ClearSummit

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations officer for an online travel website. I make decisions related to software development, integration, and implementation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

We wanted to integrate an API to our online booking website that we were building from scratch. The API interacted with our backend and an interface that we designed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They acted as our outsourced development team. ClearSummit created an interface that was modern and user-friendly on mobile devices. There were many filtering, sorting, and imaging features that were optimized for mobile. The program was written in Python.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of five: Cole (Project Manager, ClearSummit), Shane (Founder, ClearSummit), Corey (Full Stack Developer, ClearSummit), Austin (Head of Design ClearSummit) and Max (Strategy, ClearSummit).

How did you come to work with ClearSummit?

I found them on Clutch. The kickoff conversation was with Shane and Max.

How much have you invested with them?

Our team invested $230,000 in the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started conversations in October and November. Development started in December 2018 and ended in December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve just begun marketing through online advertising and social media. There have been several bookings on the website each day, so that’s been successful. We’re expecting an exponential increase as we start accumulating more return clients and as the website begins to circulate online.

How did ClearSummit perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily organize through Slack. There were also weekly meetings where we worked out the tasks we had going on. Those were held via Zoom video sharing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very hands-on and invested in the project. We feel as if they are partners because of their level of involvement when it comes to creativity and innovation. Because of this, they are also consultants when it comes to the business model of the website, not just developers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only issue was that or API provider, not attached to ClearSummit, dropped the ball and failed to get the API running on time. That wasn’t on them; they were very patient despite all the errors we were running into.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise customers to give creative freedom and independence to them. You should take the recommendations and advice that is coming from their side because that ultimately adds value to the business, rather than being narrow-minded.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of product design for a company that makes a consumer IoT device that’s installed in homes. The device protects from leaks and encourages water conservation. I’m responsible for overseeing the UX & UI design, frontend app development, web design, and creation of brand and marketing materials.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ClearSummit?

Our company has a hardware solution that requires a companion application (iOS and Android) for our customers to communicate with the system. Users would be able to set up the device, monitor activity, and control water flow in the installed location. We hired ClearSummit to build this application.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an app that would be highly-ranked to accompany our hardware, allowing users to understand the activity in their plumbing systems and communicate with our leak-prevention device. The app also needed to be created in time for our scheduled product launch.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with ClearSummit on a previous project and was impressed with their app development skills. I compared several other vendors and was unable to find one that I felt confident could complete the job in our timeframe. ClearSummit quickly grasped the scope of the project, understanding the complexity of the problems that needed solving.

Describe the project in detail.

The criteria for this project included a React Native framework, iOS and Android versions, and hardware integration. The apps also needed to integrate with our company’s site and be built following the design spec created by our internal design team.

ClearSummit was heavily involved in the initial design discovery phases, assisting in the authoring of requirements and spec documentation. Once that phase was complete, their team worked with our product design, cloud, machine learning and other teams to incorporate each domain’s requirements into the development of the application. Shane (Founder & CEO, ClearSummit) created most of the application architecture and primary code base.

What was the team composition?

ClearSummit provided one to three developers based on our weekly needs. The developers worked in tandem with a project manager, product design lead, UX designer, UI designer, FW engineer, Cloud engineer, QA lead, and machine learning lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The product launched on time, having a 4+ rating in both Android and iOS app stores. We’ve continued using ClearSummit’s services for ongoing development as our product matures.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was pretty effective. It was an overall flat team structure that utilized Agile development techniques.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciate their depth of experience. ClearSummit creates elegant solutions to challenges we threw at them with a minimal learning curve. They have an incredible work ethic, delivering top-notch services, even on weekends and holidays. ClearSummit has a rare talent of understanding what they’re building and what user context it needs to function with. This fosters a collaborative environment where both designers and developers can push boundaries, completing their best work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an associate producer at Intellectual Property Corporation. I oversee and run the Project Foodie app, which teaches people how to cook from start to finish. We offer dozens of episodes, ranging from five minutes to an hour, in which chefs provide real-time instruction.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

My team had a clear vision, but we lacked the development skills necessary to build an app with the high-level features and functionalities that we wanted. We hired ClearSummit to oversee the Project Foodie app build, from start to finish.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ClearSummit used my company’s creative design input and wireframes to build an iOS app, compatible with all iPhones and iPads. The team created various features, including integrated shopping lists, timers, tags, and search functions. They also made the recipes scalable so that users could adjust them according to their serving size requirements.  

