Lemon.io

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief product officer of a startup that provides jobs for construction workers with commercial construction projects. A lot of licenses and requirements are needed in terms of finding skilled workers. Our app addresses that problem by matching qualified workers with companies that need them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lemon.io?

When I brought Lemon into the fold, we were at the conceptual stage of building our flagship app. We needed them to find a vetted engineer without having to go through a long process. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we had to explain to Lemon what the project was. That involved conversations with their internal staff, including their directors and heads. Then, they determined which of their resources were available and who might be a good fit for us based on our budget. After they made suggestions, we had interviews with their resources and chose one. Once the development process started, they managed the payments for that resource.

We only acquired one full-stack developer to develop our MVP; we could’ve gotten an entire team if we wanted to, but we didn’t need such a team at that time. 

The Lemon team continues to be our go-between talent agency. They also serve an HR function because they step in when there are issues related to the recruited developer. They also manage money and payments for that resource. 

What is the team composition?

I work with three people from Lemon, including their founder. We also work with the founder’s direct assistant, who handles administrative tasks. Another person serves as our main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Lemon.io?

We were using another service provider to find resources. It was a good service, although it was a bit expensive. We were using an engineer from that platform, but we lost him. The service provider promised to recommend someone else for us, but it looked like their process was going to take a while. 

Then, we found out about Lemon, which provided the same service as the other vendor. The difference was that the first vendor was international and Lemon was focused only on Ukraine. In any case, I looked at their offer and felt confident about them. Our conversation with the engineer they recommended was almost identical to the conversation we had with our previous engineer. That was when we decided to use Lemon’s services. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a little under $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Lemon in December 2017, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their services are good. Since we’ve had no internal staff that can conceptualize the app — we only knew what it would look like and its broad strokes — we want someone who doesn’t hold back when it comes to contributions. Lemon has helped us find that individual. 

Moreover, as an agency that lets us hire offshore engineers, Lemon is definitely growing and becoming more popular. They have a different caliber of engineers when compared to other platforms. As such, people are coming to realize Lemon offers a bit more security in the engagement. 

How did Lemon.io perform from a project management standpoint?

Lemon’s project management is good. They’re not involved in a lot of project management tasks since we don’t experience many instances where we need to talk to them. We simply send them the payments to the engineer, and a straight year may go by without us talking. To communicate, we use emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lemon resources are pleasurable people to work with, and they’re open to improving their services. Character and personality are a big factor in our engagement, and they have the best individual qualities compared to other companies. 

As an example, when I recognized that such an engagement was new to them, I talked to their CEO about my concerns. Their response was highly positive; they made the changes we needed and adopted them in their processes going forward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can still evolve. For one, the dashboard they use on their website is still basic. They can still add more functionality to it in terms of what we can do and how we’re tracking our progress. For us, it’s easy to monitor the project because we only use one engineer. However, if we have a bigger team, having more reporting tools can be highly beneficial for us. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain your project and goals clearly. Take a moment and go through all your requirements with Lemon to see if they have any suggestions. Over the long term, you’ll save a lot of money. Overall, be more open in terms of talking about your project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of operations and marketing at Cluster, an industry marketplace that helps industrial technology and advanced manufacturing companies find talent. We also help people improve their skill sets and find new learning opportunities. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Coding Ninjas?

We were looking for additional website and app development support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Coding Ninjas initially provided a part-time coder to support our website, helping configure plugins on Wordpress using PHP and JavaScript. Then we hired a full-time coder on their team to help us build out an app, using Redux and Docker on the frontend and Node.js and MongoDB on the backend.

What is the team composition? 

We work with one part-time and one full-time developer.

How did you come to work with Coding Ninjas?

After some research, we found their company and decided to hire a part-time developer on their team since they could provide someone quickly and affordably. After working with them for a bit, we decided to increase their involvement and hire a full-time developer as well. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested between $10,000–$50,000 thus far, paying anywhere from $25–$45 per hour depending on the type of developer we're working with. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since July 2018 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're extremely happy with the quality of work they've done. They successfully implemented some complex frontend and backend capabilities for our blog, supporting the overall architecture of the site and code in the process.

They've provided smart, practical solutions that balance time and cost very well. They're pragmatic about what's worth spending money on or not, which has helped guide the whole process. 

How did Coding Ninjas perform from a project management standpoint?

We manage projects on our end, but they've been good about adapting to using our tools and methods of communication. They're also quick to turn around deliverables; we're able to see progress within just a week or two of engaging our developer. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're easy to work with. They always provide valuable feedback when we set up calls to talk through ideas. They're also very responsive and accommodating, proactively taking steps to meet our needs. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When working with someone on ad hoc projects, make sure to clearly define the amount of time that person should dedicate to the project. We were inconsistently utilizing one of their resources, so we ended up waiting longer than anticipated because our developer was already booked with other work. It would've helped us to set up schedules and expectations better from the start. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We use data to solve problems in industry and finance. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Coding Ninjas?

We wanted to develop a market intelligence and risk management web app in Python & ReactJs. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a minimum viable product (MVP) to showcase as quickly as possible the value proposition of our services.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We benchmarked several curated talent staffing agencies such and realized that the test Coding Ninjas was the most suitable for our needs. 

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The WebApp is a search engine that displays financial news (from a select group of news providers) to allow asset managers to explore what events impact financial markets

What was the team composition?

1 frontend developer (ReactJs) and 1 backend developer (Django). 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been able to start the project earlier.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We had daily stand up meetings, effective communication through Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The ease of communication with the company was great. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not much.