Dualboot Partners

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder, CEO and CSO of FIND Genomics. Our early stage startup aims to accelerate biomedicine, by enabling innovation in cell biology to thrive.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We are molecular cell scientists who identified a problem in a $1.2 Trillion market. Given our firsthand and experience, we knew the core of the problem well, we knew how to fix it. Initially we developed a minimal prototype that was tested by our target market that was conceptually well received, however next we needed to make it a “enterprise ready” MVP to truly implement this product into the highly demanding biomedical market.

We did not have the computational capabilities needed to translate this complex system into a platform that met all functional requirements and security requirements. This required a team of highly competent and dedicated back-end and font-end developers, which are typically not right away on the payroll of an early stage start-up.

Dualboot stepped in to take this role, and are currently helping us to get to market as efficient and cost effective as possible.

SOLUTION

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

We have evaluated many vendors. But Dualboot stood out for a few reasons;

•  their engagement is not rigid from the get go. They acknowledge unknowns in the projects
• they communicate in order to get a deep understanding of our goals as a startup: product wise, operational and financial
• the process of formulating the SOW was flexible and fast
•  their pricing was reasonable compared to the other firms we spoke with
• their ratio developers:managers seemed reasonable.

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

Phase I (discovery phase) was information transfer from our team to the Dualboot developers, this included:

1. what architecture is already done and formulated
2. what additional features requirements are needed. Based on this analysis, the team could formulate a detailed roadmap and development cost estimate (low, mid, high).

Phase II was starting the build of the system in two week sprints. A special shout out to the UX designer: our product is technical and requires a deep knowledge about cell biology. The mind of a UX designer and a cell biologist could not be wired differently.

But their UX designer Ignacio (Nacho), together with product manager Brian took the patience to work with us to understand the flows needed to support cell scientists. They brought our initial designs and ideas to life in Figma, in a stunning design with innovative UX solutions. Being able to bring these worlds together, is synergy-- and the result is amazing.

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

Our team consists of a project manager, product manager, 1 technical lead, 2 backend developers, 2 front end developers, 1 UX designer and QA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not yet. The goal is to complete the platform in a month. So stay tuned.

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

We use Slack, Gitlab and Zoom. We have meetings twice a week. During the design phase, we worked with the designer on a daily basis.

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

Dualboot is impressive, because they did not shy away from a complex product, and they've demonstrated supportive, understanding flexibility throughout to process.

When there is a problem, they address it. They truly position themselves as partners. They live up to their company name!

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

Always, but in general I think this is an amazing firm to work with as a startup.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Head of research and product innovation for a US-based organization serving clients around the globe in the areas of workforce development, leadership, and selection.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Complete upgrade of our client-serving platform including redesign of the interface, data processing systems, and report generation processes.

SOLUTION

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

Found through discussions with area business leaders familiar with their work and effectiveness.

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

Development of a client-facing platform from scratch including extensive data management and report generation capability.

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

5-6 developers including a project manager, lead developer/ team lead, and additional design and tech lead resources as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Executed on what we asked and provided much needed guidance and input throughout the process.

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

They were open and transparent in communication. Flexible and capable with regards to changing/ emerging needs. Focused, efficient meetings and additional resources as needed for crafting custom business solutions that work for our clients.

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

Dualboot has successfully tackled fairly complicated tasks (VMs and cloud-based installs, certificates, permissions, etc) quickly, thoroughly, and on short-notice. They have helped us overcome what might normally be a constraint for a small company without an in-house tech team, giving us the space and flexibility to focus on what we do best.

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

Great team. Great flexibility. Truly a partnership and that actively supports our success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Im the founder and owner of the platform and am in charge of all development, company and platform direction and marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Some owners wish to sell their projects off-market, in a private and controlled way. Current real estate websites dont offer this solution. All current platforms provide on-market solutions to sellers that wish to list and sell properties. Our solution provides those that would like to share and sell their projects off-market with a solution to do so.