What is the team composition?

Initially, we engaged with an intermediary between ClearSummit and us. We eventually worked directly with ClearSummit, mainly engaging with Kara (Co-Founder & Advisor, ClearSummit) and Shane (Founder & CEO, ClearSummit).

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $325,000–$350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

My company began working with ClearSummit in 2015, and the product launched in November 2017. We discontinued maintenance support in January 2019; however, when we need future updates or maintenance, we will reengage ClearSummit.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Without ClearSummit, we couldn’t have built this app. The team implemented all of the designs that an ad agency created, and they completed any updates that we wanted.

How did ClearSummit perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was very good. If we had any issues, they dropped everything for us. They shared relevant marketing opportunities with us and were incredibly helpful overall. Our teams communicated via Slack, email, and phone. We had in-person meetings as well.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were the app’s biggest contributors. ClearSummit created an app that is incredibly functional and reliable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a great job. We only have positive things to say.

Any advice for potential customers?

Just communicate what you want, and they’ll make it happen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of RealKey, a mortgage technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

We needed help developing a web platform for our new product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ClearSummit developed a web-based platform, using Python, Angular, and Node.js. They referred a design firm for us to use for the frontend, but developed the backend from scratch. One of the features they built allows us to send emails to users to collect documents in one place while keeping them private from other parties involved in the process. PDFs are then sorted digitally, a loan officer can review them in real time, and more information is available to the consumers from there.

What is the team composition? 

I worked directly with Shane (Founder and CEO, ClearSummit), who acted as the main developer, and Kara (Co-founder and COO, ClearSummit), who managed the project.

How did you come to work with ClearSummit?

Our CTO recommended them. In addition to their strong portfolio of work, we liked that they were based in California so we could visit them in person on occasion. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested somewhere around $65,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from around March–August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ClearSummit developed an effective platform that continues to attract and satisfy the needs of users. We hope to work with them again to add new features shortly. 

How did ClearSummit perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great to work with. They held daily stand-ups, provided weekly updates, and were very responsive on Slack, Jira, and Trello. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like the fact that the owners were so involved in the project. They had a thorough understanding of our needs and were able to provide top-notch solutions and service. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It'd always be nice to have more of Shane's time, but I know he's quite busy and has other functions within the company. Overall, the engagement went very smoothly. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide clear designs and a defined scope of work to make it easier for them to hit the ground running. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a strategy, design and development agency. It is a small 10-person company and I have been there for about four years. I’ve gone through a gamut of different responsibilities. I started out at as a general quality assurance/account manager and my final role has been more of a product manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

We needed iOS development. We were trying to do some augmented reality work. We had a museum as a client and we were working on the development of an iOS app. It had imagery and 3D renderings of objects and places based off locations on a satellite map that was printed on the museum’s exhibit floor.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ClearSummit has worked on a few different projects with us. They effectively built three applications from scratch and did a handful of other things that involved the maintenance or creation of new features.

After we worked on the museum application, they helped with a few other applications that were somewhat similar. One regarded a historic plantation that was converted and owned by a southern state. It gave a tour of the historical elements of what happened with slavery and the trials and tribulations of different people, to share with the public in terms of remembrance.

We also dealt with a health and medicine app. It helped with non-emergency medical transportation for non-emergency medical issues. It was for people needing to go to the hospital or who were being discharged, especially for Medicaid patients. It was essentially an Uber app for non-emergency medical transportation. Shane [President, ClearSummit] and Kara [COO, ClearSummit] and the team helped us with all facets of the mobile development on that one. They guided us through the API needs for the web application, to the app and vice versa, as well as consulted us on distribution strategy and general work.

Now, we have a couple of updates we need help with and we’re chatting with them. We just got some estimates for some very small work in historical value, mainly small maintenance things. We're going to check with the client for approval on budgets first. Once that is approved, we’ll make sure ClearSummit is an approved vendor for them as well.

