LaunchPad Lab

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization's name is Empower Illinois, and we're a scholarship granting organization that provides scholarships to low- and middle-income students and their families to attend private schools. I’m the senior director of operation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LaunchPad Lab?

There was no integrated platform that met the needs of scholarship organizations like ours. We needed a platform that would bring in donations, awards students, and provide school portal and parent portal information. After conducting extensive research into various options, we decided to work with LaunchPad Lab to create our own proprietary platform.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I originally hired them to develop our website, but our engagement grew and they became our complete technology vendor.

Our main platform is Ruby on Rails. They created a platform with a lot of different tabs on it. It involves school information, which schools and students received the award, the amount, and so forth. There’s a family info section that provides pertinent information and provides a portal for applicants.

There’s a processing component. There’s a donation tab that shows what the donations are from each donor and if it’s available in the system. Then there’s an administrative component that they created for reports, expiration rules, reservation imports, and so on.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager and two developers. There’s a core group of four people, but they’ve brought in 4–5 other people on a rotational basis depending on what we need. In total, we’ve probably worked with nine people.

How did you come to work with LaunchPad Lab?

During a major event that’s important for us to distribute these scholarships, the technology our provider used crashed. It was a catastrophe and we needed to fix everything quickly. A tech person at a local incubator recommended LaunchPad Lab to me. They understood this process better than everyone else, so I thought they could deliver what we needed.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After they created this solution, all of our reservations and have gone off without a hitch. To put it in context, we have thousands of people come to our site, and it’s first- come, first-served, so that’s very important. Anecdotally, one of our primary contacts in a big school system told us that she had no calls or concerns this year. Before we had this solution, there was a lot of anxiety, panic, and a lot of people didn’t understand how it worked.

We now have an established process that is easy to follow. They did a great job conceptualizing the project and executing it. The process has been very iterative, and whenever we tell them we need something, they discuss amongst themselves and create a solution.

How did LaunchPad Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They primarily use Asana, so we use that to make comments or point out any changes. I think they’ve missed some deadlines, but nobody is perfect, and that was really early on in the project. Now they understand what we need. They have also added another developer, so there’s a little less pressure and they can follow the timeline. They’ve been responsive. I’m a tough grader on this, but in the gran scheme of things, nothing has affected the performance of what we needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They listen, and understand what we want to do. They always come up with creative solutions. They’re very diligent, and it’s clear they’ve bought into our mission.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not at this point.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of Guild Row, a social club for the artisanally curious. It’s a space for people to come together and build relationships by making things.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LaunchPad Lab?

One of the biggest challenges we had was to establish an operating taxonomy for all the different activities we wanted to do. We didn’t want it to be a free-for-all because customers need a high-quality structure to be able to experience and learn. 

We wanted a digital interface that would allow us to source ideas from members as well as handle all of the logistics around producing a real-life, high-quality experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through an extensive discovery phase and provided the team with photoshop mockups of what we wanted. A lot of firms wanted to build something from scratch at great expense that wouldn’t have been very flexible and adaptable. 

However, LaunchPad Lab found a baseline, off-the-shelf club solution that we could customize to our liking. They created an effective web app that has simple, clear, robust functionalities.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was Brendan (Co-Founder & CTO). Over the course of the project, we’ve worked with 4–5 different teammates depending on the stage.

How did you come to work with LaunchPad Lab?

I previously worked for a tour boat company in Chicago whose website and booking interface LaunchPad Lab had redone. I was really impressed with the work they had done.

How much have you invested with them?

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

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the spring of 2018 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product has been incredibly valuable for us. The solution they found kept delivery time and costs down. This showed that, from the beginning, they were thinking of our needs and not their bottom line. 

It’s hard to speak to specific metrics because their work is so central to what we do. We have more than 150 members at this point, and it’s a vital component of their everyday experience. Overall, we’ve been successful and this is at the heart of what we do. It’s a very broad metric, but it’s an important one.

How did LaunchPad Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform exceptionally well. LaunchPad Lab has been tinkering with different project management tools, including Basecamp and, now, Asana.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great listeners. You tell them something once, and they know it. The team doesn’t give you what they think you want; they actually give you what you truly want and need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions. We haven’t encountered any pain points, so we’re very happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be too eager to translate everything into technological language. LaunchPad Lab is able to have a plain-spoken conversation at the outset and then translate it into technological terms when needed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the president of an educational nonprofit focused on international relations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kohactive?

