Cheesecake Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We make a product called Lockitron, which is a smartphone-controlled door lock. Basically, it lets you share access with family and friends on a temporary or permanent basis. It is available on iOS and Android platforms, as well as a website.

What is your position?

I’m the Chief Executive Officer [CEO] and one of the co-founders at Lockitron.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Cheesecake Labs?

We have a significant background working on the hardware side of Lockitron, the embedded software development, the firmware, and the web portion; however, we aren’t native app developers. For our application, Android and iOS apps are key to our customer’s success, which is where Cheesecake came in.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

I know that Cheesecake Labs offers a wide array of services that we haven’t tapped into, and we’ve looked at working with them on some of our web stuff, but we’ve only worked with them on iOS and Android development.

How did you come to work with Cheesecake Labs?

We’ve worked with a number of independent contractors over the years on our mobile application. Ultimately, the biggest reason we went with Cheesecake is because they had already worked on a number of other impressive Silicon Valley apps, and contributed to the success of those companies. Their cost really met our budget goals. We are able to accomplish a lot more with them than we would with local developers here because costs have grown so astronomically high in the Bay Area.

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

We see this as an ongoing project for the next year or so, so probably in the $50,000 to $200,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s an ongoing engagement. We’ve been working with Cheesecake for quite a few months now, certainly through the fall of last year. We’ve had several app releases since we started working with them. We’ve released app updates several times to both the App Store and Google Play Store, and we’ve almost completed work on an entirely rebuilt version of the app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It’s a bit tricky to provide quantitative data because our apps are released for free as companion apps to a physical product that we sell. That being said, thanks to Cheesecake, we were able to go from an app which had very basic support and a number of features which were failing, to being on a very stable footing across all of our feature sets. This includes some really sophisticated ones in terms of Bluetooth interaction with the lock itself.

What distinguishes Cheesecake Labs from other providers?

The folks at Cheesecake are highly organized. They’re inclined to have regular meetings to ensure that we’re keeping a good pace, in sync with project goals, and ultimately to understand what the specifications of the project are. They’re able to provide a framework, including our agenda, specifications, and our roadmap. Twice a week we meet via video conference to communicate goals, and see what hurdles are in the way of moving forward. It’s not any different in my mind than having one or two almost full-time people in-house helping out with the project. Their communication and the output of the developers has been phenomenal. They were able to solve some complex problems very quickly.

Is there anything Cheesecake Labs could have improved or done differently?

I can’t really think of anything right now that they could have done differently. Cheesecake uses the latest technology which is great. I was concerned they would have dated technology. They did a fantastic job helping us manage the project and making sure that we hit the goals. Because they did such a great job, I ‘d like to take it to the next level and potentially bring in some additional organization tools that they’ve used with clients before.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Camio makes real-time videos smart by doing instant search and alerts on any video stream. We started with turning existing cell phones and tablets, into smart video cameras that could alert you. For example, if people are approaching your walkway, or if your elderly mother is living alone and hasn’t made coffee by 10 a.m., you would be alerted.

What is your position?

I’m CEO and co-founder of Camio. I was the person that initially contracted with Cheesecake.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Cheesecake Labs?

We were looking for somebody that could help with some of the difficult issues we had in turning Android apps into reliable cameras. The CEO of Cheesecake Labs had worked with Uber on their app, and when we had issues, he helped. We’ve been treating them as an extended team for Camio ever since.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

The apps are available on both the iOS and Android platforms.

How did you come to work with Cheesecake Labs?

Cheesecake Labs was referred by somebody that I knew through an investor. I think we were among their earliest clients. We were considering whether to just hire in-house here in San Mateo, or contract with them as our outsourced mobile app development team. They have since practically become members of our team.

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

There may have been one year that we exceeded $250,000. Currently, our annual run rate is in the $50,000 to $250,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We’ve gotten a number of “best-of" awards and recognition from our peers in the industry as the number one way to monitor your outdoor living spaces. Google’s blog posted about our success in smart video.

In terms of the quantitative stats, every day we process about 4 million video events. People primarily search from the apps that Cheesecake Labs has helped build. About 80% of our usage is on mobile apps versus our web browser app.

What distinguishes Cheesecake Labs from other providers?

Cheesecake Labs is a great virtual team member. We have regular daily, short ten-minute video chats to plan each day. They also participate in our weekly team sprint meetings. We treat them as members of the team, other than the fact that they’re in Brazil. They have stock options as part of their compensation plan. They are great extended teammates.

Is there anything Cheesecake Labs could have improved or done differently?

Cheesecake went through a period of time where their bandwidth was bad because they were moving offices. Because of this, we were continually struggling with video capabilities. However, recently it’s been better. When you’re working remotely, you have to be fanatically focused on having plentiful bandwidth. That was the only thing that could have been improved, but they have since corrected that.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company.

