AgilityFeat

BACKGROUND

Please provide us with a brief description of your company.

Wellbeing Consult is an online marketplace to connect mental health services providers with patients through live video consultation. Our goal is to empower mental health providers in their work, so they are less inhibited by their patient's location, scheduling preferences, or other logistical issues.

What is your role at the company?

I am the co-founder and CEO. My brother is the other co-founder and product manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address with AgilityFeat?

We were looking to build an easily scalable and secure MVP [minimum viable product] with a range of features and technologies we had identified that could benefit both mental health providers and patients.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

The development of the MVP was a sizeable project completed in eight weeks. AgilityFeat came on board in the early planning stages of the MVP and provided us with recommendations on which technologies would be best suited for what we wanted to achieve and gave us insightful input in terms of which features we should prioritize. AgilityFeat provided a dedicated project manager who was responsible for quality assurance, as well as an excellent UX/UI [user experience/user interface] lead, and a team of coders chosen for the project aligning their skill sets with the technologies we required.

What was your process for selecting AgilityFeat?

We viewed a number of companies here in Australia, and internationally searching for the right fit based on our budget, their experience with webRTC [web real time communication] and Ruby on Rails development. AgilityFeat's agile methods and distributed office made it possible for us to work easily with them despite being based so far away. We also discussed our vision for the MVP with AgilityFeat and were impressed with their understanding, passion, and input. They were an easy choice given their specialization in webRTC applications.

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

It cost between $15,000 and $20,000

When did the project begin, and when was it completed?

The project began in mid-January 2015 and was completed in mid-March 2015

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project, and are there any metrics you can share?

We have a completed MVP ready for test customers to use that has easily met our expectations and more. We are awaiting an upcoming industry conference at the end of September [2015] where test customers will be able to use the application and useful metrics will become available after this opportunity.

What distinguishes AgilityFeat from other providers?

Working with AgilityFeat is unique because they are very passionate and invested in the project. It is like working with an integrated team instead of a contractor. Communication with all members of the team is open and easy. We felt very comfortable throughout the process despite having a limited technology background and at all times the team took the necessary time to listen to our ideas and bring our vision to life.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

We knew most of the team by reading their profiles in the beginning; however, it took us a while to get to know some of their coders because they didn't have profiles. Having profiles for all the team members would be my only suggestion.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My work with AgilityFeat has centered around two of my personal projects. The first was a website for the sport of CrossFit. The goal with that site was to build an online social network to connect CrossFitters. The second project was built to encourage random acts of kindness among strangers.

What is your position and responsibilities?

I was an entrepreneur. I had ideas for these sites, and AgilityFeat helped them come to life.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with AgilityFeat?

I didn't have the time or the capabilities to build these sites, and only had a vague idea of what I even wanted. I considered AgilityFeat my partner in crime in inventing these new companies together.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It's been much more than coding and software development. We're both adherents of the "Lean Startup" methodology of building businesses. We've gone through brainstorming sessions where we were talking about the very basic ideas of what we thought the business was we were trying to build. We very much interacted as one team. They worked with me to determine what I could put out as an MVP [minimum viable product] that would allow us to launch and begin gathering user feedback. They would help me with the launch, the marketing and business plan, and how we could validate the business before we poured a lot of money into it.

How did you come to work with AgilityFeat?

I met Arin [Sime, CEO and founder at AgilityFeat] at a conference. A short while after, I had an idea for a company, and decided to call him up, and immediately he got the rest of his team on the call, and we started bouncing ideas off the wall. Things progressed from there. I've never met anyone who was so flexible regarding their client's needs.

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

It was between $10,000 and $25,000 for both projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first project started in December 2012 and ended in June 2013. The most recent one we started working on in May, and we just launched the MVP last week [July 2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What sets AgilityFeat apart from other business partners?

The communication and collaboration you get with AgilityFeat is, hands down, the most impressive part of their work. There's such a commitment, on their end, to owning the project and becoming a part of your team. That encompasses everything from setting realistic goals to just being friendly and responsive. They also absolutely live up to their namesake, "agile development." The flexibility of their process is such that there's no judgment and, at any point, you can say, "You know, I don't actually think I want to keep going in this direction. I actually don't think I want to spend any more money on this," and you're done.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

I don't know. I just can't say enough good things about them. That's why I wanted to use them again. Anything that was a problem, was resolved that day.