JetRockets

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of Shift, a company that helps European customers order and produce metal parts with a wide network of metal production partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

We have a roadmap of IT processes that we need to implement to realize our business model. We decided to build an order management system based on the Ruby on Rails stack, with the support of JetRockets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our order management system, which serves as the foundation for our company’s IT landscape. We’ve had a fixed-price phase one, which they completed, and we’re now in the ongoing process of implementing fixes and change requests.

The system was built on Ruby on Rails, with a PostgreSQL database. It runs on a Unix operating system, with some other minor technologies employed too.

What is the team composition?

There were two dedicated developers, along with intensive support from their CTO and some testing and mockup specialists.

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

We got some recommendations and then chose a partner based on their availability to start quickly, given that we had some time pressures. The price was also a factor.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with JetRockets in October 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform they built is our core IT system, so their work has had a huge impact. We only deployed it a month ago, and it’s fully up-and-running.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re satisfied with them. They’re interactive, they reply quickly, and they adapted to our changing requirements. As a startup, we have many requirements that become outdated before we even finished discussing them, and JetRockets provided good management for that environment.

We used Asana based on their proposal, and we’ve embraced it. They also use a Git repository manager, along with their own internal task manager, but we’ve only used Asana on our side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The solid competencies of their co-founders and team leaders impresses me. When something becomes more difficult, they’re always ready to provide support. Furthermore, they have good development practices and I’ve found their approach to building architectures competent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Working with startups is hard, given that things are always changing quickly. JetRockets is a more mature organization than ours but we’ve forced them to adapt quickly, which they were good. We’ve been working together for only half a year, so this is always a challenge.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Trust is important, and we have it—we’ve seen them get really involved to get things done, rather than just tackling the initial requirements list. A good level of trust ensures that the project goes on, even if some deviations on the scope come up.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Luster specializes in high-tech experiential solutions that enable event guests, social followers, and fans to interact and engage with brands, campaigns, and each other in unique ways. I'm the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire JetRockets?

We hired JetRockets to build a client portal in a short time.

What were your goals for this project?

The primary goal of the portal was to allow our customers to log in and give us permission to pull data from their Instagram business account. Our engineers wanted to maintain and extend the portal.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

JetRockets was referred to us. Our engineering team evaluated their technical abilities from past projects, and our creative team evaluated their design capabilities.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They created six templates that integrated with Facebook and our internal server. These included a portal login, a landing template with idle and authorized states, Instagram authorization support information, a client portal event landing template, and a select authorization template, and an error message template.

We provided the design files in sketch format, API documentation, and Postman scripts to test endpoints. JetRockets developed a responsive app with React and Redux 2. They also handled deployment documentation and created a list of build tools and version numbers. 

What was the team composition?

We had one senior frontend developer, one additional frontend developer, one QA engineer, and one project manager. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All our clients successfully use this client portal without difficulties or technical problems. Our clients have given their Instagram business accounts access tokens with limited friction. This was a new requirement for our business. Without this client portal, we would have no metrics.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our project manager handled all communications with their engineers, which worked well. We had no problem understanding the technical concepts.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was most impressed when the team brought up issues and edge cases that we missed, then proposing solutions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder and COO of AskJack, an iOS app that connects homeowners and contractors instantly with a booking and scheduling system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

During the beginning of the project, our in-house development team was managing the design/frontend of the app but needed assistance with building out the backend infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The service consists of two apps; one for consumers/homeowners and one for local professionals and general contractors. When a consumer needs to book a service, they create an account and answer a few questions on the app that connects them with specific providers in their area. They are then able to browse through their profiles, read reviews, and see their availability to schedule an in-person appointment. JetRockets has taken a lead on backend development for both apps.

What is the team composition?

Natalie [Partner and Head of US Operations, JetRockets] was our project manager and Igor [Partner, JetRockets] served as the lead developer.