SOLUTION

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

Our website is a socially enabled real estate website that allows owners of real estate projects to share their projects off-market with a network of contacts created through the site. The website envisioned a platform where owners can search for buyers by buy-criteria and then by inviting those buyers to connect, give owners the ability to privately share real estate projects with that closed network of off-market buyers. We chose DB because they have vast experience in providing 3rd party development services and their network and team of designers are great. And they were reasonably priced in the market.

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

We kicked off the project with a scope of work including all pages for the site and a discussion on the basic functionality as well as how all pages would interconnect. After a baseline chart was created, we decided on rules for the participants and then set up a project development plan that described the build out in sprints. We then took each sprint step by step, building out the various sections of the site and worked on interconnectivity once completed. Once all pages and back end coding was complete we tweaked the finished product to specs laid out by myself and the team to ensure a good user experience.

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

1 Project Manager- 1 Head of Development 2 Engineers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Beta test went well and the site functioned as expected. All pages of the site functioned as built and the general feedback from our first swath of users was positive.

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

Project managment style was to let me as the origonator of the idea take the lead and focus the team on direction. They were very forthcoming on feedback on what needed to be changed or designed in a particular way and why. Overall the feedback loop was great and led us down the path of creating functions that were to par with the vision and cost effective, cutting out items that would be overly cumbersome in terms of cost and time.

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

The pace at which the project was built was good and the cost projections were accurate. Feedback on the project was timely and they were able to provide it while staying true to the vision.

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

Overall, I was very pleased with the process and end result. The area that they could improve is correlating overall business and financial goals with the site build out. Although typically that responsibility falls exclusively on the CEO, additional insight into this aspect of the project would have been helpful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our health tech start-up developed the first predictive workforce management platform for the ambulatory care sector. As CTO I have been the main point of contact working with Dualboot.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Dualboot to help us design and build an enterprise grade predictive workforce scheduling platform backed by data science. Our goal was to get to market in under 6 months.

SOLUTION

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

Our main criteria were:

1. track record building similar software
2. cost to value ratio and finally
3. demonstrated understanding of our needs

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

The initial scope of work included authentication, profile management and staff scheduling functionality supported by a data science layer. Since the launch of our MVP the product has evolved to include admin and reporting modules among other things.

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

At different stages of the project we had anywhere from 3-6 people including a project manager and a mix of resources including UX, graphics design, development and DevOps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch our MVP in under 6 months with a high profile healthcare pilot client in New York.

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

Sprints were managed on a two week cadence with a project manager leading discussions around status. We used a combination of a ticketing tool and slides to project management.

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

Breadth of design and technology skills and ability of management to work through different complexities.

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

We had to tweak a few things on the project management side until we got to the right place but to DBs credit, they welcome feedback and respond positively, allowing us to get to the right place.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product at a SaaS company that helps businesses sell their online goods and subscriptions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dualboot Partners?

Dualboot provided us with custom software development services. A good portion of our employees did custom development, but we brought the team in to help us scale up. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re working on existing products, and Dualboot helps us build new functionality for them. On the software side, the two primary languages we use are React and Node.js. Moreover, their resources help us with UX design, development, and QA testing. They mainly use Figma.

What is the team composition?

We work with seven engineers, one QA, one UX designer, and one product manager. 

How did you come to work with Dualboot Partners?

Dualboot was recommended to us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend somewhere in the ballpark of $75,000–$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in May 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To measure success, we determine our business objectives and see whether or not Dualboot can accomplish them. Their resources do an incredible job of understanding our business and products. I see that in the type of questions they’re asking. 

On top of that, I’ve been blown away by their design work and ability to understand our users and workflows. They provide high-fidelity designs on Figma that our engineering team can work on easily. 

How did Dualboot Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

Dualboot’s project management has been fantastic. The product manager thinks about the relationship between our teams and what we’re trying to accomplish. That contact person has been incredible to work with, and the team has been highly responsive. 

