate

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with 3 people from Gearheart. One PM, one full-stack developer, and a front-end developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The project was very well received and has been a feature on Battersea Power Station. Users find it easy to find their way and the organization can easily manage their tenant spaces and spaces.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had weekly call to plan our work and daily collaboration through slack ad calls. Gearheart integrated really well with our team and we found it easy to communicate and solve problems.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I will highlight Gearheart's approach to project management, everything was clear and concise and issues were communicated in a timely manner.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I couldn't highlight any.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of SmartSuite. We provide a work management platform that allows teams to manage processes, projects and tasks on single platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gearheart.io, and what were your goals?

Gearheart was responsible for developing the main web application. Our main goal was to release a product that could be competitive in a crowded market right in its early days, so we were not going for a MVP, but rather a full feature-packed solution

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I have evaluated several companies, each of which I have met personally. Gearheart was my choice the moment I met them - we spoke the same language from the start. I really liked their attitude, their culture, their willingness to listen, their commitment to solving customer problems and creating the best product in their niche.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We are building a huge, game-changing work management platform. The Gearheart team has been there since day one. We have been working on a product for two years silently, until it went public in the beginning of 2022. The team has laid a foundation, the main architecture, and also developed all core modules of the system.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The team included:

• 3 project managers
• 2 business analysts
• 30 full-stack developers
• 6 html/css developers
• 10 QA engineers
• 3 QA automation engineers
• 1 DevOps

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

A 14 day trial version is available at smartsuite.com. We highly encourage everyone to check out the result of our work.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Open, human, trustworthy. They will never play games on you or try selling you on something you don’t need. For me, trust is the single most crucial thing when building long term relationships.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

People. As technologies come and go, personal relationships remain. Gearheart’s pricing policy is as clear as it could be.They are open and clear about it. It’s publicly stated on their website.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Working with such talented people would make you want to hire more and more. Gearheart.io carefully makes it intentionally to guarantee the highest level of expertise in any position.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Find a Game, Inc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gearheart.io?

We needed frontend developers to help us build our software. We were not satisfied with our previous vendor, so we were looking for a new company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us build a SAS-based software for managing golf tournaments that are played over a few months. Working alongside our internal team that managed backend development, Gearheart built the frontend for golf course operators and golfers. They used HTML5, CSS, and Javascript for the frontend, while the backend is built in Python Django. They did a great job, so we started another project with them last week.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with their owner and 1–2 other members of their team.

How did you come to work with Gearheart.io?

They were referred to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2018 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They've produced high-quality code and the whole process has been very smooth.

How did Gearheart.io perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job helping us turn our designs into specs. We use Slack and Google Hangouts to stay in touch. They're are great communicators.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They ask insightful questions about our designs, helping us come up with the best option to prepare designs and specs for developers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be a bit more responsive. When our main point of contact is away, we might wait a day to hear from someone.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Schedule regular meetings. I’d recommend having meetings 2–3 times a week.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the senior product manager of a tech startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gearheart?

We wanted to build a web app but didn't have the skill set to develop it. We decided to outsource the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first brought them in to build a simple but full product. However, over time, this project significantly expanded. They're now responsible for building an entire public-facing web app. We provide the high-level requirements and their team conducts the technical implementation. They develop our wireframes using Django, frontend using AngularJS and React, and backend database using PostgreSQL. Gearheart also provides all our designs. Overall, they deliver all the product-related development.

What is the team composition?

We work daily with a project manager and she's been with us since the beginning. We started with one or two developers, a QA, and designers, but the team has scaled over time. They now provide 4–5 developers, two designers, and a QA.

How did you come to work with Gearheart?

Gearheart was the clear choice in all aspects. We were referred to them for their great cost and high quality. Their previous projects were also exceptionally compelling.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $500,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement was from September 2017–February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our users react positively and always compliment our clean aesthetic.

How did Gearheart perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent, and their project manager is one of the best I've worked with thus far. I credit a lot of our success to their management skills. Their team never misses deadlines or lets us down. We mainly use Slack for daily communication and collaborate on documents using Google Drive. They have their own proprietary sprint-planning software, which is useful. We also use Confluence for documentation, and Zeplin and InVision to develop the designs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Gearheart delivers high-quality work. They are a good team and enjoyable to interact with. It's obvious that their team is passionate about the work and really care about delivering results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have some small issues with them like planning conservatively instead of aggressively and maybe having better audio quality during our meetings. However, I don't think there's anything significant or egregious.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have the right technical background to do product management. Matching a professional with their expertise will help out a lot. However, they're also perfectly capable of working with someone without technical knowledge and explaining difficult concepts.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Growth Capital Services is a private placement broker/dealer firm. We provide compliance services for independent placement agents who sell private securities. These agents are typically called registered representatives (“Reps”).  I’m the COO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gearheart.io?

We initially began working with Gearheart through a local IT developer/manager who outsourced to them. When she moved on, we started working with Gearheart directly because we were happy with their service.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OLIVIA is our proprietary software. It primarily has 2 major modules.  The first is Compliance, which “Reps use to report a number of different things in accordance with federal and state regulations.  They file forms to describe their activities, then OLIVIA assigns the forms as tasks to the appropriate supervisor for review.  The system has custom workflows for approved or rejected forms, and tasks to keep Reps and supervisors organized.

