Accelerator Team

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Trustedin, a startup feedback service working with niche consultant firms. Our mission is to promote them to other companies by collecting and sharing client experiences. I'm in charge of product development and the IT team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerator Team?

I was developing the IT infrastructure of the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Accelerator Team developed our entire IT infrastructure, including APIs, databases, as well as the front- and backend. The platform is web-based and has functionalities for collecting and editing feedback. Consultants send feedback forms to the clients via email.

Additionally, the platform generates graphs automatically based on the data, highlighting the strong and weak qualities of each consultant. We started with a general picture of what I wanted, and they developed and tested new components week after week.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 3–4 people from Accelerator Team. I got in touch with their salesperson from time to time, but I mainly worked with the developers.

How did you come to work with Accelerator Team?

I’d worked with their founder on behalf of my former company, and it was a great experience. It was clear to me that I’d be working with him when I decided to launch my startup. I did look at other proposals, but Accelerator Team had the best price and they had my trust.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost was around €18,000 (approximately $22,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Accelerator Team between July–October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did find a couple of small bugs, but Accelerator Team delivered exactly what I had in mind. Everything worked great. I asked for small changes once or twice, and it wasn’t a problem for them. They took the time to really understand what I wanted, and they delivered it. The pandemic was a tough period for our startup, and our customers suffered a lot as well, but it’s okay now.

How did Accelerator Team perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was mainly by email. It wasn’t a huge project, so we didn’t need roles like a head of project. I spoke directly to the head developer, and the collaboration was quite efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with their owner was simple and straightforward. They delivered exactly what I needed and made things simple for me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They’re a very good team with a competitive cost, and they have excellent communication. It was a very good experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a web video magazine that we offer as a SaaS product. We sell to the director of HR of a larger company, and they deliver our content to their employees using our SaaS tool.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerator Team?

Just because I’m the CTO doesn’t mean I can code and build the platform in time by myself. We were looking for both a technology stack and a team that could deliver the product we designed and ideated.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’d already created wireframe prototypes of the platform, so I sent that to them to get an initial price range. After that, I outlined each and every function in the platform, describing how it would work and what it would do. All that information went into a big Excel spreadsheet, and I validated that with them. We broke the project down into four sprints, and it was done in around three months.

The platform is built with AppDrag, which Accelerator Team is a subsidiary or sister company of. AppDrag offers CMS — like a Wix or Squarespace but they let you go as deep into the code as you want. They also give you access to a raw SQL database and Lambda API functions on the backend. You can build, click, and drag and drop, as well as give a marketing team the ability to change the copy whenever they want. But then, if you need to do something custom, then you can just do it. 

What is the team composition?

Steven (Sales Director) was my sales contact and project manager. He was responsible for making sure we were happy, things got delivered, and the project stayed within the scope. I ended up working with Wasim (Digital Transformation Leader) and Joseph (Lead Software Architect). They were both very talented. Those two architected everything and laid the foundation. I worked with a couple of other individual junior developers to flesh out the product and fix bugs.

How did you come to work with Accelerator Team?

We got quotes from several companies, and they were all multiples of what Accelerator Team quotes us. Accelerator understood the scope, was going to spend time planning the project beforehand, and quoted me a much more reasonable price than their competitors.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between €13,000– €16,000 (approximately $15,800–$19,500 USD); there were a few additions and subtractions to the scope throughout the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in October 2019 and finished the work in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We tracked all the deliverables in a project management system — down to the individual buttons and functionalities — and Accelerator Team went all the way to close everything out. There were some discrepancies about something that wasn’t clear in the initial scope, but when I clearly set out my expectations, they delivered on them. They didn’t try to play games or nickel and dime me when there was an ambiguity they misinterpreted.

The code Accelerator Team delivered was more or less bulletproof. A couple of bugs arose because our needs evolved, and I realized it would be better to rewrite a couple of things that weren’t compatible with what they’d done originally. Those few instances were very minor in the scope of a project like this. What they did has held up very well.

