Goji Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and COO of a company called Otonomy Solutions. We’re an online matchmaking platform for buyers and sellers of small businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We had an initial concept and designs but needed a partner to enhance the designs and then build an MVP. We needed to develop an MVP cost-efficiently.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goji partnered with another agency to sharpen and finalize the UX/UI designs for the product. To keep the proof of concept affordable and efficient, Goji used WordPress as the framework then added custom code where WordPress was lacking.  They created a staging and production environment and now host and maintain the platform.

What is the team composition?

We directly work with David (Product Strategist) and a project manager. They communicate with their development team.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

We interviewed multiple development shops in North America and Europe. Goji wasn’t the cheapest option but from the first conversation, they understood and spoke to our business goals. We found that compelling enough to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $65,000 on the project so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in May 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work’s high. Our company’s two founders have technical backgrounds, so we perform extensive QA on the site. We participate in not only the design but also the validation process. Goji returns high-quality products. The reason we’ve been as successful as we’ve been is because of our relationship with Goji.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We have an open Slack channel where we frequently communicate. We also meet every week on Thursday. We discuss ideas together, and they come up with better solutions or ways to address our market. To track issues and budget items, we use Google Docs. Their team’s responsive.

Through no fault of Goji’s, we missed dates due to design changes or scope creep. Their team brings us back into alignment and keeps us on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team quickly evolved from our external development team to our partner. When it comes to the product, we can have serious and frank conversations. Their team’s willing to have hard conversations with us for the betterment of the company and the project. That’s refreshing.

At the same time, we also have a friendship. It’s easy to talk with their team. We actually enjoy our meetings. When it comes down to business, they focus on where we need to focus.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are challenges in every development project. If I could go back in time, I would improve the bug tracking processes. As far as the relationship with Goji, we haven’t had any challenges. It’s been excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring them into the business decision process. If you only want a development team to complete tasks, you’d waste Goji’s potential. If you allow them into business strategy conversations, they will see insights into how they can make the product better to achieve your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the data assistant and pilot designer for MyPal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

It's the goal of our project is really to provide a service to homeless individuals using technology. And that technology was going to be designed and executed by Goji Labs. We were using them to develop the application, which would ultimately serve homeless individuals to connect them with services in their area.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought in Goji Labs for the ideation stage, but we mostly used their services for app design. From beginning to end, it started with a vision board, and we broke down the direction of the project and the step-by-step vision we have. Then we determined what the MVP would need and the steps after that.

Ultimately, they designed the front- and backend for a pilot. It’s a mobile app for Android. We hope to implement the app for the population.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with David (CEO). He and his partner outsource some of their coding overseas. In terms of mapping out the process, they worked to get down our vision and what we want to implement in the future.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

My boss worked with them on another app previously.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s estimated to cost about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in January 2020. Given the circumstances of COVID-19, we’ve paused development. We couldn’t collect user information or do outreach. So we plan to resume whenever it’s safe.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We want the app to be as user-friendly as possible, and they’ve met those goals. Because we haven’t developed the pilot yet, we don’t have a lot of feedback from users. We want to get the best app as we can out there, and they’re helping us make it a reality.  

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Working with them has been a pleasure. They walk through all the steps before drawing anything or doing the code. From there, they develop what we want to achieve.

David is super responsive and he goes beyond what we expected. He always asks the right questions from a technology perspective to address those issues. It has been a collaborative interaction.

On a more consistent basis, we have weekly meetings, and they’ve always come prepared. They let us know what they finished previously and what we’ve asked for.

They worked in a communicative and efficient way. Their methods were effective, and it has effectively moved the project along. We use G Chat and have met in person a few times, but it’s mostly online.

What did you find most impressive about them?

David is so personable and open, which is very critical to our project because it’s addressing a social problem and we need creativity. He is a breath of fresh air and can break things down and create a tangible solution in the app.

Secondly, I’ve been impressed with their design process. They take a lot of time to look at different options. They provided 2–3 options to choose from. They clearly want the customers to work through different ideas so we end up with a product we’re satisfied with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any specific feedback. It has been a pleasant experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be willing to embrace their process. It’s a well thought out design process. I trust their step-by-step approach.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of the company is called Pulse, we're a social networking app that is going to redefine how people network. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or you're just a person that meets a lot of people, we want to make it easier for people to be able to connect.