We wanted to recreate an online tool and registration portal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The tool helps register various participants from different schools for conferences. They built the platform from scratch. Applicants can submit paperwork and are notified if they are accepted or waitlisted. We communicate and invoice participants through the platform, so the functionality also includes payment processing and a communication portal. The platform is built on Ruby on Rails and Ember.js and integrates with QuickBooks.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with two people. One was our main point of contact during development, and we communicate with both now that we've moved into our maintenance phase.

How did you come to work with Kohactive?

We considered three or four competitors but chose Kohactive because of the support they offered. They were a smaller company, and we felt we could get more attention and dedication to the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent approximately $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from March-July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our registrations are annual, so it's difficult to pull numerical metrics just yet. Invoicing is simpler, which saves us time. We've also seen an increase in early applicants, and reporting is also much clearer. The whole process is much easier to manage than the old version was.

How did Kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

The interaction was good. Through weekly calls, we communicated and prioritized what would happen in the next sprint. We faced a little bit of confusion with bug support, but we resolved that after a call. Communication was good, and they effectively ensured that we got all the support we needed. Overall, we're very satisfied.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their process is very good, and we value our access to their leadership. They are much more involved in our process than a larger firm might be.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were a little lost right after the handoff, and there was a lack of closure. We brought that to their attention, and they're much more attentive now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Scoping is the biggest consideration. Software development can be unpredictable, and we had one additional week-long sprint that we hadn't anticipated. That isn't attributable to anything that they did wrong but is more a part of software projects like this. Have your priorities laid out well and know the essential features you need to make your project viable.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing for a pension consulting and administrative firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kohactive?

We weren’t fully satisfied with our current development vendor—our website wasn’t mobile responsive and needed to be redesigned.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the project with brainstorming sessions between our teams. They created the initial wireframes and came back to us with new ideas. We worked together to tweak their designs and finalized the strategy. From there, they developed our site using WordPress and created a smooth user experience.

In addition, the Kohactive team worked on our messaging and branding approach. They duplicated our blog and put a gate around our content.

What is the team composition?

They provide a project manager, who was replaced with another individual.

How did you come to work with Kohactive?

We checked lists of top-ranking design firms in Chicago and New York. We reached out to Kohactive and liked their locality and innovation. They also felt like the best fit for our company culture.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$70,000 on the engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in the fall of 2016 and Kohactive provides ongoing services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new site has had a significant impact on our business—we’ve seen an increase in potential customers who reach out through our website.

How did Kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve managed the project well. Although there were a few issues wrapping up the projects, we’ve been able to address everything with them. They provide good documentation and trained our team on how to use the new site.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their innovative ideas and willingness to collaborate stands out. They use their experience from previous projects to help us achieve our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing coming to mind that they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Approach the project with a clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve. If you provide Kohactive with a straightforward plan, they’ll be able to guide the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP of CBRIZ Gilbraltar, a real estate advisory firm based in Chicago. We help companies evaluate their options and take them through the searching, negotiating, signing, and design process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kohactive?

Our website was outdated and needed to be modernized to catch up with our competitors. We wanted the platform to serve as an online brochure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided Kohactive with a list of 5–6 sites we found appealing and expressed specifically what we wanted. From there, Kohactive created the first draft for the platform and we submitted our changes and feedback. They modified their designs mockups and, once we approved the wireframes, they began development for the WordPress site. Then, we supplied their team with content and they made minor edits for brevity and clarity before finalizing the site.

What is the team composition?

Kohactive supplied a team of 3–4 people for the project.

How did you come to work with Kohactive?

We reached out to several large and medium firms and interviewed between 5–6. We chose Kohactive because their bandwidth to support the project and price-point matched our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000—$15,000 during the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Kohactive from May 2017–February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The improved platform is a crucial asset for our marketing and business development efforts. We are now excited and willing to direct potential customers to our site, which is a fantastic success for us.

How did Kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Kohactive was highly responsive—every email was answered immediately. Whenever we asked for something outside of the initial scope, they were transparent about the extra costs. Their team finished the project in a timely fashion and kept us informed throughout.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We valued that Kohactive created a final product that perfectly matched our vision. They also provided valuable insight during development and gave us creative ideas to help convey our key message, which we appreciated.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to Kohactive and value their input—they know how to help you and when to offer their opinion.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the SVP of sales for TopBloc, a professional services company that provides software consulting services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kohactive?

