Houlak

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO - Founder of Fixed

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Electronic invoice SAAS in Uruguay

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Houlak to accomplish?

• Accelerate the development of Fixed v2

SOLUTION

How did you find Houlak?

Referral

Why did you select Houlak over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Houlak were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Houlak provided us with two senior software developers who joined our team and delivered a highly positive experience for everyone involved. They were proficient in our tech stack, which includes Vue3 with TypeScript, and Google Cloud Functions in NodeJS. The addition of Houlak significantly accelerated our development process, enabling us to launch in late December, right on schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We worked over a six-month period using two-week sprints. In 10 out of 12 sprints, we successfully delivered more than 95% of the initially planned cards. This high level of performance enabled us to achieve our goal of beginning the migration of our customers to the new version by late December.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We hired staff augmentation services, which gave us direct oversight and management of the team. 

What was your primary form of communication with Houlak?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The individuals at Houlak were highly technically skilled and great team players, contributing to an excellent work environment with our team.

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

We can’t provide specific feedback as our involvement was limited to staff augmentation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder of a fintech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Houlak?

As a startup, we had an initial idea, and before going to production, we ended up changing it. We hired Houlak during this adaptation period, to help develop a mobile app that fit our needs and could guarantee we wouldn’t have any issues when adding new payment methods or integrations in the future. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The mobile app is being developed for Android and iOS. Houlak is building everything from scratch and making adjustments and changes throughout the process. 

The app allows for installment payments, which are not usually accepted in business in Uruguay. We have three apps, one for businesses, and two for clients. The app for businesses allows them to accept installment payments, and clients can enter a credit card into the app, go to a business, and scan a QR Code to pay with their card. We believe Swift and Kotlin is the technology being used. 

What was the team composition?  

I have a direct relationship with their CEO, CTO, and COO; we also have a project manager who manages day-to-day situations, and about 17 people in a Slack group where we have developers, a support team, QA experts, and a designer.

How did you come to work with Houlak?

I wasn’t involved in hiring them, but when I started working on the project, I was given the option to work with another company. I decided to talk to Houlak and a few other companies, but in the end, I found them to be the best choice for the project. They seemed like they would be able to adapt to our business needs and develop what we asked of them.

How much have you invested in them?

In the last year, we’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

They started working on this project in 2020, although I took over in 2022, and it’s an ongoing collaboration. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One metric is that after re-launching the product in January, we processed about $15,000 in the first month. In April, we’ve already processed $250,000, have more than 10 clients and businesses in Uruguay, and are working on launching the same products in airports of Panama and the Dominican Republic. 

Another metric is that we are currently placing the product in stores, and there are a number of important potential clients trying to work with us. The product is doing well in stores, and we've had to provide very little support to our customers because the product is so good and easy to use. This saves us time because we don’t need to spend time giving support to our clients. 

How did Houlak perform from a project management standpoint?

We use ClickUp, Google Meet, Zoom, and Slack for project management and communication.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

We’ve been impressed with their ability to adapt to our needs. That’s been a key for us because there are numerous development agencies in Uruguay, but not all of them have that ability. We’ve also been impressed with their agility in work and how they deliver on time. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that comes to mind at this point. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be an open book with them, and don’t share things halfway because that will make your work harder at the end of the day. If you are open with them, they will be able to understand what is best for your company in the present and the future. If you let them in on your goals, then at some point, if you want to add new features, that will make things much easier. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a startup technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Houlak?

We had built an app, but we needed someone to bring it up to a releasable product. That meant going back and fixing several issues to make everything work well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Houlak did an initial review of our app and identified the major issues. Then, they worked through them, aiming to get it up and running. We continued using Flutter as it was the technology that we had used previously.

Houlak’s main scope was to make our app functional and to clean up the codebase. They’ve also improved it and added some of the features that we hadn’t been able to develop due to the former coding.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with around four people from Houlak, including project managers and developers.

How did you come to work with Houlak?

After a previous experience, I didn’t want to work with another offshore development company. However, I felt forced to do so after experiencing a difficult time finding an experienced Flutter developer in New Zealand who wasn’t expensive.

We found Houlak thanks to their advertising on Upwork, and I then read their Clutch reviews. Later, I had a chat with them, which nurtured my impression of them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a New Zealand developer review Houlak’s work to check on their development quality, and they said that their work was very good.

How did Houlak perform from a project management standpoint?

We use ClickUp, GitHub, and Slack as the main channels of communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Houlak’s communication has been fantastic. They’re a group of good and honest people who really want to help and do the job right. Additionally, they’ve gone above and beyond to get things done.