We're building a digital Rolodex, it connects all your social media account and remembers where and when you met, so you'll never forget a connection again.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We hired them to develop our app. They helped bring my vision to life.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rights now it’s available on iOS. When users connect, it shows their location on the map. It also has a calendar, so every day has heartbeats according to when you’ve met somebody. They’ve built a QR code so you can share your information with others. We also have tags in a group system, so when you meet someone, you can give them a tag, and if you forget their name, you can search based on their tag. Then they built profile pages where users can display their photos, bios, and social media links.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a product manager,  a designer, and a few developers.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

I found an agent on LinkedIn and she connected me with the developer. We built a relationship from there,

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $115,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have about 40 beta testers and we’ve received a lot of great feedback. Users just want to see more now. They like the designs and functionalities. Now we just need to build more features.

They’ve done everything we’ve asked. They made the exact product we wanted to make. It’s very difficult to find agencies who can execute and deliver exactly what buyers envision.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They exceed expectations and are great at taking directions and pivoting when needed. They work very quickly. They worked tirelessly to ensure we got what we needed. They provided regular updates and met all our deadlines. A lot of other companies aren’t nearly as transparent. That honesty made us feel comfortable working with them.

We used Slack, email, and phone calls when working with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team and our product manager. He’s fantastic. He understands the client's needs and can articulate it to developers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re expensive, but we got what we paid for. They provided an excellent customer experience and quality work. It’s worth the money.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know exactly what you want from end-to-end, and set your expectations from the beginning.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a company called Wayfarer Journeys.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We provide GPS tours and needed to build an app that paired location with audio content. This would allow certain audio content to play through a car’s entertainment system when users passed through geofenced areas.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goji Labs built the logic and the actual app itself. Then, they incorporated a third-party mapping software, which is called Mapbox. We use the software for all of our location services and to map the route that we send motorists on. Their team used Swift and React. They built a backend component, which is an admin portal that’s web based.

What is the team composition?

I’ve only worked directly with David (Product Strategist).

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

A colleague recommended a designer who works with Goji Labs on occasion.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $100,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019 and we’re finishing the project now. It’ll go live by the end of the month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

First of all, the technology works, which is always good. Several people commented on how well the app was put together. The app looks good and integrates into the third-party software as it should. Goji Labs was competent.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Google Hangouts and Google Docs to communicate. I knew their plans and we made big decisions collaboratively. When they didn’t know an answer, their team was honest about it and then found an answer. They were fast and aggressive in finding solutions. Our concerns were addressed quickly and handled competently and intelligently.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Issues were addressed and solved within twelve hours. I appreciate the collaborative nature of this project. They’re able to exercise good judgment. Their team tells us if we have the wrong idea and explains their reasons credibly, which is helpful. They know when to push and when not to push. Their team took ownership of the tech side of the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be helpful for them to put more detail into the billing process. It would be useful to know what work was done and what work’s coming ahead.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We brought him in during the design phase, which was useful. David dialed into our calls, so it was a real collaboration from the get-go. Try to have your full team engaged because when Goji Labs gets moving, they move fast. You want to be ready.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a systems engineer and developer for Gypsum Express. We’re a trucking company that manages the loading and unloading of trucks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We previously had a very manual process for loading trucks that relied on paperwork and Excel spreadsheets. We needed to streamline and automate that workflow.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team developed a project plan and functionalities for the program. They refined the layout and developed ideas to make the process even better.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with two people. There were two additional developers who worked behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

There was a graphic designer who had worked with them and recommended their services. We took proposals from three different companies. They didn’t have the best price, but they were reasonable and had the best timeline.

How much have you invested with them?

It was just under $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in April 2019. We’re currently in the final stages of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality has been excellent. Working with them has been really good. We come to them with ideas and they work through the processes. After some back and forth, they improve upon what we gave them. We don’t have any quantitative data because we haven’t fully deployed the solution.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management has been great as well. The person we dealt with was on top of everything. They kept up to date with timeline and budget concerns. We used some tools during the design process, but nothing was set.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their excitement level made it feel like they were part of the team rather than an outside vendor. They had a personal stake in the project beyond the work that they performed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. Maybe they could’ve had a formalized project management/tracking software.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should come prepared with specific ideas that you want to accomplish and then be flexible with how you want to implement those ideas.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and managing director of LaHaV Learning. We’re a Jewish educational curriculum provider, creating content for Jewish schools worldwide. Part of that content is available through our online platform, which hosts learning resources for teachers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We’d worked with a freelance developer to build our online curriculum platform, but he was unable to continue servicing it because he was working on another job. So we reached out to Goji Labs to help us roll out new features and fix legacy bugs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

One of the main features that Goji Labs developed for our platform was a discussion forum that connected teachers across the globe. 

Before, educators had a difficult time exchanging materials with each other because there was no place to conveniently do so. The forum would serve as a way to bring schools and educators together around shared content. Teachers within our established network could post and answer questions in addition to sharing materials.