We engaged Kohactive for web design support. Our previous site was very basic and needed to be upgraded.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kohactive redesigned our website, adding new branding elements, features, and functionality to our original landing page.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a couple designers, and a developer.

How did you come to work with Kohactive?

In addition to being located in the same building as our company, we compared their rates to other firms and found that they were more competitively priced.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from around January–May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Kohactive took our company to the next level, significantly improving the professionalism of our branding and website. Their work has improved our credibility in the eyes of both potential clients and employees.

How did Kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very accessible, met deadlines, and documented their work well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The combination of their technical and creative expertise sets them apart. They also educated us throughout the engagement and provided a lot of valuable feedback to help us improve the outcome of the website.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of the project goals beforehand, so the scope of work doesn't change as design and development take place. Our website ended up taking a little longer than expected, because we weren't as prepared going into the relationship as we could've been.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Select Home Warranty.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with kohactive?

kohactive has done many projects for us over the last few years. They took over as our developers to revamp a poorly built custom CRM that had been previously developed and got it under control. Our goals for the engagement were to update our CRM and add more automation to the system. They've made a lot of updates to expand it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

kohactive has provided everything from web design, development, and minor updates to our system to support significant projects. Recently, they integrated our system with Velocify, which is a lead distribution system. The team redid the dispatch portal in our system we use to dispatch technicians and revamped the billing portal that bills customers and charges for recurring billing. They helped us integrate a Redash reporting tool that reports metrics from the database. 

Throughout our engagement, they've completed many small updates and changes to the fields and automation. They recreated our permissions system based on which users should have access to different areas. They've also helped us significantly with our program to manage our affiliates. 

What is the team composition? 

kohactive assigned us a project manager and two developers. John (Founder and Managing Director, kohactive) also worked on our project. 

How did you come to work with kohactive?

We posted online that we were looking for a development company and Kohactive responded. After speaking to a few different companies, they sounded the most trustworthy and reliable. Based on our initial few conversations, we felt comfortable giving them a try with a few small projects. It worked out well. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000 on kohactive’s services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for probably three years now. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

kohactive’s services have had a positive impact on our business. All the projects they have done for us have been a success. They've made the CRM more secure and helped us in emergency situations when things have gone wrong.

Improving our mobile site’s responsivity markedly improved our sales. Beforehand, our site hadn't been very mobile friendly. The team helped redesign a few landing pages, which also notably increased sales. Updating permissions and the CRM has made our website much more secure. 

How did kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

The workflow between our teams was very effective. Our communication is great. kohactive uses a system called Trello for major projects. They respond quickly to any urgent issues we experience. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

kohactive is very easy to work with. John (Founder and Managing Director, kohactive) is a great person, and we trust his team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could estimate the price of our projects more accurately.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder of Jones Software Corp, a company that provides an intervention math software tool for grades K–12th.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with kohactive?

We engaged kohactive to help us develop our e-learning web-based platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kohactive built our e-learning math platform on Microsoft Azure, using JavaScript and Ruby on Rails to create the cloud-based web application. They collaborated with our team on the overall design and incorporated Google APIs that allow us to bring other schools onto the platform.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager and about five developers.

How did you come to work with kohactive?

We came across kohactive through a co-working space we're both apart of in Chicago. We interviewed a handful of developers, but kohactive stood out for their ability to understand our project and vision. They also helped us understand various elements of the process we were previously unfamiliar with, which we found extremely helpful.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested a little under $80,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2017 and had a prototype ready by around April 2018, but the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Kohactive has become an invaluable arm of our company and had a very positive impact thus far. We're very happy with the quality of the platform they've built and their efforts have helped significantly boost our IBIDA, which we anticipate to continue growing. They've taken the time to understand our client needs and are quick to support us through any bug fixes or issues that come up.

How did kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They're great at managing projects overall and maintaining an open line of communication at all times.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kohactive was one of the few firms willing to work with our unique business plan. Compared to others, we got the sense that they actually cared about building a platform with a high chance of success, so their input has been invaluable throughout the engagement. They'll be honest if they see something isn't going to work, which ends up saving a lot of capital, resources, time, and money in the long run.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a global marketplace for buying and selling of tiny houses, which are homes that are 500 square feet or smaller.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with kohactive?

