F22 Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of Actigage, an event tech startup seeking to facilitate live engagement during large events and conferences. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire F22 Labs?

Initially, we worked with F22 Labs when creating our website. Since we were pleased with their work, we hired them to build the backend system.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to launch a backend system to allow clients to update their content using our mobile apps.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We evaluated three vendors for the project and decided to work with F22 Labs based on our positive experience with them when launching our new website.

Describe the project in detail.

They designed, developed, and helped launch the backend system of our product. We started with a discovery process based on our requirements so they could refine the details. We approved their design mockups before they started developing the backend system. They delivered the project in phases for user-acceptance testing.

What was the team composition?

The project was fixed-price, so I didn't know the exact composition of the team. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?

After we launched the backend system, our clients were happy with its performance and ease of use. We are excited about the results and plan to work with F22 Labs on future projects. In fact, we’re already discussing a couple of ideas with them.

How effective was the project management?

They met our deadlines, and we used tools like Skype and Trello to manage our communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We appreciated their flexibility when we changed some of the requirements. They even worked on weekends to meet our deadlines.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

I can’t think of any specific concerns. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Grapevite is a social experiences company. We help people find out what their friends are doing so they can share experiences with each other and spend more of their lives interacting with one another.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

We were working with another team to build out our web and app platforms. That team did poorly and we needed a new company to provide reclamation services and save the projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did some of the work from scratch, but tried to salvage some of the work from the previous developer. We mostly used them for iOS development. We had the expertise to build the Android app in-house, so had them focus more on iOS. They built out the entire app in Swift and implemented existing UI/UX. They added functionality and did API calls. Then, they watched for bugs and provided overall maintenance of the platform.

What is the team composition?

There were always two members working with us whenever we engaged with them. We had one person overseeing the account and another supervising the code. It’s nice to have one person checking for bugs and improvements and doing QA while another person focuses on coding the whole time.

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

We had a bunch of different referrals. We first went with a referral from my co-founder. That company performed badly, so we invited F22 to see what they could do. A friend referred them to me. They came in and fixed a few things within a week. They went so far beyond what we expected and we decided to keep going with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid about $6,000 a month over the engagement. Our total was probably around $24,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September to December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything they’ve done is top-notch, and the problems we’ve encountered are all within the parts provided by the previous company. It may have been better had they started over completely, but that’s not their fault.

We launched with their product. The previous company left us with no viable product, so we had nothing until F22 helped us. Everything we’ve done is on the product they built.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We did more of the project management than they did. They were good at keeping to timelines and the scope. They might have been a little overzealous with API integration. They could have done that a little faster. They were quick with iOS, faster than anything we could have hoped for. They could finish a week of iOS work in about three days. We used Github and Trello to track project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They worked through the weekend and nights for about 48 hours straight ahead of a launch to make sure we were on time. That wasn’t in the contract.

Even though we’re not currently engaged with them financially, they still take care of us and send out new builds and little fixes. Our contract is done but they’re still here for us when we need them, which is a big deal.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Check in with them at the beginning of the project to say how you would like to make working with them better. We didn’t check in at the beginning because things were moving so fast. There is nothing wrong with the way they run the process, but we might have had a smoother process had we outlined things we wanted to change earlier.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing partner of GreySpace Digital. We offer many services in-house to eliminate inefficiency: digital design, incubation, fundraising for startups, and product designs.

There’s a huge disconnect between design and development agencies around business understanding, so we offer 16 years of entrepreneurial experience to both corporate and startup companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

A client wanted a smart solution to help monitor elderly people or caregivers without the normal complexity of an iOS or Android app. The targeted demographic age group isn’t as tech-savvy—they don’t want to go into different applications just to talk to their loved ones or prove they’ve taken medication.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The solution has three parts. One is the smart box which was done in-house. We also have the mobile apps which house a variety of functions (e.g., text messaging, event postings). They helped us design the mobile app for this part of the ecosystem. It’s a native iOS and Android app for which they used Swift and Java to develop, respectively.

