CrustLab

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a startup called SoyDigi. We help digital workers, self-employed workers, and freelancers manage their projects through a business administration platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrustLab?

We were part of an incubation program and needed a company that could do two things for us: first, to help us validate the feasibility of our idea, and second, to help us build an MVP around that idea. We decided to work with CrustLab to address our consulting and development needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After our initial meetings and CrustLab’s confirmation that they would be willing to collaborate with us, they scheduled a workshop session where we could reveal our different ideas. We told them what functionalities and workflows we wanted to achieve for our audience. 

The team helped us organize our ideas into chapters and groupings to see what aspects can be developed together or what should be separated based on simplicity and complexity. They did this to understand where in the development path the whole product, and each of its components, fits in. 

As part of their consulting service, CrustLab advised us how to structure the functionalities and product roadmap. They evaluated the technical feasibility of what we wanted to build and estimate the effort and budget required for the development.

When we progressed in the incubation program and demonstrated that our feasibility was confirmed by a partner, we moved into the actual development. CrustLab created an MVP — a web application with a client interface and an administration funnel — in three weeks using Django. The MVP made it possible for us to test with real users and at the same time manage different goals while providing our intended services.

What is the team composition?

There were five people involved at the beginning. We thought we only needed a backend developer and a frontend developer, but Marcin (Co-Founder) and Adam (CEO) decided to join to ensure the project quality.

How did you come to work with CrustLab?

We started an incubation program with an accelerator here in Poland in October last year. The incubator was going to pay for the development and launched a public tender. 

I did a Google search and landed in Clutch, where I saw the many warehouses in Poland. The site helped me rank which one to choose, and I contacted around 5–7 companies. CrustLab participated in a public tender and won the contract over the other submitted proposal, so they secured the contract for developing our MVP.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $3,000 for the consulting services and $10,000 for the full development.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in October 2020. During those first few months, we were focused on consulting, feasibility analysis, and documentation. They developed within the last week of December to the first two weeks of January. The project is currently on pause because we are waiting for government funding.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We shared with CrustLab the mockups of how we wanted the product to look like and they did it exactly by the pixel. Even better, they added much more style and professionalism. It didn’t look like an MVP; it looked like a full-blown web application already.

What made our engagement a great experience was that their team informed us of what would happen in each week of the development. It’s great when a development agency we’re working with tells us what they’re going to do and actually completes it by the time they said they would.

They also gave me access to a board in Jira where they were creating all the cases and documenting all the comments. The team had very few questions and managed every single user story, doing everything as we had planned.

Overall, CrustLab was like our partner and not just someone that was called in for us. I was only looking for someone to make the code happen, but their team went beyond that. They helped me understand the infrastructure required and the kind of challenges that we were going to encounter in the database, deployment, and maintenance. The team not only gave strong technical advice about the development but also guided us about how it can fit into our business model. 

How did CrustLab perform from a project management standpoint?

Initially, we had a video conference and exchanged a couple of emails to introduce them to the project. Later on, whenever I had any questions or just had a thought bouncing around in my head, they would give me a super professional response and feedback. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were able to deliver big results because they had high-quality consulting, advising, and development services. I’ve worked in technology consulting for ten years, so I know it’s hard to get a developer that actually commits to what is going to be delivered by a certain date. They exceeded our expectations with the MVP and the feasibility analysis.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we were working on the development of the MVP, I saw that they got a little bit stuck in some places. Though this didn’t cause any delays, they could’ve just asked me questions or talked directly to me. Everything was coming through the project manager and the rest of the team seemed a little shy, which I guess is normal. 

It didn’t impact the project, but I would have liked to have had more open communication, besides being so formal with the project manager. This may be something good to work on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My biggest advice is to have fully open communication with the guys at CrustLab. In the beginning, we were also kind of scared, signing NDAs and not sharing enough about the project. When we had built enough trust to talk about it, I realized it was a waste of time not being transparent with their team. They were so open to everything we were thinking and caught everything we said. 

Share your ideas, fears, and constraints openly because they will better understand what you are looking for. They will always be professional, unjudging, and will surely make something great out of any idea — even if you think it’s crazy or if you don’t know how to incorporate it into the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and vice president of PelviFly, a healthcare service for women. We have a training platform, mobile app, and device that women, especially mothers who have just gone through childbirth, can use to train and rehabilitate their pelvic floor muscles. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrustLab?

