Launchpeer

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Mylai LLC. We’re an on-demand personal training service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Launchpeer?

We needed to outsource custom software development, from cradle to grave.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took what I had—a rough sketch and prototype of the idea—and turned it into a fully working product with enterprise apps, two phone apps, and databases. Gym owners can go to our web-portal and register an account, and then their trainers can swipe “I’m Available” and be dispatched to wherever the user would like to get workout. It’s a turnkey, SaaS solution for the gym owner.

The app itself has two different workflows: one for users and one for trainers, but they both download the same one. It has geo-location and mapping features, plus geo-fencing. All the information is housed under our CMS—our enterprise, web-based solution. This lets us access all the data easily and lets trainers and users go through one focal point. The mobile apps were built with React Native, and the web tool was done in React.js.

Right now, we’re still in our 60-day bug fix period, and we’re on version 1.3. After that, they’ve offered to continue maintaining the app for 1% of the project cost.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with five or six people, including a project manager.

How did you come to work with Launchpeer?

Prior to Launchpeer, we’d tried outsourcing and working with a friend of mine from college, neither of which went well at all. We actually found them through a mutual connection. A friend of mine is a project lead in a big software development firm in Cincinnati, and she floated them to us after I realized she was out of my budget. They quoted me a price that was perfect for our budget so we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $46,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March until June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within our first month we have seven customers, north of 300 users, and over 50 reviews, which have a 5.0 average. It was a pretty quick turnaround and we’ve had a lot of really good comments from our customers. They really like the design, and I think they personally submitted our application for UI/UX award in South Carolina. There’s been nothing negative; it’s a really good app going by what everyone has said.

How did Launchpeer perform from a project management standpoint?

We almost always talked through Slack. We worked with two-week springs, so we had semi-monthly calls for an hour to go over progress. They were by the book with the methodology.

What did you find most impressive about them?

How quickly they responded to concerns, for sure. I think the longest they ever went during business without responding to anything was probably 30 minutes. Outside of business, it was maybe five hours at most —Saturday night at 8:00 until 1:00 Sunday morning.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would say they could upgrade their contract negotiations. They originally sent us a primitive contract and we went through 19 revisions to make it more dense and sophisticated.

Any advice for potential customers?

You should spend extra time upfront to clearly outline the scope. If possible, produce your own materials for them to reference during negotiations so that they're abreast of what you want. I think that's why ours turned out so well. I was very diligent with that. Other than that, I don’t think you’ll find a better, more affordable, development shop.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of reDUNNit, a mobile app that connects vendors in the automotive appearance reconditioning business with customers who have problems with their cars. We refinish wheels, repaint bumpers, and take out dents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Launchpeer?

Our general industry works for car dealerships. We go in and recondition used cars to make them look good and new for when the customers come in to buy them. Most people don’t know our industry exists, so I was looking for a way to inform the public that we can fix cars faster and cheaper than going to a body shop. I wanted a conduit to connect people to local vendors to get their repairs done.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After hiring Launchpeer, I explained to them how the process needed to work. We iterated back and forth on the idea until we came up with a functional model. They’d already done a similar task for another client, so we tweaked that plan a bit to match my goals. We workshopped the idea repeatedly, then they began the dev.

They guided me through the tech aspects, and I took care of the structure and business sides. They created the wireframes and documentation and also did background market research that informed our app’s purpose and functionality. They even helped design the logo, identify new users, and find new ways to market to them. We first built the iOS app and then the Android.

What is the team composition?

I worked mainly with four developers: one for iOS, two for Android, and one for web.

How did you come to work with Launchpeer?

I saw them on Facebook. They had experience in the type of product I wanted to create, and they seemed to have a good understanding of what I wanted to accomplish, so I hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $130,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2017–March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is currently live, but only in a limited area—we’re in the middle of making some marketing changes. The app does exactly what it’s intended to do, and I’m pleased with Launchpeer’s work. The clients enjoy it and say it’s incredibly interactive and easy to use. They can easily get a quote, schedule appointments, and make payments.

How did Launchpeer perform from a project management standpoint?

I was pleased with everything they provided. They walked me through the tech parts I didn’t understand well and gave me clear direction and feedback. We had biweekly meetings to go over progress and mainly communicated over email, phone, Slack, and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were always responsive and quick to answer any questions, which made me feel like an important client. They consistently met my needs.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Build a relationship with the team and trust one another. You can form a long-lasting relationship that satisfies both parties.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Vireo Labs. We are a chat-based mobile company focused on education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Launchpeer?

We wanted to develop an iOS and Android-friendly mobile app, using our web-based prototype and the social science data we had collected as the foundation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did everything, including consulting, project management, development, some light design work, and QA testing. We provided them a working prototype through a web-based version of the app, which we had tested with users across the country. They took the web experience and developed it on Ionic. Then we had a meeting to discuss any re-engineering that was needed for frontend design. We also discussed how to involve our CTO on some of the backend support.

One of the key features they developed was bringing to life a recommendation engine inside the app. Through this feature, the psychometrics profile recommends careers the user should pursue based on his or her vocational profile. They brought that to life in a digestible way that appeals to teenagers. For marketing the app to universities and counselors, Launchpeer had to be especially confident in the recommendation engine, because it involves multiple algorithms that point at multiple APIs. Even though that involved a lot of very difficult programming, they made it seem very easy.

The app connects students and prospective students with campus or admission counselors within a university through a chat function. They had to develop that to work in real-time from device to web, and from device to device. Launchpeer also had to streamline the login for our teenage demographic.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager and two developers. I also worked closely with the founder from a client management perspective.

How did you come to work with Launchpeer?

I was looking for somebody local and had probably met with four or five other firms before deciding on Launchpeer. I had heard of them before and approached their founder after hearing him speak at a conference. After talking with him, I realized he had the same entrepreneur mentality I did. I liked his client focus and personal background in the industry. The key reasons we went with Launchpeer were that the founder understood where we were as a company, and he provided a solution that matched our budget and timeline.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together February–May 2016 and launched the app January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We currently have users in 49 states, and our convergence rate from downloading to becoming an active user is 80%. Both of those are a testament to the way the app looks and feels upon immediate download, and how user-friendly it is.

How did Launchpeer perform from a project management standpoint?

Starting from the project kick off, they did a wonderful job of managing our expectations. We used two-week sprints, and during that time both developers were in contact with our CTO. I worked mostly with the founder on the overall project and client management side.

One of the biggest successes in their project management was that very early in the process they identified that our CTO wasn’t familiar with the language. By identifying and flagging that, they were able to adjust the timeline in a way that didn’t affect our targeted launch date.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m continuously impressed with their follow up. The founder and I have stayed in touch with each other over email and text. He still provides support, guidance, and occasional grant writing. He’s stayed in touch with us as a business, because he believes in what we do and that we’ll make a difference. That in and of itself makes him a good partner and helps Launchpeer stand out amongst their competitors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we worked together, the testing and QA environment could have been better. I don’t remember what platform we used, but the results were difficult to share across people and teams. However, they have grown since we’ve worked with them, so it may no longer be an issue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you come to Launchpeer not just from a development perspective, but wanting business advice, they will provide that value-added service and really analyze your business strategy. They won’t just be on a project to write code and make money but to advise you on best practices and strategies. It’s smart to have them as a partner in this industry.