The website was antiquated and on a limited platform. It ran on WordPress. It was time to take things to the next level. I also wanted to establish a pay per lead system so each time a new lead is generated on the site, we would be compensated for it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had quite a few things we wanted to change. Communication with our users wasn’t centralized before but was email based. We wanted to bring that all in-house so we could have more analytics. We developed an internal messaging system through the site where all the messages that are exchanged daily were done internally, in-house, and kept on Amazon Web Services. They integrated a messaging tool called Intercom into the site.

They produced everything from scratch. Our website platform runs on Ruby on Rails. They provided several mock-ups and wireframes. We picked one and kept making iterations until everyone was happy with it. They also established the pay per lead system.

What is the team composition?

At any given time, we had 4–6 designers, one project manager, and the owner/creative director.

How did you come to work with kohactive?

We found them through Glassdoor.com. We did a lot of research and interviewed about 10 companies. kohactive didn’t have the best price, but they had the best communication. We were impressed with their interpretation of our vision and the timeline. We felt very comfortable with them.

How much have you invested with them?

It cost close to $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2017–March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The number of users we have coming to the site has increased exponentially. Now that we have so many more users, we can communicate with them via Intercom on the site. There’s much clearer communication with our users and much better analytics to determine how we can better serve them.

How did kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

We used the agile approach and we used InVision. They’re very good communicators whether it be through Trello or Slack. On any given day, we did daily stand-ups. We had very clear communication daily, multiple times per day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The owner is willing to get involved in the process. He has the ability to delegate to the team. The team has the ability to understand what needs to be done and they do it quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before the project starts, schedule an appointment with some of the people that you’re working with to familiarize yourself with how agile will work on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. You’ll then have a better understanding of how to communicate to them within that framework. Also, have a clear understanding of how things will work post-launch.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of operations at an education company focused on employment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Launchpad Labs?

As a scrappy little startup, our first challenge was redoing our pilot website. Once we had proven the marketability of our vision, we needed a website that would help establish a strong and credible presence online.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a good sense of how I wanted the website to look, so I provided some sketches for Launchpad's team to work off of. Through an iterative process, they created a new website on Wordpress that showcased our product offering.

In a second project, they built out our online database, which houses our qualified applicants.

What is the team composition?

The three people I communicated mostly with were Scott Weisman (Co-founder and Developer, Launchpad Labs), Monique Marchwiany (UX & UI Designer, Launchpad Labs), and Ifat Ribon (Developer, Launchpad Labs).

How did you come to work with Launchpad Labs?

As soon as I came onboard, getting a solid website up and running was the most important task I had assigned to myself. I did a ton of research on top website design companies and had conversations with half a dozen vendors. Ultimately, I felt Launchpad understood what we were trying to achieve and were the most flexible. They really believed in our mission and wanted to deliver a great end product, and they were willing to work with the budget we had available at the time.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together on the website in the Summer of 2016, followed by the database project in February 2017. While we don't have any active projects in the works now, their team remains available for website maintenance and to answer any questions we may have.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Launchpad was able to transform the very basic sketches I sent their team into a beautiful website. I'm 100% happy with the final product—they knocked it out of the park.

We get so much great feedback on our website from both applicants and potential partners. It's really helped us get a leg up in this space. The database that they built out has been a key resource in keeping our partners engaged and excited to work with us. It's very user-friendly and intuitive.

How did Launchpad Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

I loved that it was a very iterative process, with lots of back and forth and conversation throughout. They were extremely collaborative, even as I continued to blow up their inbox with various ideas and design changes. Open and receptive to my input, they worked in every detail of the website I wanted and took a hands-on approach to getting it all done.

We communicated mostly through Basecamp once the second project started, and they've always been great about getting back to us within 24 hours. If for some reason they predicted a delay, they were transparent about it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their willingness to engage with me on every minor detail of the website. They've been incredibly collaborative in everything they've done for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They're on top of everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don't be afraid to show them a really basic idea of what it is that you want, even if it's just a sketch on a sheet of paper or mockup in Word. It helps them understand that end product you're envisioning that they can help make a million times better.