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

We received a referral through one of our in-house iOS developers at the time. We scheduled a meeting with them and they seemed great, so we moved forward with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the summer of 2016, and we’re set to launch in the next few months. We’re currently in talks to develop an accompanying web app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched the app yet, but our team has been reviewing the code and JetRockets has done high-quality work and kept great notes that allow other developers to pick up where they left off if necessary. We haven’t run into any major issues thus far.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. They always took our budget into account and managed our expectations around timelines and what was realistic for our first MVP. They’ve been extremely knowledgeable throughout the process. I’ve worked with many development teams over the past fifteen years and outsourcing can sometimes be difficult. With JetRockets, the communication was easy and efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication has been key for us, and their technical skill level has been a tremendous asset.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing immediately comes to mind.

Advice for potential customers?

Have a clear understanding of you what you want to build. The more information you can provide, the better quality your product will be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a founder of goBaby. We’re an online peer-to-peer marketplace providing strollers, car seats, and other baby gear for rent, making it easier for families to travel. It’s similar to Airbnb in that users can book ahead and rent gear for the length of their trip.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

We needed to build a site that could support our platform. We also determined that a majority of our target audience used iPhones, and wanted to create an iOS app to expand our base.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

JetRockets built the site and the iOS app from scratch. The site is a relatively basic e-commerce platform with review functionality, and it encourages users to download our iOS app. JetRockets made several suggestions during the development process that helped us optimize UI/UX [User Interface/User Experience], which included adding a “Subscribe” prompt to the landing page and links to all our social media pages. We really appreciated their input.

When I asked for changes or improvements, they obliged at no extra cost, which was very helpful for us. At our request, and with no added charges, they shifted us from an external blog to one on the site that allowed users to send posts, which I could then add to the site upon approval.

What is the team composition?

There was a project manager who helped us brainstorm the overall structure, and oversaw communication and deadlines. He was always available on Skype to address any questions or concerns. We also worked with a graphic designer who provided us with mockups for approval and a UX/UI designer that focused on user flow and overall site layout.

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

I work out of a WeWork space, and another startup founder recommended them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October of 2016 and launched in December 2016. They made some minor changes through March of 2017, and the engagement has largely concluded since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we went live, we got a great deal of positive user feedback and several accolades for the app and the site. We felt that they did an excellent job.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great about keeping us updated on the project. Although they’re based in Russia, we managed to use the time difference to our advantage, and turnaround time was extremely efficient. They were great about making changes when we needed them. It was very important to us that work was completed in a timely manner, and JetRockets ability to meet deadlines put us at ease. Our project manager was very easy to work with and efficiently addressed any issues that came up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very good at working with non-technical people and always translated all the lingo into terms that my team could understand and influence. Sometimes you can feel lost when you don’t understand how things are being developed or what’s required, but their process was very transparent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were looking for a lot of input in the beginning on what we wanted the design to look like, but I’m not a very visual person, so initially, it would’ve been helpful to see more examples. They explained that they wanted to avoid design stereotypes and create something new for us, so we came around to appreciate their approach.

Advice for potential customers?

Be open-minded and try to brainstorm as many ideas as possible upfront. You can trust JetRockets to choose the best solutions for your project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a data management, business intelligence, and data warehousing company. We primarily service financial industry clients. We have a proprietary data management platform and act as consultants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

We had a new client who needed a large-scale platform built. It is a collaboration project with a variety of functions. This combination does not exist in the market, so drew on our previous partnership with JetRockets to build the platform together.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our client has their own UI/UX [user interface/user experience] person, but—with our direction—JetRockets provides us with everything outside of those elements. They manage their own resources and time. The platform is still in progress, but will manage freelancers for large corporate clients’ creative projects. It combines project management, compliance, and the collaborative space for project managers and freelancers. It’s a complex platform, with multiple angles.

They specialize in Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL. We’re a SQL and Python shop, so Postgres is relatively new to us. They’ve been very good at showing us their process.

What is the team dynamic?