For example, there’s a whole connected ecosystem where users can report that they’ve taken their medication or anything unusual regarding day-to-day patterns. The sensors and device-tracked activity learn the user’s patterns and report any deviations as an alert.

What is the team composition?

There were three people assigned to this project: a project lead and two developers.

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

I remembered when I started GreySpace Digital that they reached out to me via LinkedIn when I was running a previous startup. I checked their website and spoke with them about the delivery process, as well as how they work with Agile and work they’d done in the past. They seemed like a decent company, so we decided to give them a chance to see how well they performed on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in March 2017 and finished the work in July 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve launched the app and it’s been successful in the App Store. Out client is happy with the end product.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really good. When you hire a development firm, you have to constantly speak to them to make them understand the business context. Their team—and especially the founders—quickly understood what we were trying to do and moved along with the project. We didn’t have to do much project management, which saved a lot of time and made delivery more efficient. We used Trello, Slack, GitHub, and status updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated their efficiency in understanding the high level of requirements, breaking them down into technical terms, and then delivering exactly what we wanted.

The great thing about F22 is that they were responsive and quick to fix any outstanding bugs even after the contract ended. It comforted us working with a partner who had the integrity to deliver what we agreed upon.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve some of their testing cycle. However, there are bugs in any software, and I don’t know any company that could deliver without them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of an online B2C fashion accessory brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

The main challenge was that the boutique logistics firm we worked with didn’t have a plug-in API that worked with their logistics backend. We were a very small brand when we initially hired F22 to set up an API. We grew substantially and then needed additional help to integrate our backend with that of our logistics providers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They scoped everything out very thoroughly and spoke frequently spoke with us by phone. F22 worked with our logistics team to set up a logistics plugin using Ruby on Rails. We needed something robust that would integrate with our current platform and our logistics providers’ platforms.

What is the team composition?

We were in contact with three people throughout the project and they’re still available if we need them.

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

I was referred to them by another company. F22 had experience with the services that we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent in the ballpark of $20,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around March 2017 and they finished in late May 2017. We plan to work with them again this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve freed up a huge amount of my time and my team’s time to do other things. We used FTP before, which could be unreliable. This API has made our life so much easier. We can focus on important tasks rather than worrying about custom order files being sent to our logistic providers. They’ve given us peace of mind that our customer receipts and shipments are seamless and working as they should be.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated mostly on the phone as opposed to email, which suited us so that we could hash out any problems or issues. We had a great relationship with our project manager. He was available by phone at any time if something was wrong or we had any concerns.

They were very accountable. I trusted F22 to speak directly with our logistics providers and they’re great representatives of our company and brand. We've been extremely happy with their service after the solution delivery. They’re always available for any questions that we have and quickly help us sort out any issues or problems. We’re going to be working with them again so that's a testament to how well they performed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're problem solvers. If you're not entirely sure how to solve a problem, they've got great resources and great minds. F22 has ideas to improve aspects of our business that we might not have thought of ourselves. I feel like they understand our business and want to see our company grow. They're always thinking outside the box and trying to come up with new ideas for us, which is extremely valuable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. They're great communicators and did a really great job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an Indian startup working with college graduates looking to pass government exams. This is a huge market given that government jobs have good security. We provide online coaching for those exams, as well as documentation which is very much needed, but not available elsewhere.

I am a co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

We had an idea and needed to build a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided design specifications, which were used by F22 Labs for building a project plan and developing the website.

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

F22 Labs was recommended to me by a friend who had built a website using their services. F22 Labs' design capabilities were very good compared to other companies I contacted. The site's main page lists questions divided into topics. The functionality is unique, and it needed to be built correctly.

How much have you invested with F22 Labs?

The cost of F22 Labs' work was between $10,000 and $15,000. The work was paid in installments.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first discussions with F22 Labs took place in November 2016. The work started in December and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The collaboration with F22 Labs was very good. They responded to my questions and kept me up to date.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

F22 Labs assigned a project manager who kept in touch with me. There were some additional features that I wanted to build, which I didn't include in the original specs. F22 Labs was flexible in this regard.

