INC4

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Product of Open Forest Protocol

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Open Forest Protocol provides transparent tools for global forest projects to monitor, report, validate, and finance their forestation activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire INC4 to accomplish?

• Build and maintain the software tools that make our business possible.
• Advise on and audit the security & reliability of our software systems.

SOLUTION

How did you find INC4?

Referral

Why did you select INC4 over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from INC4 were assigned to this project?

15+

What was your primary form of communication with INC4?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Our organization began with an idea, and INC4 helped us create a thriving business. Over the course of two and a half years, we have collectively built four interconnected user-facing software products that all utilize blockchain, as well as the infrastructure needed to sustain our digital ecosystem.

 This infrastructure includes the multitude of interconnected and constantly-updating smart contracts that govern our system, an indexer for the processing of on-chain data, and a variety of monitoring services to ensure minimal down time. INC4 is the only development team we have, and they deliver the only development capacity we will ever need.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From wireframes to production release, INC4 built all of our user-facing products. The initial concept validation, design, and prototyping was created by our organization, but INC4 helped us to refine our interfaces and ensure the application logic was solid. As a result, we have collectively built and released four interconnected user-facing software applications that all are integrated with blockchain technology.

This suite of applications is integral to our business. INC4 made our software products world-class in terms of usability, functionality, and reliability. Working with INC4 ensured our products were built and released on time and on budget.

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

INC4 has a multitude of world-class project managers that make our work easy and fun. The project manager's excellence in communication, technical mastery, and expectation management ensure our project's delivery is of minimal concern. Delivery roadmaps are always communicated clearly and met without fail. The only time deadlines shift are when we (the clients) introduce new development criteria or features that take more time to build.

 However, even when this happens, the INC4 team are unflinchingly eager to accommodate our changes and adjust delivery processes accordingly. INC4 is efficient, agile, and thorough.

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

The most impressive aspect of INC4 is how they seek to become truly invested in the development and success of each project they work on. They go beyond what is typically expected in this relationship, and are true partners who want to see our company grow. This provides a deep sense of security and trust for us as their clients.

 We never have to even consider INC4 taking shortcuts during the development journey because that kind of behavior is so opposed to their core organizational ethics. No matter what obstacles this organization faces, they adjust their development capacity accordingly and keep working with consistency & happy attitudes.

 However, another equally important aspect to note is sheer tenacity by which they work on their projects. Even if part of the organization finds itself in the middle of a war zone, they refuse to allow any external circumstances to affect their capacity to deliver. We have experienced zero impact to our timelines and to the quality of our products due to global events.

Are there any areas for improvement or something INC4 could have done differently?

None. INC4 is a flexible, fast-maneuvering organization that adapts its practices to the needs of their clients. We could not have asked for anything different.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at Rhino

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Rhino is a simple, convenient, and secure alternative banking solution that gives everyone the ability to build and manage their wealth in one place using Bitcoin

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire INC4 to accomplish?

• To build a world class tech stack with amazing UX/UI

SOLUTION

How did you find INC4?

Referral

Why did you select INC4 over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

What was the size of INC4’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

An alternative Bitcoin banking solution that gives everyone the ability to build and manage their wealth in one place. The app will allow users to buy/sell/trade/custody bitcoin, pay bills/invoices, make instant payments & remittances via Lightning, purchase bitcoin in their IRA, retirement & inheritance planning and the ability to purchase gift cards with rewards.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• The deliverables

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

They are an excellent group to work with and deliver in a timely fashion. The INC4 team is very professional and is always very quick to respond to our needs.

What was your primary form of communication with INC4?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their very hard work and attention and dedication to making sure they deliver excellent results

Are there any areas for improvement or something INC4 could have done differently?

Nothing that I can think of... They are a fantastic group of people, very easy to work with and very competent at what they do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and one of the co-founders of Yofan, a social media and content monetization platform. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with INC4?

We needed a contractor to provide us with backend development and after discussing my vision for the project and expanding the scope of the work, we decided to hire them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

INC4 provides us with custom backend development services, including building our software’s architecture from scratch and releasing prototype iterations. Some of their tasks include cloud optimization and an automated deployment pipeline.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with a backend tech lead, DevOps engineer, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with INC4?

One of my friends and colleagues recommended their company to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $280,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to INC4, the backend of our platform is now faster and bug-free, so we’re able to garner more than 5,000 creators on board. We trusted them with this project, which has worked out great for us.

How did INC4 perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform well from a project management perspective, as they’re always extremely flexible and patient with our needs.

We typically communicate through phone, WhatsApp, Google Meet, and Telegram.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their attitude, work ethic, diverse range of services, and adherence to our schedules and budget. They’re a great team to work with and are always eager to help.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been great, so I don’t have any constructive feedback.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to be honest with your expectations and knowledge of what you’re trying to build. They’re very honest people; the more they know about you, the better the partnership will be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with INC4?