We are in touch on a weekly basis for regular updates, and their project manager connects with me at least one or two extra times each week to update us or ask sensitive questions. Everything else is mapped centrally through our project management software.

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

My business partner found them. He had worked with them at a previous job on a smaller project. He felt they were exceptionally reliable, and could work quickly while maintaining good quality.

How much have you invested with them?

This is a $125,000 project. The client has increased its scope, so that number is likely to grow.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our relationship started officially on August 1, 2017, and is ongoing. We’re already considering them for another project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As I mentioned, one of our three clients for this project is a UI/UX designer. We showed him the staging server in October, which he didn’t expect. With their help, we beat expectations, and they meet every milestone we’ve set on the timeline, in spite of significant scope creep. This is a challenging project, and they’ve delivered excellent quality work on time or ahead of schedule.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide a lot of transparency, and their work is easy to audit. They’re very reliable, and their project manager is extremely responsive. She was in touch with me over Thanksgiving because they had a question and wanted to be sure they could move forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their reliability and communication flow are strong. The interest they take in their work makes them truly unique. They are a collaboration partner. They don’t just take marching orders and follow directives, but they respond with thoughtful answers. They care about the work that they do, and take pride in their deliverables. They’re more than a shop we outsource to, they’re an ongoing thought partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My only suggestion would be expanding their technology stack. I had to convince my partner to go with Postgres, rather than SQL or another software we were used to. Outside of that, they do well on any project, and provide compelling reasons to hire them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of where you’d like to go. Provide them with guidance, and they will respond with honest, candid feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of Hound & Co., an e-commerce platform that specializes in all things dog-related.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

We had been working with a development company prior to JetRockets in an effort to establish a multi-sided e-commerce marketplace that allowed buyers and sellers to make profiles, process payments, and track orders. The previous company was not able to build what we wanted and left things very disorganized. We needed a new company to clean up their work and get the site up and running.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

JetRockets oversaw all aspects of development, including design and user flow, using Ruby on Rails. They also worked with us to make the sign-up process for buyers and sellers much more user-friendly with a clearly defined UI [User Interface]. They also implemented PayPal as a payment processing system, and set it up to divide payments between our company.

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

My father had worked with them in the past and suggested I reach out after hearing about my trouble with the last development company.

How much have you invested with them?

About $86,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's ongoing. The site is live, but we’re continuing to make final adjustments.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had gotten user feedback early on, coupled with high bounce rates and low time spent per page, that suggested we needed to improve the user flow for buyers and sellers. JetRockets made a few suggestions that included adding a banner for buyers that allowed them to easily access the site’s main features, as well as a more clearly-defined UI for sellers that guided them through the sign-up process. These additional features helped us to retain users on both sides.

Also, we initially implemented Stripe as a payment processing system, but quickly realized that sellers were hesitant to provide their financial information with a service that they had never heard of. When we decided to switch over to PayPal, JetRockets made the transition without any problems. Sellers are now much more confident sharing the necessary information while making an account.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Asana to track progress, prioritize tasks, and delegate based on order of importance. As for communication, we usually spoke via Skype, email, or phone. If something crucial came up after-hours, they would reliably respond and address the issue in real time. They were great to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are extremely trustworthy. Although they hadn’t worked with multi-sided e-commerce platforms before, they were able to build a marketplace that met all our requirements. Developers will always say that they’re able to take on a project, even if sometimes they can’t. I knew that I could trust JetRockets to figure things out and do the project right. They were very organized and worked efficiently.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, none that I can think of.

Advice for potential customers?