What did you find most impressive about F22 Labs?

F22 Labs understood my idea quickly and had good responsiveness compared to some of the other companies I contacted.

Are there any areas F22 Labs could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Rec Ratings is structured like Yelp and looks at youth sports clubs and coaches. Parents can go on and rate the club organizations or sports clubs that their kids play for and can rate the coaches who coach them. I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

I wanted to launch an MVP [minimum viable product] version of the app in a short amount of time. I had a set budget that I had to get the application built. I already had our UI/UX [user interface/user experience] developers build it. I just needed a dependable development resource. I've been working with their team for a while now, and I knew they were reliable. I came to them with a project and, almost 7 weeks later, it will be live. I couldn't be happier.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It's a web app on HTML5. They used Ruby on Rails for the framework. It's hosted on AWS [Amazon Web Services].

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

About 5 years ago, I started a company called Team Interval. It was a communications system for sports teams. They built my first application that I ever launched to market – from soup to nuts. I worked with them almost 2 years. I decided to exit that company, and I started another company. Now, I'm starting another company and decided to come back to F22 Labs to build this new app.

How much have you invested with F22 Labs?

The project cost is between $10,000 and $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They're going to continue building. They got my MVP version. We'll build up to a true 1.0 version. We're going to be in beta for the next six months [as of November 2016], we'll come out of beta around summertime, and they'll launch our more responsive iOS and Android versions of the application. I thought of this idea in September [2016], and they started in mid-September.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have more than 11,000 users on the site. Everything's been good. I'm eager to keep building on this project. I work in the sports space. I own another company called Player's Health. There, we have 200,000 players on our platform and parents. I didn't draw on the 200,000 parents that I have to rate it yet. I can't say we've extensively tested the application, but the first test we had was successful.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is good, but it could definitely be better. We communicated everything on Trello, which was good. We talked every other day. You can find things to nitpick, but it was a short project. The communication was open. Whenever I found some bugs, I put together a bug feature list. They knocked them out within 24 hours and gave me a status on everything.

What did you find most impressive about F22 Labs?

I think it's their speed. I outsource all of my development to two different shops for different applications. For both of the companies I have its speed but F22 – to get this project thrown in their lap 8 weeks ago and to have it live and ready to go almost bug-free – I think it says a lot about the company. Mutual [Cutup, partner at F22 Labs] is very smart, the team thinks about how the application could scale, and they were excited about the project. They are open in communicating. That's one of their best qualities, too.

Are there any areas F22 Labs could improve?

Of course, they document the code and everything. However, I want to have my entire API [application programming interface] documented out so that my next developer could pop in and do all that.

BACKGROUND

What is your position?

I’m a venture capital investor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

This was a side project; we were trying to create a marketplace for fitness activities. F22 was really the backend and front end platform for that.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They were basically involved right from the beginning from idea conception all the way through to final release. The services that they were providing were primarily backend development. We had a pretty good idea about how we wanted this site to look and it was a desktop website as well as a mobile optimized website so no app. We had a pretty good idea of how we wanted it to look. We had a few initial kind of photo shopped mockups but they took those mockups and developed a working front end and also like a working backend. From start to finish it was an 8-week engagement. We were really happy with the results.

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

I got introduced to them through a mutual friend who had worked with them at another company. I trusted her and her judgement and given that they had a working history I was willing to give them a shot. I had benchmarked them against three other firms that were offering the same services these guys were. They just seemed to be able to get things done quicker than some other providers. I think the quality was good too.