Our company is a new media search engine. It is an easy-to-use leap compared to existing media contact databases. We offer free full text and Twitter searches of more than 10,000 of the most important writers in technology, gaming, and beyond. 

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

There was a market need for a robust media search engine and contact database incumbents had yet to fill. We wanted to build a user-friendly search engine that would enable views of information by author or outlet as well as full text search of articles.

SOLUTION

Please provide a description of the project. With what parts of the project was the service provider involved?

The product that Cheesecake Labs developed for us is like a smarter Google for tech blogs. It crawls content on the Web and, applying natural language AI [artificial intelligence] algorithms, learns the keywords that posts are talking about, and what is the sentiment of the author on those matters.

Cheesecake Labs built the back-end and front end of the search engine. Back-end work included not just the database development, but input mechanisms for the staff to update content manually, which couldn't be curated automatically. They also developed various tools that crawl and parse multiple blogs in real time.

In order to work with this huge amount of data we had to create elastic databases with multiple clusters of Amazon machines, we also had to build MapReduce services to be able to access the clusters in a fast way. Finally, they built the Web UI [user interface] to access all the information.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

The size of the project was in the $50,000 to $200,000 price range.

When was the project completed?

The project was completed in November 2014.

What was the process of selecting Cheesecake Labs for this project?

Cheesecake Labs was recommended to me for development work by an elite Silicon Valley insider.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first several iterations prospered thanks to Cheesecake's work. The site scaled really well and enabled the confident hiring of an in-house development team to go further to market.

How did the service provider perform?

I am very happy with the work that Cheesecake Labs did for us. In addition to recommending them, I have subsequently used Cheesecake on another smaller personal project and would happily do so again. 

Is there any area that the service provider could improve or you would do differently?

It was my first experience with larger-scale software project management and points of difficulty or things I would do differently largely fall on my own inexperience. I don’t blame them for anything. They did a great job.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. What is your role and responsibilities?

I am a business executive at a company focused on developing educational media for children in digital and mobile format.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking for a team of engineers to develop our digital media library app for iOS from scratch. We had a specific idea of what we wanted to do, but we needed software-developing expertise to build the software. The idea of the app is to build a Netflix-like library for children’s books. We provide digital media, so we needed an app with high performance and ease of use. We partnered with Cheesecake Labs for the project.

SOLUTION

Please provide a description of the scope of the project.

After we reached an agreement to partner with Cheesecake Labs, Cheesecake Labs developed a great iPad app for us. Cheesecake Labs built the front end and back-end of the app. They built in features to allow us to modify and adjust the content of our app on our own.

They did all the Objective-C development, back-end development, using Python and Google app engine, and some front end for the Web. We had a designer in their team working with us, so they didn't have to create any visual assets. The Cheesecake Labs team was also responsible for testing the app and website to make sure everything was working properly.

What was your process for selecting the service provider?

We selected Cheesecake Labs because their engineers came highly recommended to us from colleagues in our field. Cheesecake Labs had great ideas on how we could complete our app and add features that were important to our product.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

The size of the project was in the $10,000 to $50,000 price range.

When was the work completed?

The project wrapped on September 1, 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results are great. We have gotten great feedback from our customers on the ease of use and reliability of our app. I believe Cheesecake Labs was a great choice.

How did the service provider perform?

The App that Cheesecake Labs built for us works wonderfully. They did a great job with it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the founder and CEO of an Internet radio company that has college sports podcasts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Cheesecake Labs?

We partnered with Cheesecake Labs because we wanted to improve the quality and concepts of our previous apps. Our development team had done the coding on our previous apps, and it wasn’t of great quality. We needed a stronger, outside team to help develop a great product we would be proud of.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Cheesecake Labs was involved in developing both the front end and back-end of our iOS apps. We are currently working together to rework our website design.

What was your process for selecting Cheesecake Labs with which to work?

One of our investors knew Victor [Oliveira], the co-founder and CEO at Cheesecake Labs. We looked through his portfolio and previous works. We then reached out to him and talked about the work we needed. He had great ideas for us. That convinced us that Cheesecake Labs was a great option for us.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

The size of the project was in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

When was the work completed?

We started our partnership with Cheesecake Labs at the end of January 2015. We released our app mid-March 2015. They worked really fast, especially in our line of work. Our partnership with Cheesecake Labs is still is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

Since our partnership with Cheesecake Labs, the users of our app are engaging with the app more, and they’re staying within the app longer than before. The user feedback is better, too. So, our partnership with Cheesecake Labs made our app a lot stronger and more user-friendly.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

The Cheesecake Labs team is fantastic. We loved working with them. We’re really happy with the results.