On the technical side of things, they refined our platform’s architecture to be more efficient. We’d been running into compatibility issues because we’d tied in so many different services through various APIs. 

The team updated the APIs and built a QA process that allowed us to perform more rigorous tests on different areas of our codebase. They’re currently patching up issues and mitigating technical debt in our systems. They primarily work using Django, Python, Heroku, and AWS.

What is the team composition? 

David (CEO, Goji Labs) is our main point of contact, but I’ve also interacted with two committed developers. We go through different sprints depending on our needs. 

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

Our original developer had actually referred us to David.

How much have you invested with them?

At this point, it's been about $26,000, and we're about to embark on another $8,000 sprint.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first started the engagement in February 2018, and it's ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re trying to build an international network of educators, which simply isn’t possible without having a good technical foundation. In that sense, Goji Labs has really been an essential piece of the puzzle.

Their team has pushed our product past the initial MVP stage, helping us identify and meet our core needs. They’ve done everything from designing the interface to deploying new features, and we haven’t had any hiccups from their work.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

David is great on both a professional and personal level. Not only is he super friendly, but we’re also able to communicate smoothly. 

Sometimes when you speak to someone, there’s a gap in understanding between you and the other person. But David got our needs right away. He asks the right questions and pushes back when something isn’t feasible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The times that they’ve said “no” to me have been important moments. It’s easy to go beyond the scope of work when embarking on a project like this. However, David has kept us focused so that we don’t lose sight of our core goals. He’s realistic about our deliverables and helps us prioritize work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve been really satisfied with their work. We haven’t had any major hiccups or delays.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a company that provides continuing education certification courses for healthcare professionals on our platform. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

For the first time in five years, we wanted a major upgrade of our databases, hoping to migrate to PostgreSQL. We also wanted to replace our existing contracted developers for smaller projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our custom web app was previously built in a MongoDB environment, which was great for a startup. However, we ran into issues when we began to scale our company. Goji Labs came on to migrate us to a PostgreSQL relational database system and upgrade our existing Ruby on Rails framework. Aside from that main project, they provide ongoing maintenance and jQuery work. 

What is the team composition?

For about the vast majority of the project, I worked with one developer. There was one other professional on their end that helped with some of the initial set up.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

I was looking for a local, Los Angeles-based partner that was familiar with Ruby on Rails. After reading some of their reviews of Clutch and making sure they had the right experience for our team, I decided to hire them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April–August 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since partnering with them, our page load times and database response times have drastically improved. That benefited us both internally on the backend and with our users on the frontend almost immediately.

Anecdotally, the system is allowing us to operate much more efficiently, and bugs we’ve been dealing with for years have been fixed with the migration. 

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The lead developer managed the project excellently across the board, keeping us up to date on his progress. He provided further explanations on his technical processes, which was helpful in my effort to fully grasp everything. That and the ease of communication really stood out. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciated their level of transparency throughout the entirety of the project. Their response time has also been a refreshing aspect of the collaboration. They’ve done a great job of delivering the solutions we needed to scale our business in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that immediately comes to mind. Any small problems we dealt with in the beginning were solved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their feedback and trust their recommendations. Additionally, make sure they have enough time to dive into your existing code before starting up.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and founder of Fed & Fit, an online editorial platform. We started off as a wellness blog, growing into a real health and wellness resource over time. Our company has two published books, an online program, a social media presence, and an upcoming YouTube series. We publish new content every week.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We wanted to rebrand and rebuild our website. It’s been about five years since I’ve redone the site, and that’s the main storefront of our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked closely with the Goji Labs team to develop a custom WordPress website from scratch. With their designer, we decided on an entirely new visual layout and content verticles. They also helped us through the wireframing process, so we were able to flesh out those concepts together. Then, they built the site, customizing the backend of the CMS for our needs.

They handled three big overhauls in the development process: our video page, recipe index, and online shop. At that point, we had wanted a native video player on our site for quite some time. Goji Labs enabled us to host videos on our own site instead of having to rely on YouTube.

Secondly, the team fleshed out our very thorough recipe index, building out requested layers to make the final tool as interactive as possible. 

Finally, they handled our online shop. Since we aren’t an e-commerce platform, they helped us build an interface that allowed users to explore products from other sites. If they click on one of the products, they will be redirected to the retailer. 

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was David. We also worked with a designer and were recently introduced to our point person for hosting.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

I hired a trusted industry leader for a brand boot camp to get a bird’s eye perspective on how to grow my company. She previously helped us revolutionize our content and verticles. During the session, she recommended David because of her positive work experience with him. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together started in September 2018, and the new site launched in September 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s still a little too early to determine their impact at this point. However, our traffic and engagement raised after the site launched. Users were also staying on our pages longer, as a result of the new design. The quality of work the team provided was great. David was very hands-on. We learned a lot over the course of our project, and Goji Labs is primed to excel with similar projects.  

