Bananacode - Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a startup with the idea to give the opportunity to small businesses to have their small e-commerce store without spending money and in just a few hours I am the CTO of this startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to build an e-commerce platform that will also let us create small stories inside and give access to different small companies to manage their catalog, sales, clients, analytics, etc, we hired Bananacode to design and build this entire platform

SOLUTION

How did you select Bananacode and what were the deciding factors?

They have big experience developing e-commerce solutions using Magento2 which was the technology we wanted to use to develop this idea.

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

We worked using an agile process, where we had deliverables every week, they first designed the site then started with the development, me as CTO was in charged on thinking about how we would solve some of the biggest e-commerce challenges this project had and they got in charge of implementing them.

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

We were a small team of: 1 designer from Bananacode 1 magento2 developer from Banacode 1 CTO (me)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still working on improving the project every day, since we launched two months ago, from a development perspective, the implementation has behaved amazingly, we are still working on improving the platform number of clients.

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

We used Discord as channel of communication and Trello to keep every deliverable organized, also we used Notion to keep documentation and notes of the project.

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

Their experience working with e-commerce systems is amazing, also they are really organized and have a great client service, it feels like working with friends.

Are there any areas for improvement?

From a general perspective all good, but well there are always areas of improvement in every company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Motus Apps. We develop custom web and mobile applications for clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bananacode?

We had a particular client project, and Bananacode’s resources and tech stack were set up well to be able to help us with that. We contracted them as a development arm of Motus Apps to help us develop this particular project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bananacode helped us develop a web app. It was a customized system for scheduling teaching sessions to occur across multiple instructors and multiple classrooms. The tech stack was Node.js and React with MongoDB, which they were able to adapt to easily due to their knowledge base. My team started the project, and they were able to help us develop the last 80% of it. They also helped us tremendously in the testing and deployment of the app.

What is the team composition?

We worked with between 5–6 people.

How did you come to work with Bananacode?

I became aware of them sometime last year through a mutual friend whose company has also used them and seen good results. I keep the names and numbers of people like that close at hand, so when I had a project, I reached out to Bananacode.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together was from early March through the end of April or early May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The shining star of their organization is their tester. He actually uncovered a great number of bugs that even we had not found out about as of yet. The vast majority of these bugs were preexisting in the system that we asked them to build on top of. He was able to help us work through a lot of the inefficiencies of the system and make some great recommendations that Bananacode built on top of.

How did Bananacode perform from a project management standpoint?

We did not exceed the budget by any significant amount, nor did we go over on schedule, so both of those were very well-contained. In the course of doing what they had to do, they discovered inefficiencies in the preexisting system, so any missed deadlines were justified. Communication was good and on par with what I would expect.

From a project management standpoint, I thought Pedro (CEO & Co-Founder) did a great job of assembling the right sized team for the project and setting up the proper communication channels. We used Discord, and that worked well. They were all very attentive and responded in what I consider to be a very adequate amount of time. They answered all of our questions. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed with their testing abilities. They have a top-notch tester, and I’d absolutely use them again just to have access to him.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Toward the end of the project, they had the same issue that almost every engineer I’ve ever worked with has had: they wanted to try and solve the problem themselves. From a project management standpoint, I’ve always appreciated when my engineers work on an issue or a roadblock for a day or so, and if they can’t get it, they send it to me and let me deal with it. It would’ve been better for them to come to me as quickly as possible when they had an issue as opposed to trying to bulldoze through it themselves.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a design and advertising agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Bananacode?

We engaged them for development services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve had a range of different projects with Banan in projects that require web development, including landing pages and web apps. The team has used Wordpress and PHP.

What is the team composition?

I have worked directly with 3 people.

How did you come to work with Bananacode?

They were referred to us by one of our employees.

How much have you invested in them?

We typically spend between $3,000–$4,500 per project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first met with Bananacode about two years ago but it wasn’t until last year that we engaged with the goal of creating a sort of corporate alliance between our companies and to define projects we could take on together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The engagement has been great. Being able to offer our services in conjunction with theirs has brought an added value to our services. 

How did Bananacode perform from a project management standpoint?

We use a project management tool called Didcot, which allows us to organize our projects very neatly. As for deadlines, we have had a couple of delays, but most of them were for changes made by the client, though some others for inaccurate calculations from their side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Bananacode knows the market and new technologies very well. They’re able to provide great orientation and consulting to clients, and help them to find the best option for them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve with deadlines and plan the calendar ahead with more caution. They could also integrate better with the client’s team to better understand the changes made along the road.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a digital media and startup incubator.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bananacode?

The team at Bananacode developed our website that allows for content management and integrates with subscription payment systems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the website, the team used React, Mailchimp, and other technologies.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of 4.

How did you come to work with Bananacode?

My partner found Bananacode. They made a proposal and offered improvements to our previous platform.

Their team created several landing pages for us. After that, they earned our trust, and we continued expanding our collaboration.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $100,000–$150,000.  

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Bananacode started about two years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our collaboration has been great. As in every development project, we’ve had a couple of setbacks, but they have a great service. The team always responds to our feedback and manages to solve everything timely.

How did Bananacode perform from a project management standpoint?

The team used a project management tool for tracking. We also used emails and direct communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at Bananacode has a great attitude. They’re always willing to collaborate and find solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a few delivery delays. Some of them were caused by changes we made at the last moment, but they could also improve in that area.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I’m the CEO of a clothing retail company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Bananacode?

Due to the pandemic, we had to find a way to position ourselves in digital channels. As a result, we needed to create a website and a virtual platform so we hired Bananacode to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We didn't want a pre-made website because we needed specific features for our business needs. For that reason, Bananacode built a custom website that would enable us to sell our products online. The team now continues to maintain our platform. In the future, we still need to put the website forward and make a greater investment in marketing and social media to start increasing our sales.

What was the team composition?

We're working with at least four people from Bananacode.

How did you come to work with Bananacode?

Bananacode was introduced and referred to us. When we contacted them, they provided us with a catalog of their previous developments. We really liked one of their proposals and how easy it was to navigate the sites they developed. We also received a good reference for the team from one of the best technical universities in the country. Additionally, they had young talents, which showed that they were a jovial and modern company.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $10,000 for the website, and we continue to pay them a monthly fee of $400 for licenses, emails, and maintenance.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've had a great experience with Bananacode; we haven't encountered any issues because they always solve our requests. As for metrics, the site they built is a great tool that will help us achieve our goals. On top of that, our clients are happy with the website — they mentioned that it looks good and it's easy to use — on our part, that's all we're looking for.

How did Bananacode perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very professional, and they always stick to deadlines. Moreover, they always push us in a good sense to keep the project moving forward and that has worked really well. Overall, they're able to meet expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness and customer service skills have been impressive. They provide great service by always being available to attend to our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It was hard for us to adapt to working remotely but that was something we had to do because of COVID-19.