Is there anything unique or special about Cheesecake Labs that really makes them stand out compared to other business partners?

Cheesecake put this app together for us really fast. Normally, the development of a mobile app is a six-month process, but they got it done in less than two months. They stayed on time with everything we had planned out. That’s pretty rare. They’re really collaborative. Typically, engineers tell you what you can or can’t do something, but the Cheesecake Labs team would go out of their way to figure it out without getting too much push back. Even if it’s something they’ve never done before, they do all the necessary research and get back to you. They’re really solution oriented. We don’t have to educate them on anything. We’re always moving forward. 

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

No. I can’t think of anything. Maybe we would have tried to give them more work. They’re just so good and so fast at what they do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Software Development Manager of Moneygram International

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a FinTech Company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cheesecake Labs to accomplish?

• Software Upgrade

SOLUTION

How did you find Cheesecake Labs?

Other

Why did you select Cheesecake Labs over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from Cheesecake Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Upgrade Angular and Node.js to the latest version for one of the application that we use for marketing department

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Software upgrades are successful keeping the application functionality in tact

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

Yes, All the deliverables are on time. In some cases they are delivered before the planned timelines

What was your primary form of communication with Cheesecake Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Both their technical and project management skills were impressive.

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

Not at time. Keep executing in the same way that you are doing today.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of an information technology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

AI Infrastructure Software that connects LLMs to back-end enterprise APIs

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cheesecake Labs to accomplish?

• Staffing - DevOps
• Staffing - Python stack

SOLUTION

How did you find Cheesecake Labs?

LinkedIn

Why did you select Cheesecake Labs over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Cheesecake Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

DevOps engineer 50%, SW Eng 100%

Both teams were excellent and performed various development, bug fixing, release and deployment activities

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tickets closed

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

Staff augmentation, so engineers worked as requested. All work was on time vs estimates.

What was your primary form of communication with Cheesecake Labs?

Email or Messaging App

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

Python background, size, focus, location

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

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Product of a financial services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We support the development of the blockchain network to expand everyday access to the global financial markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cheesecake Labs to accomplish?

• Build and maintain a sandbox for digital asset issuance on our platform
• Market bespoke implementations of our asset issuance platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Cheesecake Labs?

Existing provider

Why did you select Cheesecake Labs over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned
• Quality of work

How many teammates from Cheesecake Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

CKL was tasked to build and maintain an asset issuance platform for us. Key deliverables include: 

• Build a system to mimic how asset issuance can be done on our system
• Demonstrate how smart contracts can be used for regulated financial institutions 
• Support our marketing initiatives, including presentations and videos on the sandbox

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. Usefulness of the sandbox to the our partnership team 
2. Contributions to the ecosystem, including the provision of open-source code 
3. Identification of a bug in our new smart contracts code

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

The team was excellent and provided exceptional service. We had weekly calls, weekly written updates, and monthly management calls. We lacked internal our project management support. CKL identified the gap and provided technical project management support for the project.

What was your primary form of communication with Cheesecake Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The quality of their people, hands down! The CKL team was smart, hardworking, and nice. We get many of its engineers from CKL, and I can see why. They are good people. I would steal a number of them if I could.

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

I honestly can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Founder of a legal company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Connects consumers with information on class actions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cheesecake Labs to accomplish?

• iOS and Android Application

SOLUTION

How did you find Cheesecake Labs?

Clutch Site

Why did you select Cheesecake Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Cheesecake Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• UI/UX Design of Mobile App 
• Prototyping and launch of Android and iOS MVP 
• Web Marketing/Landing Page 
• CMS (Content Management System)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Received MVP with agreed upon functionality within budget.

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

Communicated multiple times on a weekly basis through design of the application and with weekly releases through engineering and testing.

What was your primary form of communication with Cheesecake Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Cheesecake understood the goal of the project very quickly and required minimal feedback throughout the life of the project. The deliverables were buttoned up and transparent which gave us comfort throughout the process.

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

No areas of improvement, I plan on continuing to use Cheesecake as we continue to develop and formally launch.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of TLS Holdings, Inc

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A Fan Engagement + AdTech Platform

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cheesecake Labs to accomplish?

• UX/UI
• Develop the Application
• Deliver Codebase to Stakeholders

SOLUTION

How did you find Cheesecake Labs?

Online Search

Why did you select Cheesecake Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Cheesecake Labs were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

To design an updated UI/UX for an emerging fan engagement and adtech product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Revised UI/UX delivered and application was built.

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

• Very thorough.
• Delivered most items on time.
• Very responsive.

What was your primary form of communication with Cheesecake Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Very Creative.

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

No. They're a great company to work with.