How did you come to work with ClearSummit?

We were looking for one person to hire. Shane jumped in at a really good time and helped not only with the development of solving problems with code but also general product guidance. Shane and Kara helped with a lot of the different details and facets that you often deal with in the product land. They would go ahead and communicate directly with our developers, our product managers, and our QA people, and really became a big part of the team. A lot of other development companies or contractors I deal with often need to be managed through a single point person and need more hand-holding. ClearSummit is just more adaptive, can jump around, and solve problems. They understand who the stakeholders are in each project and get the work done by coordinating everything.

How much have you invested with them?

I prefer to keep it confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2014 until 2017, but are looking to continue the partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For code quality, there was general testing to ensure issues weren’t going to come up. They always provided something that was top quality and we never ran into crazy issues. If an issue did come up, we talked about it on the phone and resolved it very quickly. This alleviated stress. We had a team we could rely on as much as with an internal strategic partner, but with an outside benefit of being tied to the project and not a giant cost to us. We got all the benefits.

How did ClearSummit perform from a project management standpoint?

Kara took a lead with project management. They were definitely good at coordinating all the tasks. In terms of overall communication, we eventually requested a weekly check-in with them. They were on top with communication, weekly check-ins, and communication over Slack. They were part of our product team, rather than just an outsourced, delivery engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their response time was always impressive. They can facilitate getting anything done in terms of app development, and they are always pretty quick to reach and access. One of the main things I loved about working with Shane and ClearSummit, is that when we ran into a request or issue we didn’t fully understand, but knew that there was some type of app development required, we could jump on the phone with them and they could help us brainstorm the solution or what the process needed to be.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, they were pretty good. I know they use other developers in-house, so communicating the overall team structure at the start of a project could be a good idea to do. There was one instance where there was a secondary developer working on small or side objects, and we just weren’t aware of them. We talked about this and came to an understanding.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was a product manager for a design and development agency based in Los Angeles. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what reason(s) did your company hire ClearSummit?

We partnered with ClearSummit for a large technology client who needed a custom IoT [Internet of Things] mobile application that needed to be implemented within an aggressive timeline. We engaged ClearSummit to complement our design and development team, allowing us to meet our time constraints for the pilot launch. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

ClearSummit’s knowledge of architecture, development, and scalability was a deciding factor in our choice to hire them.

Describe the project in detail.

ClearSummit assisted with early ideation and discovery all the way to wireframing, design, and development. They also provided external project management for our client, who needed a product owner to coordinate their resources.

The overall project lasted approximately 6–7 months, and ClearSummit continues to provide support for our client.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with Shane [Founder & Lead Engineer, ClearSummit] for this engagement. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They exceeded our expectations as a partner. Shipping the product on time and within budget would have been nearly impossible without their help.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Working with ClearSummit was an exceptional experience. I'd recommend them without hesitation to anyone who needs help with project execution, intelligent strategy, and true product ownership throughout the entire engagement. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a founder of WeeAct, a decision-making social network. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

We needed our app to be built. If a user is facing a decision like where they should take their girlfriend for dinner, they can post 2 pictures of restaurants for everyone to vote on. After they get feedback from everybody, the user can take a picture or video and send it to everyone who voted. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a fully functional iOS app for us. If anything wasn’t functional, they took care of it. They did a project-based rate, which we appreciated because mistakes can add a lot of billable time. We wanted to make a native app, so we used Swift3. The code base is clean. They worked directly with our CTO, and the process went smoothly.

Shane [Co-Founder and Lead Engineer, ClearSummit] always gave us options—Mixpanel, Django, or something else. We went with Django and Mixpanel. We have a backend, a login, an add-picture function, and 2 feeds that run simultaneously. One is the voting feed, and the other is a feed with results from the decisions that were made. We have a part where users agree to the terms of service through TestFlight.

The app has been uploaded to the App Store. We also use a product called Buddybuild for testing. We used Xcode on GitHub for version control, which was extremely helpful. Everything worked seamlessly.

How did you come to work with ClearSummit?