We had an idea, but our team didn’t have anyone with previous experience in blockchain technologies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with INC4 in the full cycle of development. First, we needed them to work on the project’s architecture because we had specific requirements. Since our product’s quality depends on the DevOps work and performance, we wouldn’t have a product available for the market if we didn’t have a good infrastructure.

INC4 has used React Native for the frontend, ClickHouse as a database, and AWS, among other technologies.

What was the team composition? 

We’ve worked with 10 teammates: a project manager, an architect, a CTO, two backend developers, a frontend developer, a DevOps specialist, a team lead, and a couple of designers.

How did you come to work with INC4?

We asked our friends and colleagues in the industry to reference companies that could help us develop blockchain technologies, and INC4 came up.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent about $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in June 2022, and it’s an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a massive project for us because it connected with our main platform. In general, we’ve had high-quality results, and the project has opened new opportunities for our company. Moreover, the speed of the platform’s connection with our service has increased by 40%, which is great.

How did INC4 perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management has been excellent; we have a clear scope and two people working on project management. INC4 has done a great job in terms of paperwork and communication to let us know what we’re doing. Also, our main project manager controls all tasks and solves any issue that comes up throughout the development process.

We use Jira as a project management tool and Google Meet and emails to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

INC4’s team has great technical and soft skills. They respond immediately and solve problems quickly. We’ve had a great experience; INC4 is one of the best development companies I’ve worked with in my life.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly don’t know what to say. Maybe they could better describe the tasks in Jira, but that’s a minor issue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just let them do their job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of partner integrations for a company that offers a supply-side platform. We give publishers the option to place different types of ads on their websites, including but not limited to videos, banners, and popups. I currently manage all integrations with ad networks, and I find new advertisers and media agencies. As the product owner on the demand side, it was decided that I should collaborate with INC4.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with INC4?

We decided to build a similar platform a couple of years ago, but for advertisers instead of publishers. We envisioned a solution that’s easier to use than those offered by advertising networks. We have our own tech team, but we needed help with specific parts, including UI/UX design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

INC4 built the vast majority of our platform. Focusing on UX/UI, they helped us design the solution, and they also built a part of its backend. Our own team handled the server configuration. The solution allows advertisers to sign up, set up budgets and ad types, and run their ads.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people from their team.

How did you come to work with INC4?

We examined various tech teams and looked for one with experience in the advertising arena. INC4 was referred to us by a colleague who’d worked with them previously. We selected them because they were familiar with advertisers’ standards for UX/UI and had robust backend experience.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost was around $200,000, including the additional projects we took on with them for further adjustments.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with INC4 in August 2016, and the project was wrapped up by July 2018. We’re using our own team for maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we have experience in the niche arena of ad-tech, they often surprised us with effective, unexpected solutions. I’m very happy to have worked with them.

How did INC4 perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked in two-week sprints, and the collaboration was pretty comfortable. I always knew what the plan was and what we’d be getting at the end of the day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

INC4’s strongest suit is its expertise and experience in ad technology.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could diversify their team with specialists with different skills. We were looking for AI experts a few months ago and sought to work with INC4, but this was outside the scope of their services.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

INC4 is a great match for people that don’t necessarily have all the details fleshed out. We can simply go to INC4 and convey our general thoughts on the project, and they’ll execute analysis before building a structured team. They can consult us from the very beginning of what could be changed or improved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am working as an Overclocking Specialist at JetHash.io.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire INC4, and what were your goals?

I've been looking for someone who would be able to develop a mining power management system.

So it had to be someone who isn't new to mining technologies and could understand ways of improvement for miner machines’ performance.

SOLUTION

How did you select INC4 and what were the deciding factors?

INC4 and we had a mutual partner, that suggested their team when we were discussing my ideas.

I reached them with a pretty strict technical task that was met with accurate clarifying questions. Exactly this fact made me believe, that they know what are they doing.

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

INC4 developed two main products: BIOS firmware for AMD and Nvidia video cards; Linux-based Bitmain firmware for ASICs. Alongside with other system improvements.

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

I was working with 1 Senior Developer, 2 Middle Developers and 1 Project Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the first month, we were able to improve our clients' machines' performance, which led us to be recommended in the community.

And we were able to reduce our marketing spends almost two times.

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

The project management style was adjusted according to my request: minimum documentation, maximum communication. They did great. We had Telegram chat and Google Meet or Zoom calls.

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

It was impressive how agile the team can be, still keep working in their unique style.

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

No, I don't think so.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Nextadnet is a CPC/CPM ad network with direct and third-party traffic. I was Head of Affiliate Department for NextAdNet at the time when it cooperated with INC4.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire INC4?

INC4 had to deliver a custom system that would replace our open-source analog for CPC advertising networks. Including a traffic analysis system, as well as small UX and UI changes.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to convert our existing agreements with direct advertisers and publishers into more profitable cooperation for all parties, by avoiding high commission, high latency and high server requirements.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The vendor was selected according to a positive personal recommendation from one of their clients, that appeared to be NextAdNet’s partners.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

INC4 developed the PPC traffic distribution system for advertisers and publishers worldwide, that had to connect to different APIs of other digital media agencies and providing full fault tolerance despite high ping or any server issues.