If a critical error arises, they keep going and solve it quickly. Their processes are good, and they’re committed to our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I’m happy with them. It would be great if they moved to New Zealand so that there would be no time difference. They’re a breath of fresh air and a nice group of people.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just go for it; they’re a good company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software development and digital marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Houlak?

We’ve worked with Houlak on two development projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first project was an app for digital marketing sellers that automate marketing campaigns inside a marketplace. The second one that we’re currently working on is an automation system for our internal use. They use Notes and React.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three people.

How did you come to work with Houlak?

Houlak was referred by colleagues in the field. Being based in the same country as us also gave us a sense of closeness and trust.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them about a year ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had great results. The app that is already developed has a fair number of users. We’re sure the second one will be great.

How did Houlak perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication style has been great. They’re also very organized. For project management, we used ClickUp and Slack. We also had weekly meetings for follow-up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We talk with them daily. They also have a very fast response.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m very happy with their work so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Clever Credit. We create credit cards for direct to consumer brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Houlak to develop our company's website based on the guidelines created by our designer. They also helped us with wireframes for the onboarding flow of our app.

SOLUTION

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

We were referred to them by an old colleague who had used them for a fintech mobile app. We wanted to hire an agency that had experience in fintech, wasnt too expensive and could be flexible and understanding that our needs could change based on the feedback we received from potential customers.

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

We had a kick off meeting to explain our company and what we were hoping to accomlpish, who were our target users, etc... From there we held weekly meetings to share updates along with a slack channel where we had almost daily chats.

The key deliverables was the first few pages of our website live and available for anyone to visit. Houlak's team also guided me in setting up the infrastructure for our website (https certification, AWS setup, etc.). We also added a third party tool that allowed us to collect emails on a waitlist.

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

I worked with 4 people from their team including their CEO, COO and 2 designers/developers who were the key point of contact for our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch our website with our referral program up and running. The website performed the way it expected and Houlak's team even added a few touches on design, like making some icons float based on the location of the mouse.

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

We had a slack channel where we were in touch almost daily. Additionally, I exchanged many messages with Houlak's CEO via Slack. They were very responsive, even on weekends or holidays.

Once I shared info about what I wanted accomplished, they shared a timeframe on when I could expect to have the project completed. That allowed us to stay on track and for me to align our business tasks with the progress of our website.

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

They were very attentive and were legitimately curious about our project. The team proposed new ideas that I believe made our website even better than I expected.

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

None. They were great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an HR payroll fintech company. We offer a suite of financial solutions for employees of large companies. Our mission is to build and help employers offer their employees a complete solution for financial health. In my role, I lead product and technology while hiring and growing the team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Houlak?

We brought them on to build a web app that allows employees to interact with us to get free earned wages and speak to a personal financial advisor. Their team helped us build the customer-facing app as well as the back office solution we utilize for administrative purposes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the first phase, we focused on design and requirements. During the second phase, we shifted to the UI/UX designs of the solution. Then, we went through the development phase. After that, we’ve continued to work on new features.

Now, we have a permanent partnership with Houlak centered on time and materials. There are always developers bringing in new features or fixes. We’re about to start a new project that’ll be a mobile version of our web app.

What is the team composition?

We work with approximately five team members but it varies depending on the phase of the project.

How did you come to work with Houlak?

My co-founder is from Uruguay, and we knew there’s great development talent there. We searched for firms and compared five Uruguayan firms with three US-based firms and one Chilean firm. Out of these nine firms we ultimately selected Houlak.

They weren’t the cheapest, in fact, they were on the higher end of prices in South America. However, they were the best one because of their portfolio, expertise, and attitude. From our very first interview with them, they had a proactive, energetic, and thoughtful attitude with transparent packages.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $25,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our customers ran an NPS when we launched our service and it was the single highest NPS they ever had for an employee-related service. It was 71 which means our clients loved it and it was very impactful. We received feedback from users expressing the web app changed their life as well as made everything faster and simpler. This attests to Houlak’s hard work.

Our customers want to enroll in all the batches at the same time. They’re very happy about the product. They pressure us to enroll and grow the number of users but we can’t because of commercial reasons.

The web app works really well and runs very fast. If there are any bugs, Houlak fixes them the next day. They’ve even worked on weekends to help us solve immediate issues.

How did Houlak perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve consistently met deadlines. In some cases, they’ve delivered a bit more than what we expected so we’re very happy. We use Slack, Zoom, Google Docs, and ClickUp, the tool they utilize for sprints. ClickUp made a big difference and made all our processes faster.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Houlak is very specialized. Their portfolio is fintech, and they really know what they’re doing. They have a lot of experience and have worked with many companies from startups to enterprises. They work with some of the most important digital financial services in the region; that’s very important.