I’ve built apps before using overseas developers and had some issues with that process. I wanted to hire someone local that I could talk to. Making a decision took a while. We conducted an online search to find the right fit, specifically people who had an actual office. I reviewed all the proposals and talked to different firms in person. The proposals were hard to judge because I was new to this area. I ended up picking somebody with a project scope that was too ambitious. They got it done, but the work took a year longer than they said it would.

Then, we had a meeting with Shane. He’s close to our age, which we liked. He had a relationship with social networks similar to ours and could see our vision better than some other people we’d talked to. He also had a knowledge base that was larger than most of the other developers we talked to. Kara [Co-Founder and Project Manager, ClearSummit] was also helpful from both a legal and a technological standpoint.

We met with them twice, and Shane took on another project while we were still looking. We were upset about that at first, but then it took us longer to get things together on our end. When we had everything ready, we hired ClearSummit as soon as they finished the other project. Working with Shane was a great experience because we knew he was our guy after long conversations with him. He did a good job with the proposal process and seemed genuine, especially compared to some other people who spoke with us. 

With overseas companies, I often encounter a disconnect culturally. For example, I had built a children’s app for autism with a provider overseas. Once, I asked for a supermarket, and they sent me a supermarket from their home town, which is in Europe in a low socioeconomic area. Communication issues often pop up too. That provider had someone in California, but he suddenly disappeared, and I wound up working with people overseas, which meant I had to wait a week or more to get a response to my messages.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’m not sure when we started working with them. The collaboration is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten really positive feedback from users. ClearSummit is quick to make fixes. We’ve had meetings with them directly. They’re understanding and give us sophisticated estimates. We trust them.

How did ClearSummit perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack and email to communicate. Shane also used Buddybuild for design, which is fantastic. We were able to explain what we wanted, and if he had deeper questions, he could call us directly or we could meet with him.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an impressive level of direct engagement. I think it’s a generation thing because we’re a younger company. It was nice to partner with someone young who wasn’t a know-it-all. This industry is constantly changing, so I don’t want someone to tell me how it is. I want someone to talk to me in the right way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers who may work with them in the future?

Try to meet with them in person. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The company name is Village Labs. The product that we built is called Village for Parents. It's basically a knowledge-sharing app for new moms and dads.

What is your position?

I'm the founder and president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

When we approached ClearSummit, we already had an MVP [minimum viable product] published in the App Store, but that was an anemic version, like many MVPs are. It didn't have very many features and was bare bones. We needed somebody who could handle both front-end and back-end development and was willing to work with us to bring our vision to life. In interviewing a bunch of people, Shane gave us the most confidence that ClearSummit was the best fit for the project.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

The designs were all done in-house, although Shane [Zilinskas, CEO of ClearSummit] certainly provided feedback in terms of technical feasibility for the designs. However, Shane was mainly in charge of all the front-end and back-end codes. One thing that really impressed me was, the back-end of our MVP had been built with Ruby on Rails, and ClearSummit had done most of their projects in Python. However, they were able to learn that language completely, and use it to build our app without any problems.

How did you come to work with ClearSummit?

I put an ad out on weworkremotely.com and, of the 80 or so responses I got, ClearSummit was just head and shoulders above everybody else based on their portfolio of work. The clear understanding that he had of what we had already built, making some early suggestions that were right on point. From a technical standpoint, it was very obvious he's competent there. Also, he was just extremely pleasant, and an easy guy to work with. When he tells you he's going to get something done, he gets it done.

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

It was in the $50,000 to $100,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with ClearSummit from May 2014 to April 2016. In that time, we typically worked in three-week sprint cycles.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I recently shut the app down because we weren't able to scale it as quickly as we needed to. However, that is not at all related to Shane. I had total confidence in the technology built by ClearSummit. We actually were a Webby award honoree this past year.

What distinguishes ClearSummit from other providers?

I think Shane is what sets them apart. He's an incredibly versatile person. That's the one thing that I would say, he's capable of handling many different tasks at a very high level. He's also dedicated when it comes to meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations. He takes that seriously and takes a lot of pride in his work. It really shows.

Is there anything ClearSummit could have improved or done differently?