What was the team composition?

For us worked a team of 8 people: 1 Project Manager, 3 Full Stack Developers, 2 DevOps Engineers, 1 Front End Developer, 1 Product Designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The developed system replaced an existing one and allowed the company to scale business and market coverage in three times during two and a half years.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There was a person responsible for the whole management process from INC4’s side, which saved us from the need to control the development process. They had a pretty exact technical task alongside with project documentation, so we were only receiving reports from their side via Email.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It was impressive that such an experienced team was not burdened with corporate processes and rules, they were ready to work on the client’s terms if it is more convenient for us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

My personal opinion is that they had everything we’ve been looking for.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of blockchain-powered IoT network for enterprises, enabling secure and frictionless dialogue between sensors, distributed ledgers and databases to optimise supply chain visibility and quality assurance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire INC4?

We hired INC4 in order to maintain blockchain development, including development operations and website development. Also they are fully engaged in community technical support and creation of architecture for future technical blockchain roadmap.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to launch blockchain from outsource components with additional features development. Launch was separated in three phases: development, launch of test net and launch of main net.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've selected this vendor through the tender program. We've been choosing among 7 other vendors. INC4 was selected as the one, who had experience exactly matching our tasks and were delivering previous projects 100% on time, according to reviews.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

INC4 launched the main net in 2 months and constantly improving it. The blockchain ecosystem of the project was by 30% invented and by 90% implemented by the team, alongside with fully developed Block Explorer and Network Dashboard.

Also, INC4 was involved in blockchain development, onboarding community and writing manuals. In particular, DevOps is completely executed by the team. Some of used technologies: Parity Aura, Solidity, NodeJS, GoLang, React, GoLang, Clickhouse, Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes, AWS and DigitalOcean services.

What was the team composition?

Currently in project are involved: 1CTO (Blockchain Direction), 3 DevOps, 2 Core Network Developers, 3 Full Stack Web Developers, 1 Project Manager and 2 Community Tech Support Managers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Right after mainnet launch our token price was increased in 2,5 times and it was listed on 8 new cryptocurrency exchanges. For now our community grew in 7,8 times and we are onboarding new members daily.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team suggested to use kanban metodology. And the fact that at least someone from their side was always online (even non working hours) we were able to react at ongoing issues immediately. Regarding tools, we've been mostly using Slack and Telegram for communication, Jira and Github for issue tracking.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were truly impressed by how devoted each member of INC4 team is, that fact increased our results in multiple times for sure. Also their knowledge in blockchain appeared to be wider than expected and it helped to avoid some mistakes in development.

Are there any areas for improvement?

For now, I don't see any areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a company operating multiple exchanges, including crypto exchange and. I am the co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire INC4?

Our challenge was to build a scalable and easy to inherit crypto exchange that could be easy to use and would have minimum security flaws. We also asked for the consulting services to draw operations map and documentation.

What were your goals for this project?

1. building a clean, easy to understand code base
2. having the project being delivered on time
3. having a robust documentation to hand the project to the supporting team.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We pre-selected many vendors through the tender program. Our selection was based on 25 various factors and at the end the executive commission made a decision.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Turnkey Crypto Exchange development and customization. Further runtime support and debug.

What was the team composition?

15 backend engineers, 1 frontend developer, 1 UI architect, 1 CTO, 1 Project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

960% growth YtY after 1st year in production.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I can't say it was flawless, however, all the problems had been addressed in a timely manner. We did not have many issues with that. In general - we were satisfied.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their knowledge of the de-centralized technological stack blew us away.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We would want to recommend training the service managers in a better way. However, I think that we are too picky in a way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a consulting firm that specializes in IT and outsourcing. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with INC4?

One of our customers requested that we find a team to develop a blockchain platform for them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team developed the platform using blockchain. 

What is the team composition?

I knew one of the co-founders of INC4 because he was my coworker at a previous job. That’s why I felt comfortable recommending them to my customer. 

How did you come to work with INC4?

My main point of contact is one of the co-founders and he answers most of our technical questions. We’ve also had contact with some of the members of their marketing team. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $270,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them on this project in January 2019. They delivered the final product at the end of October 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A lot of people don’t know how to properly develop using blockchain technology. However, their team is skilled. They met requirements and ran several tests to ensure that the system worked well. The user interface was also very nice. 

How did INC4 perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything on the project management side was done well. They delivered on time and the timeline was consistent. Our customer was happy with them. We mostly used messaging platforms or video conferencing platforms like Skype or Google Hangouts. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everything that needed to be done was done perfectly. They develop excellent solutions for DevOps and blockchain technology. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

I haven’t had any business issues with them. However, they could improve some of their marketing, but that’s my personal opinion.