Fountane Inc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of impowered, an app that allows caregivers to build their own team and be paid for every referral.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Fountane for the entire app design and development.

SOLUTION

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

Fountane understood our concept and shared a similar vision for how to develop a scalable product. They have a model that is cost effective and ensures ongoing commitment to long-term success.

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

Workflows, Wire frames, design, development.

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

I worked with the president and CEO. We also worked with a project manager, dev ops engineer, senior backend engineer, and senior manual tester.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are able to launch the app at the beginning of 2022 with more features than initially planned for due to the collaboration and synergy with Fountane.

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

We met weekly or more as needed. We used several technologies for communication and project management. Overall, the project was managed well and communication was great.

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

They showed eagerness to collaborate and understand our vision. It is apparent that Fountane is committed to delivering a superior product that has positive impact in our society.

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

Fountane was able to manage expectations even when challenges and small delays came up. Setbacks happen, I’m pleased that they clearly and honestly communicated when there was a setback and provided a timely solution.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Aeterna is a full-service marketing agency that empowers brands and influencers to tell stories with substance. I am the CEO and co founder of the agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Fountane to help us build a platform for managing brands and influencers while running influencer marketing campaigns

SOLUTION

How did you select Fountane, LLC and what were the deciding factors?

Fountane came in with a high level of credibility. We knew they had been successful building both startup MVP products and corporate software solutions, and had received great word of mouth here in Minneapolis from their clients.

Their strategic process was what sold us on their full suite of services, as they did an incredible job of distilling the value of our idea in the discovery process into a viable and feasible tech solution.

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

The application was built on firebase and included a admin and influencer panel. We built features to manage influencer accounts, design influencer campaigns and upload brand assets.

Select influencers and present campaign briefs, and manage ongoing campaigns. Their is also a profile system for influencers that directly pulls data from the instagram API.

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

We worked with Aditya (ceo) and his design lead on the discovery process, and then worked with a project manager and several developers during the actual execution phase

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application is currently being tested internally, but the most impactful immediate outcome is that our agency can now manage influencer campaigns and pull data from instagram with our own tool, instead of paying for third party software, which will create immense value over the next 3-5 years.

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

They use agile project management, and are generally very organized. Work is broke down by features and into sprints. All communication was done over their slack channel which was very intuitive.

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

They underpromise and over deliver. Fountane consistantly suprised us with the quality and speed of their work, especially for such a reasonable price.

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

The only thing that was a little difficult at first was getting used to working with offshore developers who are in a much different time zone. Fountane could possibly use this to its advantage in a cool way by showing people updates in the morning which have been completed in our American off hours.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a leading manufacturer of fashion and home accessories that supports the biggest brands/retailers in the US. I lead strategy, innovation and business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have been building, in collaboration with Fountane, a team and process that will enable 3D product design and development specific to fashion and home accessories to transform how product is designed and brought to market at retail.

SOLUTION

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

Fountane has built a solid network within the Minneapolis, MN startup community. They're known for their passion, commitment, and the humble way they approach BIG problems to solve. I've never met a team more motivated and couldn't ask for a better partner to help drive digital transformation within the retail supply chain!

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

Research into 3D software was step one followed by a series of testing to help us understand the roadblocks for the product category with the softwares and processes currently available in the market.

After initial assessment and successful testing, industry experts were assembled to form a team in India and a partnership was formed to enable 3D product design and development pilots within a number of categories in collaboration with our retail partner (8th largest retailer in the US).

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

7 people including CEO, 3D Design and HR consultants and 3D designers have led the work to-date.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the past six months, we've successfully executed three different pilots and are well on the way of leading 3D digital transformation in the fashion and home accessories industry with Fountane's support and leadership!

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

Casual and scrappy yet polished and professional - literally have never worked with such a passionate and committed team!

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

They embody entrepreneurship to me; they are collaborative, strategic, and the best problem-solvers, hands down.

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

We have weekly touch points to discuss as a team, the on-going project results and work through obstacles and pain points collaboratively via peer-to-peer feedback. Our project is an iterative process of testing, learning and responding - it's a HUGE project with NO ego!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO & Founder at OAOA, which is an employee benefits technology company that rewards employees for limiting their personal cell phone use at work - check us out at www.oaoainc.com!

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Fountane, LLC?

We hired Fountane to build out our iOS mobile application along with an admin backend.

What were your goals for this project?