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

Ballpark it was between $10,000 and $15,000. That was between one to three developers at any time working on the project. We flexed up at various points and flexed back down.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched January or February of last year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We launched the product, and it was definitely an on-time launch. The user feedback that we got was really positive. Everyone was happy - at least the users that we had were happy with the initial launch. We actually decided to shutter the project, nothing related to F22 but for business reasons a few months later we decided to not move forward. This was a beta test to see if there was a market there. We decided after a few months that there wasn’t a big enough opportunity but certainly that had nothing to do with F22’s quality of work. In fact, they helped us get to that conclusion really quickly without wasting time and additional resources.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really on top of it. The contact that I had that I was speaking to about the project was the project manager. There was no clumsy hand off or anything. It was a pretty small shop and it’s like who you deal with is who you deal with through the whole process. At least that’s why my experience was. Despite the time difference between India and the US it actually turned out to be pretty smooth. They would be very clear about what they were aiming to accomplish. We checked in sometimes daily and they were very accessible and generally on top of the project.

What distinguishes F22 Labs from other providers?

The main thing that comes to mind was unanticipated scope changes, I think when you’re doing projects like this nothing ever goes exactly to spec. There were a couple of situations where we wanted extra features added or we wanted quick design changes that weren’t in the initial brief, I would say that they were very flexible in accommodating those changes. Obviously not everything could be accommodated just because we were working on a pretty tight time frame. Unlike a lot of other folks that we worked with they showed themselves to be flexible so we really appreciated that.

Is there anything F22 Labs could have improved or done differently?

Not that I can figure. I might have a better answer if we’d work with them longer, but I think generally they definitely met all of our needs. The only thing was like I mentioned before was around time zone where sometimes we would have messed up a little bit because India was on a completely different time zone to the US, which would delay things. That’s something that we knew going in and we were happy to take that as a trade-off given how good they are.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a telehealth company. It's a platform that's designed specifically for dermatology. What that means is that dermatologists purchase our platform, and they use it to treat patients online instead of bringing them into the office. We worked with F22 Labs as our only development resource from the very beginning. We've been working very closely together. I am the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

It's threefold. When dermatologists treat patients, there's a long wait to get into see them. Patients are always looking for ways to get faster responses. One of those ways is to text your doctor. If that works, then doctors could treat patients via text. The three problems with that is that is one – it's not HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act]-compliant to text with patients. Two – it's very inefficient to do treatment using an open chat because the patient never knows what input the doctor needs. It's always this constant back and forth to get an answer. The third problem is there's no easy way to charge patients when you're texting with them. We've developed a platform that's HIPAA-compliant that doctors can set price points for these visits, and we collect payment and direct deposit into their bank account. Instead of it being an open conversation, it's a structured communication flow where we collect all the information from the patient upfront that the doctor needs so that there's no back and forth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have been our full-service development shop. They created the platform from scratch. They continue to maintain it and built it beyond what the MVP [minimum viable product] was. They've been the only technology resource we've used from the very beginning of the company. There's two users for our product – the patient and the doctor. The doctors sign in from any web-based device, so there's no native apps for doctors. Payments can also sign in on a responsive web-based experience from any device, but they can also sign in through our native iOS and Android apps. F22 built all of that.

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

The head of the group, Murtuza Kutub [partner at F22 Labs], worked with me at a previous company. I knew him before, and that was why I chose them. The developers that have worked with us from his group have all been amazing, and I didn't have previous relationships with them. We've stayed with them since the beginning because they've continued to deliver top quality work.

How much have you invested with F22 Labs?

We pay per month per developer. It's somewhere in the $5,000 to $10,000 range per developer per month. It's an ongoing project, so we flex development resources depending on our needs. At times, we've had two developers and, at times, we've had one developer. We had three for a short period initially. Depending on how many developers we have that's our cost. That's why it fluctuates a bit.

What is the status of this engagement?

I've been working with them since November 2014. I would say the average cost per month has been around $10,000. The project is ongoing. We're planning to work with them for the foreseeable future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have a 90 percent success rate at solving online. When people send in visits, we're able to treat them in 90 percent of cases. Only 10 percent are triaged into the office for further evaluation. We have 75 percent time savings for the doctors compared to office care. Another value that we provide to doctors is allowing them to treat more quickly. We've tracked doctors and watched them use our platform and have proven that. I can't share numbers around our total user base, but I can tell you that we're growing double digits' month over month. We have great traction on both the doctor and the patient side.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They've done really well. We use Trello. It's a great project management tool. We create sprints in that tool, and they pick up the tickets. They're good at estimating. They're not always 100 percent right, but they're pretty on target. We create weekly or biweekly sprints depending on what we're doing. They pick up those tickets, we put comments in the tickets, and we have a testing process that we go back and forth on. They're very organized around that.