In order to prepare our business on a bigger scale, we needed to create changes in the existing system, build new services, and create a marketplace for physiotherapists. There were different goals to be achieved so we hired CrustLab.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, CrustLab conducted a workshop as a sort of planning process. Our company went over our goals and explained our expectations which were then reviewed from their technical point of view. The team recommended what technology to use and estimated the time needed to develop the system. We also planned ahead of unexpected events, like what to do if changes happen during the process. Once we all agreed on the tasks and time needed, they started with the job.

The first task was for CrustLab to further develop the systems built by a previous company in 2017. They created new games and training programs for the mobile app and did some frontend changes to the web platform. A marketplace functionality connected to the Stripe payment processing software was also integrated into the web portal.

After some time, a progress review was conducted where we could test the system and give feedback. The final stage was the transferring of the rights to the system.

What is the team composition?

We were in touch with the CEO of CrustLab in the beginning to set our goals and work structure. Then there was a project manager who was responsible for planning and daily contact. We were also in touch with team members who presented their accomplishments during review points.

How did you come to work with CrustLab?

A company we work with referred them. We had CrustLab take on 10% of the scope of the contract to see if they could deliver results and if their estimates matched the final cost. After this trial, we decided to go ahead with the entire project.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested over $200,000 with CrustLab so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in August 2020 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was important that we create something that could have a financial impact and CrustLab’s implementation of our solutions, like the marketplace, has almost doubled our revenues. 

We divided the project into sprints, so one thing we measured them on was if the team delivered the results at the time they promised. We also checked if their initial estimations were the same as the final cost of the system and if the product’s functionality is what we expected. We got what we wanted in those regards.

How did CrustLab perform from a project management standpoint?

We used tools like JIRA to monitor and share the progress of development. They were very good in all aspects of cooperation. I felt that we were treated as very important clients because we received a very high standard of service. We were even given a support service after the end of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CrustLab did not try to boost the scope of the work in order to make the project more cost-effective. If I had a vision for the project, they always verify it first. From a business perspective, this was very helpful. When we wanted extra features, they would recommend less expensive solutions that would give the same outcomes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The team could spend more time in the beginning to plan everything in detail and forecast problems that may appear from the UX perspective. However, I think this will come with experience. They can continue to do as they have done in the past or do something entirely new even if it takes more time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Anyone that wants to work with CrustLab should invest money into the planning process before signing a contract. The team is really good at recommending the best solutions so I would advise that both sides take time to establish all the details and goals to have a good final product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TMS Brokers is a leading company in providing solutions for forex investment, specifically on the contract for differences (CFD) market. We were set up 20 years ago and are the oldest Polish broker on the forex market. My department was set up four years ago and focuses on currency exchange only.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrustLab?

We were looking to make enhancements on an existing platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Using Scala and JavaScript, CrustLab is working on an online trading platform for entrepreneurs and their clients. The features they’ve worked on include the onboarding process and trading process. For example, they’ve added a feature for extending delivery dates.

Onboarding involves users entering all their banking information for settlement purposes. People can create trading accounts on their company’s behalf. From there, they can convert currencies and make transfers from Poland abroad, using our service.

What is the team composition?

My main contacts are Marcin (Co-Founder) and Adam (CEO). Marcin is our project manager.

How did you come to work with CrustLab?

They were recommended to me by another company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with CrustLab in May 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solution is crucial for my department. They felt like our internal IT department, working during the night when we were deploying important features. That was fantastic, and I’m happy they’ve worked with me on this project. I would recommend them if someone asked me about a developer.

How did CrustLab perform from a project management standpoint?

I give them full marks here. We used an agile methodology, and, even though some deadlines were missed, it was because some features turned out to be more complicated to build than we estimated in the beginning. I’m okay with that.

We have a lot of channels for communication, including Skype, Slack, Meetup, and the phone. Our communication worked out well. We used Jira to manage the backlog and sprints.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were fast and professional. The project was difficult for them in the beginning, because it required knowledge about the financial market, but they learned fast.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

With any collaboration like this one, everything needs to be written down in the beginning. If the product specifications aren’t written down in detail, some problems may appear in the future. I had no such situations with CrustLab. We did have some specification changes, but they were flexible.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at FounderPartners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a workflow tool that would automate the discovery and management of new deal opportunities in the global technology market.