I can't think of anything. Essentially, all of the problems we faced in this company were outside of Shane's control.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an astrology-based dating app.

What is your position?

We are the cofounders and handle the creative and business operations of the app. We have contracted with ClearSummit for our tech services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

We took a windy road to find ClearSummit. Initially, we were working with an Indian company to build the app. Unfortunately, it was not a positive experience. They ended up damaging our app, and we hired ClearSummit to fix what they had messed up. We ended up retaining ClearSummit because they did such a great job.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

When the app was broken by these Indian developers, Shane [Zilinskas, president,] and Kara [McGehee, COO,] at ClearSummit patched up the pieces and fixed much of the code. They were using Ruby, and our app originally had certain platforms built into it, like PubNub as a chat platform for example. For the most part, they rebuilt everything that the other company had built and largely kept what had been in our MVP [minimum viable product] before we contracted with the other company.

How did you come to work with ClearSummit?

The MVP had originally been built by another local development team here in Los Angeles, who was also who referred us to ClearSummit.

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

Initially, it was around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2015, and we're still working with them today [as of July 2016].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've seen dramatic jumps in return users and session lengths on the app. There are many fewer crashes. In terms of a more subjective assessment, whenever issues did come up, they addressed them so quickly, efficiently, and effectively that we went from having a technical headache every single day to having trust and confidence in a team that could put out fires when they needed to be put out. The session lengths improved. The entire experience went from being a buggy inconsistent app to being a very consistent platform.

What distinguishes ClearSummit from other providers?

As cofounders to a small and growing company, we can't sing ClearSummit's praises enough, but I think what stands out is their creativity and their willingness to be patient teachers to us. At this point, we've worked or met or interviewed so many different development teams both in and out of Los Angeles, and they are the most humble yet the most talented by far. They've been the most compassionate and, at the same time, they're not condescending in any capacity even though we're younger and we're new startup founders.

Is there anything ClearSummit could have improved or done differently?

No – they're perfect. They're amazing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I am an independent app developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with ClearSummit?

We were looking for a US-based app developer that could produce my vision, but also add technical expertise and domain expertise; I needed someone to tell me the things that I should be doing that I don't know I should be doing.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They did all the development from design and delivery through publishing, pushing out the test flight versions and the final release into the app store. It was really a whole service. I was hands-off completely in terms of the technical side of things. One of the things that was really helpful was that ClearSummit has a lot of experience with mobile apps, and their advice on the design and marketing of the app, in addition to its development was crucial to the success of the project.

Can you briefly describe the app?

There are two. They're still early stage right now. One is a consumer app, and the other one is for businesses.

How did you come to work with ClearSummit?

They were a referral through a friend. I posted on Facebook I was looking for a rock star iOS developer and someone pointed me in Shane's [Zilinskas, CEO of ClearSummit] direction. We really hit it off from the beginning. He's a great guy and we have similar ideas about how business should be done, and that helps things move really smoothly.

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

Between the two apps, I’ve probably spent in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $50,000.

What was the timeline on this project?

They’re agile projects so it’s been a really flexible timeline. I’ve been slammed with a lot of other work so I haven’t been able to devote as much time to the app as I would have liked, and that’s slowed us down.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What sets ClearSummit apart from other vendors you’ve worked with?

As with all IT projects, things end up taking a little longer and costing a little bit more than you would expect, but Shane is really transparent and honest along the way, and he's been really flexible with me when I’ve pushed things back or put a hold on the projects. He's been great to work with. I've referred him to a bunch of friends and I've heard nothing but good things.

Is there anything ClearSummit could have improved or done differently?

I think they’re a young company, and they’re still figuring out how to give the most accurate cost guidelines. Being more transparent with how things are pacing along the way would be helpful. With that being said, they’re really open and honest, and obviously part of the disparity is due to me and my changing timelines and requirements. So I don't think any of this is unique to them either. They’re figuring out how to get more streamlined in delivery and process and more efficient in being able to deliver things on time, but he's always communicative along the way.

What advice would you give to someone about developing a consumer app for the first time?

Work with Shane, would be the first one. Then, I'd say actually building the app is only 25% of the project. The tip of the iceberg is building the thing.