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an excellent job of making themselves available to us. David relied heavily on phone calls and email updates for communication. He liked getting all the parties together on the phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed by the wireframing process and the care Goji Labs took in coordinating that phase. Some development shops I’ve worked with have moved too fast. I don’t understand all the complexities of web development, so that can be a problem. They made sure they were communicating clearly with our non-tech team to give us the exact UX we wanted. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We started implementing an issue tracker to keep everyone on the same page when bugs pop up. It was reliant on all parties logging into the site and manually entering feedback, though. I’ve relayed that to him and we’ve already improved upon it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Prioritize your dream features for your website and communicate them to David. He’ll work with you to price out each component. In my case, that really helped me figure out what functionalities I wanted to invest in and when. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CEO of a mobile application company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We needed help with development and production on the tech side.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goji Labs was heavily involved in the project from the beginning, building our native iOS app from scratch. Their team also advised on the feasibility of the concept, which was a social interaction platform based on geographical proximity. The app would show you which of your friends were physically close to each other and would allow friends to share photos and videos with each other. Goji Labs helped us shape the app and bring it in for landing.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with David (Product Strategist, Goji Labs). While they had a team doing a lot of the development work, David was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

I actually came across Goji Labs through a recommendation on Reddit. Around the same time, my partner had received the same recommendation from a friend. We figured they were a good option because we both independently received a referral for them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested at least $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Goji Labs ran from 2015–2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We weren’t able to scale the way we wanted, but Goji Labs did excellent work. The app worked exactly how we hoped it would. Their team was incredibly efficient. They aren’t a huge firm but did a great job within their scale. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

I never had any issues with their project management skills. We were frequently in their office, talking on the phone, or communicating through email constantly. Goji Labs was always very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our engagement with Goji Labs was a very personable and positive development experience. David was super responsive and upbeat throughout the whole process. He’s an incredibly smart guy and anytime he didn’t know how to do something, he was very quick to teach himself or figure it out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Things didn’t work out exactly how we wanted them to, but that had to do more with our team’s side. Goji Labs did a great job and I was happy with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Goji Labs is a perfect first stop for someone who is trying to get a project off the ground. They’re not a huge firm but they can take a very abstract idea and make it real, which is exactly what we were looking for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Monolith Collective, a design studio that primarily does branding and frontend design.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We had the opportunity to design and develop a unique shipment-tracking dashboard for our trucking and shipping client; although we were capable of executing the UI/UX design, we needed development support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Using our UI/UX designs, Goji Labs is developing a highly customizable dashboard. Multiple users can access the dashboard, and everyone has defined permissions. The dashboard enables team members to track different loads, confirm what is on the load, and apply their specific internal numbering system to it.

What is the team composition?

When we were scouting companies to work with, we were in contact with Adam (CTO, Goji Labs). Now, we primarily communicate with David (Product Strategist, Goji Labs), who oversees a team of developers.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

We interviewed a couple of different development companies for this project. We knew of Goji Labs because we’d utilized the same co-working space a few years ago, so we invited David to bid on the project.

My company ultimately chose Goji Labs because they had experience developing custom platforms and seemed very thorough and organized. The due diligence that they did upfront made them stand out. Goji Labs took it upon themselves to garner a good understanding of the project, and then they presented a very detailed overview of what the project would entail, the timeline and budget, etc. This upfront work made us feel confident that Goji Labs was a team that could execute this complex project with lots of customization features.   

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we will spend $160,000–$175,000. We’ve paid a little less than half of that so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in April 2018, and it’s ongoing. Because it’s such a sophisticated platform, this is a longer project, but we should be able to start doing testing on our own soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The dashboard is functional and true to design, which is essential for us as a design company. Goji Labs helped break down the project’s complexities and create a digestible, user-friendly product, bringing our client’s idea to life. We’re very pleased with the progress Goji Labs has made so far.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

David is our project lead and main point of contact; rather than having to interface with multiple layers of developers, we work directly with him, which has made the process seamless. They’re incredibly organized, and the platform that they use to manage the project is great. We have weekly check-ins, for which David ensures everyone is available and creates the calendar invite. During our check-ins, we see live demonstrations of the dashboard. Our work together is frictionless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Goji Labs’ team is friendly, which is an important but often overlooked aspect. They’re personable and want to do great work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their process instead of trying to force your own. They’ve found a great formula of what works and what doesn’t, not just in terms of development but also client relations.