SOLUTION

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

My partner and I interviewed 3 different development shops in the CEE region and chose CrustLab for the following reasons:

1. They have a proven track record of success
2. Smart, agile learners
3. Detail-oriented
4. Very customer focused -- listen, responsive to our needs, great customer service
5. Price
6. Have a passion for what we're doing
7. A firm that we would consider using in the future

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

We met 3 times to scope out the project, create sprint milestones, answer any questions, etc. I'm not a product developer so CrustLabs can provide more of the details about the tools they used. The goal was to complete the project in 5 weeks and the work was done faster and the product experience was better than we anticipated.

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

2 people including the founder/CEO of CrustLabs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project was done sooner than expected and with no bugs. My firm is thrilled with their work. We use the new software tool every week or two and it saves us a lot of manual labor.

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

Empathetic, efficient, thoughtful questions, responsive and willing to go above and beyond. Also, contagiously passionate about the work they do -- excellent people chemistry.

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

This team is hungry, sharp, "on it" and very customer focused. I had no idea that I could find such great help from the other side of the world -- especially a firm that could understand our product requirements even though I'm not a tech product manager.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m currently the director of development for a company that primarily serves the horseracing and greyhound racing businesses. We provide on-track terminals and field boards, hardware for racetrack support, and offer an online wagering platform for B2B customers. 

We’re both web-based and compatible with iOS and Android.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CrustLab?

We were looking to partner with a vendor to build our flagship product from the ground up.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CrustLab’s team is working to develop our betting application, which is based both online and on mobile devices. 

The frontend is built on React, while the backend framework is mainly Java. However, we use several different libraries in addition to Java, including Redis and other caching infrastructures. 

Our database is mostly MySQL with MongoDB, when appropriate. 

What is the team composition?

There are presently 10 developers working on our project, though we hope to expand to 15-16 team members.

How did you come to work with CrustLab?

We looked at several providers, including other offshore vendors. We had worked with one of the originators of CrustLab on a previous project, and we were thrilled to work with him again. Overall, CrustLab was the best choice for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $1,000,000-$5,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in November 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received very positive feedback on the system CrustLab has delivered. Our current and prospective customers regard it as an excellent product. 

How did CrustLab perform from a project management standpoint?

Our teams have daily stand-ups to stay up to date with their development progress and to clarify any questions or issues that might arise.

We use Slack and Skype as well as other venues for communication. For managing and tracking the project itself, we rely on Jira. Additionally, when we need to share screens, we use GoToMeeting.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CrustLab consistently adds value to our organization in many ways. 

We’ve been impressed by CrustLab’s recruitment processes and abilities. The team members are all skilled and work quite well together. 

Additionally, the team communicates very effectively. They aren’t afraid to ask for help or make suggestions to improve the project. Overall, our experience working with them has far exceeded those of other vendors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Over the course of our relationship, we’ve had ups and downs, as is normal when working with any vendor. CrustLab has done well to find solutions for any problem we’ve experienced.

Communication has lacked at times, but the team has taken steps to address it. 

As of now, we have no complaints other than to wish they were twice as big, so we could get more work done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

CrustLab is accommodating and will work with you to address any needs you have. Be clear in your expectations and keep all parties accountable in managing them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Co-Founder of a start-up company aiming to support professional soccer clubs in training the best future soccer players thanks to the latest technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The primary motivation was to digitize the training experience of young soccer adepts. We hired CrustLab to create a cross-platform mobile app powered by AI and a complete back office for professional soccer coaches and administrators.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

In general, we were looking for a software development agency to help us polish our product vision and deliver a complete solution on time and within budget. One of the critical factors was the fact that from the very beginning, they were really professional and prepared, showing us they really care and can be responsible for our apps. We have chosen them as their advisory about technology, the design approach was extremely valuable.

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

We started with product design workshops, then smoothly proceeded to the UX/UI design Phase, where we started with the design of the Flutter mobile app. Design of the back office was started at that phase but continued and developed in parallel to the mobile app development works. Now CrustLab’s responsible for the maintenance of the app.

During the workshops, CrustLab provided complete technical advisory, prepared a preliminary product architecture, defined the core scope of the project, prioritized milestones, and selected significant features. One of the key outcomes of the workshops was a complete change in the vision of how the Coach persona would interact with the system, which resulted in a significant reduction of the development costs.

The next stage included UX/UI designing of the app. CrustLab suggested starting the UX/UI design process from the flutter mobile app. We met regularly to discuss changes, as the final idea was evolving during the process. We were progressing quite efficiently under the full supervision of the CrustLab designer. We have followed the same process when designing web application design for soccer coaches and admins. It was a pleasure to see how CrustLab's team handles app development. All work was completed two months sooner than expected.