As a team, they’re extremely practical, transparent, and trustworthy. I feel completely at ease with them. They take our project and do the best possible job they can. They’re absolutely transparent in every step of the process. I know exactly what’s happening at all times and that’s an extraordinary level of transparency.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the last few months, we often wish that they had more availability. In terms of resources, I’d like to have one of their developers work inside my team for a while. they haven’t been able to do that because they don’t have enough available resources. Other than that, we don’t want to ever let them go; we want to work with them forever.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of SORT Consulting, a consulting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Houlak?

We needed to make an iOS app quickly to share in an IT forum.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team at Houlak designed and developed our iOS application. We worked with them on the design, but they did everything else. They provided an architect and a team to develop the app and backend.

They also incorporated components that we provide for biometric companies that we represent. We needed the backend to show the results that we produce in the app. The app is for digital onboarding.

We cover all the process and do the ID verification. The app captures the ID document, and they take a selfie. It then validates the identity of that person by doing a facial matching between the picture on the ID card and the selfie.

What is the team composition?

We’re in contact with at least four or five people.

How did you come to work with Houlak?

We had a lot of references for their work. We were working with a client that we have in common, and I also had a reference from an IT professional that worked with me.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Houlak started in June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m very satisfied with their work. They might be a little expensive, but they deliver quality work in a timely manner.

How did Houlak perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re responsive. We communicate through email and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Houlak adds their knowledge and experience to our service. They resolve things in the design stage that we didn’t have clear. The communication is very good. Their team is committed, which we appreciate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a little expensive, but they deliver value according to the price.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to make a relationship with them. Explain your needs very well. They’re very clear and honest people that will tell you if they have the expertise or not.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Donate is a mobile app for blood donors. I’m the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Houlak?

We are developing a blood donation mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Houlak is developing an iOS and Android native app. Users who want to donate blood can use the app to complete a form and find out whether they’re a good candidate. Afterward, they can schedule an appointment to donate. Once the process is done, they’ll receive a code that gives them discounts at different shops, as a reward for their action.

How did you come to work with Houlak?

I came across them two years ago. I was developing another project, and a friend recommended Houlak to me. That project never actually started, but I got in touch with them when I had the idea to start Donate.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested $6,000 so far, but we’re planning to invest about $20,000 more in the future in order to keep improving the app.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Houlak around April 2020, and it’s ongoing. We’re finishing the first version of the app now, and we’re already working on the second one. We’re launching the app in the coming weeks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I really like working with them. They’re a young team, and they have a lot of good ideas. They work quickly, and they’re flexible with schedules. We have a very good working dynamic.

Even though we haven’t launched, I haven’t identified any bugs or errors on the app. So far, so good.

How did Houlak perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is really easy and fluent. We talk through different channels, including Slack. They’re available for us all the time — we’re in contact at least four times a day. We work in sprints, and we share a lot of feedback. We’re creating a strategy together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I got in touch with Houlak before I’d fundraised, and I told them that. I asked if they’d be willing to start the project without any guarantees, just knowing that we were going to help a lot of people and that I’d start paying them after I got funds. They put their trust in me, and I put my trust in them. They’re really good people, and they’re really professional. I’ve had a great time working with them.

Houlak is a young team with a fresh approach. I’m not a very technical person, but I find their designs to be very cool and novel.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not so far. I think we’re going to achieve our launch goal, and I’ll be able to say more after that. The only thing I have in mind is that they could be a bit cheaper.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am the CEO of a benefits platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Houlak?

They developed our platform, it is a benefit’ platforms that is completely sustained in an app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After designing our initial website, the team provided full-stack app development services. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with about 10 members of their team

How did you come to work with Houlak?

We knew their CEO, he was actually our client, so we knew them personally and knew that they are a trustworthy company and everything proved to be true, they actually exceeded our expectations.

How much have you invested in them?

We have invested between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We had our first project with them in 2017, it was a website project and the app was in 2018, we continue working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have an app that we are 100% sure that will always work well, is being used by 3,500 people and we haven’t received almost any comments about its usage, and whenever we’ve had any issue they immediately respond. All of that means quality for me, we are just calm with our app.

How did Houlak perform from a project management standpoint?

We also had a great human experience with them and we formed a very nice and friendly team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their human quality. They are always close and have great energy, plus the quality of their work is outstanding. Having a product that works perfectly is everything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are a bit expensive.