In terms of tools, Dualboot uses all the tools that we’ve been using, given the staff augmentation nature of our relationship. To communicate, we use Zoom, Slack, and phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expertise in their functions — including design, engineering, and others — has been impressive. They’re excellent communicators, and we’ve built a high-trust relationship with them. I’ve been truly impressed with every person I’ve met from Dualboot. As a result, we trust their work, ability to deliver, and ability to be there for us in other ways in the future. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat Dualboot as a true partner. They have specific skill sets and strengths. You can bring your expertise, but you should work with them as partners, so communicate closely with them. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the COO of EntityKeeper, which is a cloud-based software solution that helps track, manage, and organize legal entities. I am in charge of the product road map and operations in general.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

in 2018 we hired DualBoot to dust off some old software that was put on the shelf from 2014 and work to help revitalize the product. They have worked on building out the product and growing with us over the past 4 years.

SOLUTION

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

Our CTO was the individual who found them, but I know that their expertise, cost, and work ethic were the main deciding factors.

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

The scope of our work was to dust off an Ruby software that was started in 2013/14 and continue to grow the roadmap by adding key functionality and features. This is an ongoing project that we are working on with the team.

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

Since we have been customers for over 4 years we have had a few different team leads, and developers work on the software, but each has come with a wealth of expertise and were all professional. We also have engaged with the partners and have a great working relationship with the whole team!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

DBP has given us a variety of ways to measure our deliverables and we have recently started to use more project based spreadsheets to keep us on target with our release schedule.

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

Our team communicates well with DBP through Slack and weekly meetings. They are very flexible and provide us with plenty of updates/feedback if there is an issue that has arisen.

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

The team is very much interested in working together as a partner and not just as a consultant. They take a deep interest in the product and offer great solutions. They are affordable and will work with the customer if something seems amiss.

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

I would say the only improvement would be a little more prep work on the DBP team side during a project manager transition, otherwise they have been fantastic to work with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CIO for Payzer, a SaaS platform in the Field Service Management space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Dualboot Partners?

We needed to make a quantum leap in our UI test code coverage. Dualboot was hired to augment our Test Automation staff to significantly add to our code coverage.

SOLUTION

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

We evaluated a few different companies to help provide these services and selected Dualboot based on reputation, familiarity, and expertise in this development area.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They provided 3-4 developers who were assigned different scopes of work. Over time, they became part of our team and were successful in getting a lot of work completed. The communication was easy, and Dualboot Partners quickly worked through a solution for any issues we encountered.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We initially worked with one of their principles to understand the project objectives. Dualboot then assigned a project manager, a tech lead, and a few developers to the team. We had weekly check-in meetings to evaluate work, assign new work, and discuss issues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The staff they were able to help us augment our staff made it possible to complete the project many months ahead of our original plan.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow and interaction with their team was pretty good. We had a local project manager who would help us communicate with the remote team and ensure the project stayed on track.

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

They were able to help us augment our staff with minimal effort from us in a cost-effective way.

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

With our java service project there were a few issues with the developers' understanding and interpretation of the requirements. We were able to work through and resolve but it did cost some time and effort.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Business Information Services for a financial services firm with one location in Grand Rapids, MI.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

DualBoot has was hired to design a custom software solution and develop a prototype for a mobile app to enhance and replace our current software used for company board meetings and materials for sub-committees.

SOLUTION

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

We were referred to use this vendor by a key stakeholder and decided to move forward because of their experience in the banking and finance industry.

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

DualBoot facilitated our design sessions, quickly turned around an interactive mobile app prototype and then refined the prototype to include relevant images and personalization for demonstration to the key users.

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

There were 4 core team members; project manager, UI/UX designers and a technical architect.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The prototypes were great tools for conversations with key users on the features and user interface for the mobile app we are planning to develop.

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

DualBoot's project manager and design team were engaging and professional. They always had a friendly and understanding tone. I appreciated the communication and commitment to weekly working sessions on Zoom.

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

The DualBoot team was very easy to work with and received our feedback and new ideas with ease and remained humble and committed to creating the best possible design.

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

A weekly status report on budget, accomplishment and upcoming milestones would be nice in the future.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a partner at a startup that supports career transitions from early career to the C-Suite for Fortune 200 organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to build an online platform that helped college students and early career professionals figure out what they wanted to do and build the necessary skills to get there.