As a result, they have created:

• Flutter mobile app for iOS and Android operating systems
• React.js Web application
• Backend services implemented in Django/Python, integrated with and deployed to AWS cloud.

CrustLab is responsible for keeping the application up-to-date and taking care of ongoing maintenance.

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

We’ve started from a consultancy with Adam - the CEO. Then a single UX/UI designer was involved. Regarding development, we had a dedicated project manager, two backend devs, two fronted devs, two mobile devs, and a QA. Then 10 people in total, but they distributed the team over time, depending on the phase. We cooperated maximally with 6 people at the same time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After seven months of collaboration, we published Flutter mobile application in Apple and Google stores. Sports clubs and young soccer adepts have already used the application. We are delighted with the final effect and already planning the next steps in our collaboration with CrustLab.

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

The entire process, from the workshop to the project launch, ran smoothly under the complete control of experts from CrustLab. I could feel that they knew what they were doing. Their expertise was invaluable and allowed for the development of the product faster and cheaper. We primarily used shared Slack channels, JIRA, Figma, and Confluence for communication. During the regular meetings, they informed us about the progress and challenges for the next week. Depending on the phase, we work in Scrum or more like a Kanban approach. At the end of the day, everything was done according to the timeline; if not, they pushed on having it done.

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

In my view, the most impressive aspects of CrustLab’s work were the level of technical expertise and ability to understand the project from a business perspective. They cared about our goals from the beginning, which helped us plan better and develop faster. In my opinion, this is precisely how software should be developed.

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

I can't think of anything, but I can again recommend CrustLab as a software development partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CTO for a software development company established to review, optimize, automate and support innovative IT solutions primarily focused around people management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Company rostering schedule.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Development of a modular ERP.

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

CrustLab were responsible for coding the python backend and react.js frontend.

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

Around 8 folks, including their CTO, few python and react.js devs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No I can't.

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

They work with Jira and Slack.

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

People management.

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

Don't think so. They're on a straight road to success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of an app development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

From crustlab, we wanted to develop a mobile device management application to be used in managing Android and iOS phones

SOLUTION

How did you selectCrustLab and what were the deciding factors?

We chose Crustlab because they were on good terms with us and ready to work

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

We started with Crustlab in the discovery stage which is supposed to be the preparatory stage of application development later and I have worked with them on creating the usual application documents such as SRS and Software Design Document on the c4 model and prototype of the application and improving the UI design that I designed earlier

How many resources from the CrustLab team worked with you, and what were their positions?

4 Persons: Front End Developer iOS Developer Android Developer UI/UX Designer Project Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a really bad experience the development team was not answering my questions and not commenting on my notes in the sharing document and if we went to a video meeting together they don't talk and they give me wrong results all the time and I correct them, I work for them The only person working hard was the project manager They hired the front-end developer to be the software engineer, and this is one of the most amazing things I saw.

The company refused to improve the UI of the application, although we agreed on that with an official legal contract. The company also refused to hand me the Prototype for the application, although we agreed on it officially. They only took a screenshot of the screen.

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

The project manager was very good and I was happy to work with him but the staff was very bad

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

I was shocked that the company violated most aspects of the contract concluded with them and they did not abide by most of the deliverables. The project stopped because of working with them

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

They had to work hard and stick to the contract

Company Responses

The vendor responded on October 10, 2022.

Unfortunately, the above opinion does not describe reality. We were not responsible for mobile app development but only for Product Discovery. Additionally, the front-end developer was not part of the team.

We've delivered over 90% of deliverables without any objections from the client. And yet, UI updates and application prototypes were not accepted. 

We offered to apply updates to the UI mockups within the Product Discovery budget. Still, the client insisted on implementing the audit outcome that indicated a complete rework of provided UI mockups, which we could not afford. We were trying to find a middle ground but for the client, "update" meant "rework" without compromise. 

Regarding the app prototype, there were no such requirements from the customer. One of the critical deliverables of Product Discovery is a Feasibility Study. We needed to create a simple app to review technical possibilities, and we offered to deliver the code created during the discovery with full IP. Still, at the end of the discovery phase, the client insisted that the prototype never met specified functional requirements, refusing to cover any cost of the Product Discovery service.

Saying that we've violated most aspects of the contract, he slanders us in public without even being partially transparent and truthful in his opinion.

We very much regret that the client deliberately challenges our competencies and intentionally crafts an image that is inconsistent with reality.

A plus for this opinion is that our vetting of potential partners has dramatically improved :)