The second module is for Deals.  Reps must seek pre-approval for all deal materials they wish to present to potential investors.  OLIVIA allows us to monitor at a document-by-document level, enabling us to provide a full audit trail for our mandatory audits.

The operating system they used was Ubuntu. The programming language is Python for the backend and JavaScript for the UI. We’re hosted with Amazon [AWS]. Our web application framework is Django.

We’re constantly in development. We’ve been developing straight for 5 years, so we’re always building cool new features. For example, we recently implemented a HelloSign API. We’re currently working on a new dashboard that shows supervisor efficiency. I can just tell Gearheart what we want to see as far as functionality goes, and they’ll do a mockup. We say what we like and don’t like, and they do a nice job of taking the business need and creating the functionality that fulfills it.

How did you come to work with Gearheart.io?

We initially had a local IT developer/manager that helped build the framework when we were first starting to develop the software. She hired Gearheart to write the code and implement it.

I am not a technical person whatsoever, but I still felt comfortable continuing the project with them. We weekly via Skype, and we keep a running project list to track feature development and infrequent bugs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for 5 or 6 years. We like the work they’re doing and plan to continue working with them. Every year it gets bigger and better.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We receive feedback from users that OLIVIA is modern and easy to use. Some of our Reps are not as technologically savvy as others, but I think they get it and appreciate that there’s a lot of meat and functionality in our software.

How did Gearheart.io perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a standing 9:00 a.m. [PST] meeting on Thursdays, so they’re working with us towards the end of their day, in the evening. If I need to reschedule or we need extra time or extra help, they’re very accommodating. As far as language barriers go, I haven’t had any problems. Our points of contact speak English fairly fluently, so that hasn’t been an issue.

If there’s ever a time when I feel something’s not being communicated well, I just write it out for clarification. Both timing and language support have actually been better than you’d expect.

In terms of deadlines, sometimes things do take a little longer than we expect. To be fair, some projects turn out to be more complicated than originally thought. They do a good job of managing all that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t have a lot of experience managing software builds, so I don’t have a lot to compare them to. But we’re such a unique niche business; we’re not aware of any other software product quite like ours, and Gearheart has done a good job of understanding our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have the impression that there are a lot of coders on the team. Sometimes we get a very literal translation of what we’re asking for. For example, if I want a certain function, they might give something that basically works, but isn’t necessarily intuitive for the user. They do have designers on the team that they’ll bring onto the project at certain times.

I find that it’s a better when a designer involved for new features from the outset, someone who can think through all those moving pieces. They do offer that, but we typically have to pay extra to add a designer to specific projects. I wish that process was a little more integrated.

Do you have any advice for potential clients?

The one thing that I would say to somebody who was looking to work with them is to make sure there’s a designer on the team early on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is no longer in existence. We provided solutions for small-to medium-sized businesses so they didn’t have to hire contractors and consultants. Clients could drag and drop different elements to build solutions.

For example, a real estate agent wanting to build listings and showings could drag and drop a sheet showing dates, customer ID, and name, and then our company would take care of everything on the web, iOS, and Android.

I’m the founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gearheart?

My co-founder and I have PhDs in computer science and we used to work at Amazon, Google, and Facebook, so we set our bar high. We were trying to find a high-quality, cost-effective team that could grasp and work with required technologies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are highly technical ourselves, so we weren’t expecting someone to give us an estimate for delivery. They functioned more like an extension of our team. They provided expertise in technologies such as Python and Django backend, APIs, high-scalability architecture, and high-visibility systems. Our stack was super complex. It had an Apache Solr search layer and MongoDB and Amazon Web Services Relational Database Service (RDS).

They worked with us on an hourly basis for 2 years. We had weekly sprints. Our CTO built the tasks and projects, and we also had a design team. Everyone worked together on this complex project.

What is the team dynamic?

I didn’t work day-to-day with the team. They would scale up and down as needed, which was incredibly helpful. They were able to hire quickly and fill needed positions. The most resources of theirs we used were 10–12.

How much have you invested with them?

They were paid hourly. We spent between $300,000 and $400,000 over the course of 2 years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from 2014 to 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Quality was our utmost priority, and second was delivery. Gearheart was amazing. We communicated our requests and deadlines, and they created incredible, highly reliable software to support more than 100,000 businesses in 169 countries in 7 languages.

How did Gearheart perform from a project management standpoint?

They did their part perfectly. We had clear requirements, and we worked in JIRA so that everything was documented. That worked well since there was a time difference.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vladimir [Founder and CEO, Gearheart.io] and his team were really impressive. He knew how to vet engineers and team leaders. They were amazing.

We’ve outsourced to other companies in India, China, Ukraine, and Russia, and Gearheart’s quality and passion stand out. They care about what they’re building. That means first understanding what they are building and why. It showed in the quality of their work.

They were incredible about pushing back when they didn’t agree with what we wanted to do. We appreciated that because it resulted in a better design.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They felt like an extension of our company. Some of them weren’t completely proficient in English. We weren’t relying on them as a typical outsourcing company, where there was only one contact—we wanted everyone on the Skype calls discussing the designs and features. So they paid out of pocket for team members to learn English, and we subsidized that as well.