To build the initial version of both the application and admin panel for users to test.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our journey to finding the right app developer took many twists and turns. We went from having daily calls with agencies across the United States over 4 months to finally selecting one agency. It wasn’t until then that we realized their price to develop an MVP/V1.0 was so outlandish that it wasn’t practical for a bootstrapped startup. It was during this time that we attended Hustle Con in Brooklyn and met Aditya, CEO of Fountane. We introduced our idea to Aditya, and instead of saying ‘We can do that for X amount of money’ like every other agency, he asked questions. Questions about the business model, go to market strategy, target user, etc. It was at this time that we knew we wanted to get to know him and his team a lot more. The introductory phone call sealed the deal as we not only talked about what we wanted out of the project, but they gave actionable feedback that would soon turn into additional features we hadn’t thought about.

Describe the project in detail.

At the beginning of the project we received design mockups and that quickly transpired to digital drafts of every screen. Once each screen was approved we moved into development. From the start of the project to development of the app, it took approximately 1 month. Due to the complexity of the application, the project is still in progress. With that being said, we always know the progress of the job and what's holding the team back or the complexities that are being dealt with on a daily/weekly basis.

What was the team composition?

At various points throughout the project, there was a project manager, designers, and engineers. We now deal primarily with the lead tech engineer in accomplishing our goals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve heard of horror stories from other founders about going overseas to get their app developed, so of course, this was in the back of our mind. But this thought was quickly erased on day one. The Fountane team is not only reliable, hard-working, and dedicated, but they’re here to solve the problem the right way. They’re not scared to voice their opinion and that’s exactly what we wanted in a business partner.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

No issues at all. Whether we communicated our issues to the project manager or lead tech engineer the workflow and communication have been both effective and efficient.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team, specifically on the tech side, has been extremely supportive and dedicated to our project since day 1. Thank you!

Are there any areas for improvement?

It's easy to play devil's advocate, and while we understand there will always be unforeseen issues along the way, next time it would be good to ensure there is a buffer of time so that the anticipated project completion date is more accurate.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

ParkPoolr is a platform that enables property owners of churches, businesses, and houses to easily enter the parking business by selling their extra parking spots to the public. I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Fountane, LLC?

I hired Fountane to build building three web applications including a host panel, an administrative panel, and a web booking platform, as well as one native iOS app.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to develop a technology platform that would allow us to onboard parking space owners across the country and scale our user base.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I researched and talked to about 10 customer software agencies until I met Aditya Siripragada who is the CEO of Fountane. I came to realize that Fountane was different from the other agencies because they acted as more of a partner through the process. After talking with Aditya, I realized that the people at Fountane were very responsive and flexible, their prices were affordable, and they had an impressive resume of great tech. The decision was a no brainer.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Fountane built three web applications including a host panel, an administrative panel, and a web booking platform, as well as one native iOS app. The host panel allows anyone with extra parking spaces to create an account online at host.parkpoolr.com, set pricing and availability, and manage their account through a detailed dashboard. For the administrative panel, Fountane built a dashboard that allows me and other ParkPoolr team members to manage all of the bookings, active spots, withdrawals, and many more things without needing to code. For the web booking feature, Fountane built a fast and responsive parking spot booking platform that allows users to scan a QR code or type in a unique URL on their phone to book a parking area in real time. On top of all this, Fountane also built a native IOS app in Reative Native.

What was the team composition?

The project team mainly consisted of a project leader, several developers, the president of Fountane (Saawan Patel) and myself.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Since the completion of the ParkPoolr project last month, I have been able to onboard 3 churches with large parking lots, as well as a University with 3 large parking lots in Minnesota. The platform makes it super easy to onboard these users and continue to scale.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I initially had a meeting with the Fountane CEO (Aditya) and then with the Fountane president (Saawan). I gave them both wireframes of the app and technology platform that I wanted. Then over the course of a week they came back with some more ideas, a project schedule, and the contract that we signed. It was a super easy and efficient process. We then primarily communicated in a Slack chat which allowed for complete transparency throughout the project. I primarily communicated with the project lead that was appointed by Saawan and he relayed any requests that I had with the rest of the team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The thing I found most impressive as a client of Fountane was their ability to work and adapt in a fluid situation. I was constantly asking questions and brainstorming ideas throughout the process, and they were able to incorporate many of my ideas into the project. Also, COVID-19 hit right in the middle of the project, and Fountane was still able to complete the project in a timely manner even with most of the world shut down. It was truly impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None