Have a clear outline of what you’re looking for. If you can imagine it, they can do it. You can always ask them for advice, but just make sure to have clearly-outlined expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the business analytics manager of LendingOne. We provide rental loans to real estate investors, and we deal 100% with entities only. I was also lead project manager for the software implementation on the project with JetRockets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

We needed to have a proprietary CRM [Customer Relationship Management] built from scratch for our business. The majority of the CRMs for real estate companies are positioned towards individual name or borrower-type CRMs, but we wanted something more entity based. When we were looking for various software solutions that we could subscribe to, nothing matched our needs. As a result, my COO [Chief Operating Officer] and I decided on the proprietary route and to have our own loan origination system flash CRM built from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

After identifying a need for the CRM, we reached out and provided them with the initial scope, outlining what business purpose we needed to fill and where we wanted to head with it, in addition to who this would impact from an operational standpoint. At that point, Jetrockets reviewed those requirements and really understood the depth of our business and what we were lacking.

JetRockets built our CRM, as well as the databases behind the CRM. Our CRM is 100% proprietary and there are many things that specifically match our business.

What is the team dynamic?

I work directly with a project manager and I serve as the business project manager. All internal communication regarding any software related changes, advancements, or improvements is brought to me, and I communicate with their IT project manager, who then communicates to the rest of the JetRockets team.

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

My CEO had experience working with them with a sister company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began this project in the spring of 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It has been going well and there is nothing I can complain about. With any type of QA and requirement ticket, there may be things that are not understood or communicated properly, but nothing has been detrimental.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

They have performed exceptionally well. I have dealt with many different IT development project teams throughout my tenure, and their team is very well acquainted with the technology; they know what they are doing and understand the requirements thoroughly.

After I submit a ticket and it is received by them, we use a project management software in order for us to have live updates as well as communication to both of our teams. Their team develops it, they go through rigorous testing, QA [Quality Assurance], and development, and they then put the ticket in UAT [User Acceptance Testing]. At that point, I test it rigorously and we move it to our production environment.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing has been their response time and coverage. I have never been in a situation where I cannot get a hold of anyone. They are on top of things 24/7, which is very impressive for a relatively small team.

They understand the business very well, especially because they are external and are not living our business day in and day out. The team is knowledgeable, bright, and very talented all around. 

The technology business is very volatile from a timing standpoint, and I know from my experience working with various teams in the past that they are the best in the business so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only feedback I would provide is on the ETA [Estimated Time of Arrival]. Maybe 2% of all tickets and processes were a little underestimated in terms of the ETA to us, which can put me in a tough situation.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Rather than communicating solely over the phone, or sending a requirement sheet, make sure that everything is extremely explicit. This is general to all technology teams. Make sure the project is scoped out properly and that there isn’t any room for ambiguity from their team, as this entails inefficiency. I don’t believe this a responsibility of them; rather it is 100% the responsibility of the client. If a client can’t properly communicate or draw out what needs to be done in the system, then they shouldn’t request it. However, even if everything isn’t set in stone on your end, they can help along the way to get the project done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Convead has an online marketing platform for e-commerce. I’m the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

We didn’t have in-house resources to start our new project. Our CEO told me we needed contractors to help us develop our online marketing platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had some base requirements. We met Igor [Founder, JetRockets] and Alexey [Founder, JetRockets]. They looked through our papers and documentation and made some suggestions beginning with our technical stack with databases, programming language, and so on. They built the architecture and a prototype of the project. They showed it to us and we just looked through it and did a code review.

In the second month, we decided to move on. They introduced several new features for us such as email sending and showing web forms on client’s websites with some kind of visual constructors for the content of the emails. 

In the third month, we had our own staff and JetRockets helped them to get into the project. They were very professional. They installed the code and created some basic documentation for our programmers. They used Ruby on Rails, with PostgreSQL and Redis as the database. They used a quite contemporary frontend framework, which I think was Angular. The stack was good. 

What is the team dynamic? 

We worked with 3–4 developers. 