Everything may not have been done with the latest best practices, but everything works. There were some things done by a very junior person, but at the price point they hit, I don’t think it was possible to do anything better.

How did Accelerator Team perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was great, and they pushed it as aggressively as I did. It didn’t feel like I was trying to wrangle them. They opened up a spot on their calendar and worked really hard.

I was well prepared and organized, which helped, but they certainly met me halfway in terms of motivation, meeting deadlines, and keeping track of the scope and project progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The best endorsement I can give is that I’ve continued the relationship with them — both as a customer of their AppDrag platform and of Accelerator Team, which I’ve hired to take on a couple of things requiring outside expertise.

I’m very active on their forums, and I like their team and product. I’m an evangelist of theirs. They’re good, friendly people who are smart and do good work at a fair price. I really respect them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s a hard question to answer because I think very highly of them, but they could better transmit best practices from the senior technical people to the junior resources.

There were some times I wished the senior technical person had spent five minutes reviewing the work and advising the junior person of another way to accomplish the task, rather than letting them run with a sub-optimal solution that was replicated several places throughout the code.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would give the same advice no matter who the vendor is: be really clear about what you want, and you'll get the best results. Think through your wireframes and prototypes, make a list of what you want your platform to accomplish and how it will accomplish it. That was hugely helpful to me in negotiating a price with them and checking off what we’d accomplished at the end of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Max Sens Innovations, a software education startup. We develop software training and education software to help people improve their soft skills.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Accelerator Team?

We needed help with platform development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us develop a new platform. They implemented VR and AI technologies. It’s an LP system adapted to French. We have every word on an LP system to help French companies to automate different words in French. We sell the solution to other companies. We are thinking about creating another solution to boost the sales.

What is the team composition?

We work with four people.

How did you come to work with Accelerator Team?

We looked at different companies that could scale up as needed. We met them on a meeting application. They showed curiosity and knowledge in regards to the project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m happy working with them. They’re an excellent development company. Customers love using the platform. We’re so grateful for that.

How did Accelerator Team perform from a project management standpoint?

We work in milestones through an agile approach. It’s a very collaborative project. It’s easy to communicate with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did their best for us. They have strong skills and work hard. We love that they have a lot of empathy and give suggestions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could do more tests for the application.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Accelerator Team is outstanding because you can be expert or non-expert, and they’ll help you step-by-step. It’s really amazing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Founder and CEO at Dgit Solutions Inc. Dgit is creating the future of residential living, combining property management software and tenants applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Accelerator Team, and what were your goals?

After finishing comprehensive market research to identify customer needs, Dgit was looking for an out-sourced development team that will understand our company's mission and will correspond the vision with the final product.

SOLUTION

How did you select Accelerator Team and what were the deciding factors?

I have checked several agencies but Accelerator Team stood out from the alternatives. They were not a typical service provider but a real partner in the realization of our platform. We have been working together on a regular basis for a year now and they have kept the same approach since day one: they listen, advise, and take an active role in understanding our platform's needs.

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

I hired accelerator team in order to outline and develop the main components of our software. Project included, charactization, planning workflows, UI&UX design, and an execution of both front and back-end developments.

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

I worked with 4 people from Accelerator Team during the project: Project manager Lead developer 2 Senior Developers They assist me during the whole process. At the end of each step, the project manager and I met for a check-in to make sure everything is according to plan and that I am satisfied with the outcomes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team has shown great quality and provided exceptional service throughout the process. They made sure to deliver a fully functional product that was able to be deployed to the use of customers

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

Accelerator Team really have incredible skills for project management compare to other agencies I've worked with before. They delivered the project on time and we never had unexpected turnovers. Moreover the project manager was here to answer all my questions at any time. We mostly used trello, skype and asana for the project management.

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

Accelerator Team has demonstrated great quality in there work, as well as excellent service. Available at all needs and quickly making adjustments.

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

Accelerator Team has provided excellent service. I would love to see their team grow and hire more talents to get more job done in less time.