What did you find most impressive about F22 Labs?

I've worked with so many developers in the past because my background is product management. I think what sets them apart is that they're thought partners as well as actual executors. Especially with offshore teams what I find is that they just take your direction and implement it, which is not always the best idea. What I like is they push back, think about what they're doing, and work with me to come up with the right solution. I can have a very specific idea of what I want to do, and they will come back and say I think we should do it this way. They're often on target. It's really helpful because they're working with me to come up with the answer rather than just doing what I tell them.

Are there any areas F22 Labs could improve?

There were things initially that were problematic, but what I liked about them was that as soon as I pointed out a problem, they would fix it. Initially, we had some communication issues. They're far away, so we had to come up with processes for communicating. Now, we're really smooth. If you ask me today if there's something specific, then I can't think of anything. One of the other great things about them is they're super responsive, take feedback, and fix things that don't work. We figured out a good process together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is called Offprint. It’s a writing platform that’s focused on the Indian market. I am the Founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F22 Labs?

I’ve gone through a couple of other software firms and the quality of the product wasn’t good enough, so people were complaining about the design and functionality. I approached F22 Labs based on their previous work to make an upgraded version of the website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Basically, there was an existing website with the code that was written by the previous developers. What I approached F22 Labs to do was to take as much of that code, salvage it, and then build on it to add new features and a newer design. Some of that involved cutting out complexity in the features that I wanted and some of it was just them implementing the features that I had in mind. It was more than just me telling them what to do. It was them adding to the product themselves.

How did you come to work with F22 Labs?

I found them just by searching on Google. I searched software development firms in India and their website was on the bottom of page one.

How much have you invested with F22 Labs?

It was a special thing because I already had designs done previously by another designer and there was code that already existed. So it was exactly $10,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was completed three months ago. Now we’re working for the second upgrade.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I’m not sure about exact statistics, but what I can say is after we pushed their code to production and the website looked like how they made it, we definitely had an increase in engagement and viewership. It’s been growing exponentially for the past few months. I can’t tell you how much of that is as a result of their work versus the marketing that we’re doing.

How did F22 Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

What was important to me at that time was making use of what we already had. I also had a very strict deadline. I had to get the work done in four weeks. They did it under five which was reasonable given the scope of the product. They were always communicative throughout, letting us know which stage they were in. So I never felt like I was waiting in the dark wondering what they were doing.

What did you find most impressive about F22 Labs?

There are two main things. One is that they take the time to understand your product. The previous companies that I had worked with were not going to sit down with you and discuss your vision or goals or what you’re trying to achieve. They’re just going to do what you tell them to do, and that doesn’t work. They need to understand what they’re doing so the product can come out as well as mine did. The second thing is they’re very communicative. They always let you know where you are standing in the process and how everything is going. I think with my previous experiences, they would just tell me what was done once a month. With these guys, cross collaboration was possible because they were always keeping me up to date.

Are there any areas F22 Labs could improve?

There were a few times where I emailed them about some stuff but they kind of took a while to respond to that because they were working on other things.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Aristostar in association with Uninand Technologies is involved in design, development and distribution of Customer Journey management Solutions and products since 2006. As a CEO I'm heading the company to achieve its vision to begin every customers' journey with a smile.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire F22 Labs?

F22 Labs was hired to develop our 2nd generation mobile app to support multiple platforms.

What were your goals for this project?

The major goal to achieve was to complete the project in a very short period and build it to support various platforms.

SOLUTION

Describe the project in detail.

We've involved and consulted F22 Labs in various projects and products prototyping.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They've been very professional and resourceful.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They always come with an out-of-box approach to solve the problem.