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

The first factor was that we needed to be able to meet in-person. There were a few companies in our location so we talked to each of them. Igor and Alexey from JetRockets proposed very good terms for us and offered a good hourly rate. They understand what they’re talking about and how to build such projects and systems. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2014 and the project finished in May 2014. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It works. We didn’t have to rebuild too many things after them. When we started the project, we had 0 visitors. Now we have thousands of visitors daily. We can see that the technical decisions that JetRocket made are working.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

We were happy with them because they really helped us to do the MVP [Minimum Viable Product] for a couple of months. They’re very professional. It was very easy to communicate with them—they’re always online and ready to answer our questions. We had daily online meetings with them. They were like part of our team and we’re quite happy. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They want to help. They’re not just contractors, they become part of your technical team. They do not only what is written in the technical papers and documentation, but they give suggestions too. They always told us how much it would cost to implement certain features. There were several features that we canceled because of those estimations. They saved us money in that way, because we could have just started implementing these features, but found out that they were too expensive for us. They wanted to help us and save us money.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Maybe they could do something better, but I’m not sure if I were them, I’d do things another way. It always depends on the situation. They started a project from the bottom. This is very difficult, but it’s important to forecast how the project can develop in the future. They could make something better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you work with them, don’t hesitate to contact them constantly. Don’t hesitate to make daily meetings or online calls with them. They’re really responsive and available for that. It can save time and money. Because they’re not part of your company or team, they may not be aware of some goals that you are trying to reach. They need as much information as possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an online photography school in Russia and a few eastern European countries. We provide online educational services and photography for photography majors, people who just bought a camera, and people who take photos and want to improve their skills in photography.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with JetRockets?

We needed an outsourced development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve helped us with a lot of challenges with our website including a complete redesign of internal architecture. We ran our website with Ruby on Rails. We made a complete upgrade from one version to another. They did both frontend and backend development to our website and other websites in our company.

Our website consists of several parts. There’s a public, online storefront where users can select services and buy them. Then there’s the student interface part where our students can interact with tutors. They have learning materials, content, and an interface for uploading their tasks. We also have a teacher interface where our teachers work. Lastly, there’s an administration part that’s actually a CMS where we manage everything we have on the websites.

What is the team dynamic?

I was the project manager in-house. They provided us with a team lead, who was also a developer. We always had a backend developer and frontend developer. Sometimes there were several backend developers depending on the workload.

How did you come to work with JetRockets?

I wasn’t involved in the process. It was my boss who found them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $10,000-$49,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2013, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It is fine, and they provide quality work. We haven't had many problems.

How did JetRockets perform from a project management standpoint?

It's always great. We are in constant communication and use Agile technology. We have short cycles of 1-2 weeks. During that time, we have communication if something goes wrong. That’s actually the best part of the work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have lots of engineers who have fast communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have any feedback. Everything is fine.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a serial startup founder in the IT [Information Technology] industry and used to focus primarily on product/development issues in my companies. Relevant to JetRockets, there are two interconnected companies: MillionAgents.com, which provides crowdsourcing data collection solutions for the retail industry, and FORapp.ru, which provides SaaS [Software-as-a-Service] in the same area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what reason(s) did your company hire JetRockets?

After a year or so of in-house development, we realized that we needed to enrich our team with additional expertise.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to meet our deadlines on the way, to audit the tactical software engineering solutions we've made, and enhance bottlenecks.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Usually skeptical about outsourcing, I was advised by my business partner to approach and try JetRockets since they did a brilliant job for the IT side of his recent company. I met them in person and decided to give them a trial project. I was quite surprised!

Describe the project in detail.

JetRockets joined our team of 6 developers to deliver the road-mapped features and refactor the bottlenecks.

What was the team composition?

We had two people from JetRockets working on our project full time, with Igor [Partner, JetRockets] overseeing the process and supporting complicated issues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Product development is not a project, but a process. During the timeframe in which they were involved, we were satisfied with their work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was unusually good compared to my previous outsourcing experience. The team was online and Igor was ready to get involved in any issue regarding technical problems or communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We worked with them when they were a rather small boutique-like company, so we had enough of the founder's attention to control each aspect. I hope they can still sustain this commitment to clients' needs and to quality delivery today.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't name any serious flaws in our cooperation.