SOLUTION

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

We were referred to them because our senior partner was connected with Todd Buelow. They demonstrated a clear understanding of what we wanted to do and had a clear plan to help us get there. They were able to assure us that they could deliver an incredible product despite the fact none of us had any technical experience.

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

They started off with a design phase to map the UX/UI of the platform and understand the key features that we wanted to implement. They were then able to formulate a clickable prototype of the platform that we could socialize with potential clients.

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

We had one project manager and 3-4 designers at any given time. Senior leadership from Dualboot also got involved from time to time to help advise us on business strategy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to get feedback on the prototype from 25 different colleges and universities.

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

The project management was world-class. They were great communicators and worked as true partners-- always having our best interests in mind. They communicated great via email/slack/phone

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

How much they care. They helped us understand the build and design process in a way that clearly communicated expectations. They cut costs where they could and helped advise us on everything from gathering customer feedback to how we could develop a pricing strategy.

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

None at all.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of a startup with a software platform for healthcare clients. We help them manage a flexible contract workforce. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dualboot Partners? 

Dualboot helps us with everything from UX design to the development of our MVP, which we’ll test with our clients along the way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dualboot helped us build our platform from scratch. I initially provided them with about 70 slides with pictures and ideas about the business; they contained high-level concepts that let them know what we wanted to do in the market.

The team then took those slides and started creating mock-ups for design sections using Figma. From there, we spent 2–3 months going through all the designs of the app. Once the overall design was approved, we started the development process. 

We’re still working on the platform, and we need their development team to bring everything full circle in terms of product delivery. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a project manager and Anton (UX Designer). Our team also collaborates with a development lead and other developers. 

How did you come to work with Dualboot Partners?

I came to know Dualboot through local events with other startup founders. For context, our organization originally had a CTO, with whom I planned to build an internal development team. However, our investors decided that it would be best to work with an outside development team that had backend engineers, frontend developers, and a CTO with expertise to deliver the product to market.

Then, we heard some good things about Dualboot and how they handled challenges in their relationships with clients. They were also a reputable company, plus the team was growing. As a result, we felt confident in hiring them; we also liked that they were local. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent north of $250,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our success metrics are focused on the timeline and budget with which we want to complete our MVP. So far, the Dualboot team is hitting our targets. We’re a couple of weeks behind, but that’s because of key features that we want to add to the MVP. Our team is also isn’t in a hurry to deliver right away. 

Once we move past the MVP, we’ll put more metrics in place to define how the relationship will continue into the future as our outsourced development partner. We’re also hitting our financial expectations. 

How did Dualboot Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great. It’s a new experience for me, but since it’s not ideal to have no internal product owner or manager, we’ve played that role. Dualboot has also filled that role nicely. Moreover, the client feedback we’re getting has served as a solid foundation for us to start asking people to pay for the platform in early 2022. Overall, the management has been good. 

To communicate, we have a Slack channel. Early on, we’ve done design session calls twice a week. We’ve also done  2–3 development calls per week. We also have one-off conversations with Dualboot in terms of business strategy. Generally speaking, they do a lot of conversations on their end, but we keep up with what’s going on through Slack and GitLab.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Having not done something like this with another organization, it’s hard for me to say how Dualboot compares with other teams. Moreover, the competition is tough, and I get emails about people who can help us do what we’re trying to do. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their understanding of what our MVP encompasses a little bit better — the pricing and timeline have been a stab in the dark. I’ve been in the consulting industry for years, and presenting a price without truly understanding what we’re trying to accomplish feels a bit weird for me. 

To be fair, we also expect to exceed the timeline and budget we estimate. Still, I don’t know if they truly understand our business model and how well-thought-out the MVP should be. This might just be a factor of how things are done today — either you succeed quickly or fail fast — and we’re pretty close to what they’ve estimated. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set clear expectations on your goals, and quote a budget accordingly. On top of that, have good back-and-forth conversations based on both what you can spend and what the Dualboot team is going to do. Moreover, know that whatever type of company you use, software development never ends.