Linkup ST

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO, founder, and president of an app-building platform. Destinations use our drag and drop app builder to share their stories with visitors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We needed help with development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LinkUp Studio is an extension of our software team. We have engineers around the world and they’re a team we can scale up and down based on what we’re doing.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3.5–6 people from their team.

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio?

We acquired a company that used them in the past and they came highly recommended in the acquisition. They had a really good team that fit well with what we’re doing.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $130,000–$140,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have software engineers all over the world and we’ve used engineers in other places. LinkUp Studio does as good a job with anyone we’ve ever worked with. They’re not the most affordable resource on the planet, but they’re much cheaper than a team in Boston. They do really good work.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I meet with their CEO once a month and we chat about how things are going. They’re equipped with all the tools we need to track everything. The team provides a really detailed list of everything they’re working on. They offer a project management infrastructure so we don’t have to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their work and the knowledge that they bring to the table differentiates them from others that we’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s helpful to visit them and meet the team in person. Take the time to interview multiple people in the organization.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co-Founder

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired LinkUp Studio to develop our entire web-based platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select LinkUp Studio and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for not only a team who know what they were doing, but actually took initiative. It was our first time developing something like this and we weren't just looking for a team to follow our instructions, but actually add valuable input and guide us through the entire process. From the initial interview, it was clear that Andiry and the team were not like the other developers we spoke to.

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

They developed our entire web-based platform from design, front-end and back-end development. I'm not a tech guy, so I'm not sure what technology they used to do so, but all I know is they always over delivered and before the deadline.

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

I would say about 5 or 6. Not sure as to the exact roles.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Always over-delivered and did so before the scheduled completion date of each sprint.

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

Each week we would have a team meeting to keep up to date on the progress. Outside of that, they shared a screen where we could view progress in real time.

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

Their ability to guide us through the entire process and over deliver on each section. We would ask for something specifically, and not only would they deliver that, but also add in something that we never thought about which improved the platform substantially. This was not a one-off thing, this would happen a lot.

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

No, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

MumMeFit is getting back in shape when and where you want; but always professional.

The MumMeFit app can be carried out in addition to the current workout routine or even before you start your local work out course. It includes exercises for the period immediately after birth as well as more demanding ones for a later start. The goal is to fill the first 12 months after birth effectively, motivated and above all sustainably, with sports and exercise, in order to increase your well-being.

We want to make professional post-natal workouts available to EVERY mom – no more annoying waiting lists, no more traffic jams with crying children in the back seat, and no more using the excuse not to get back in shape because of the lack of a local postpartum exercise course.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LinkUp Studio?

LinkUp Studio is doing all application related work - from the very begining on.

What were your goals for this project?

The development of the app without having to hire permanent staff and offer a permanent workplace.

SOLUTION

How did you select LinkUp Studio?

The recommendation by Zenturion GmbH.

Describe the project in detail.

First we had a big project, which wasn´t easy to develope like I original wanted to have it. We split the project in many little ones. Step by Step we focused on different parts, published it and improved the app in the background for the next release.

Everyone know developing an App isn´t an straight forward project. You need the feedback of user and you need to solve user problems and wishes, to make it more userfriendly. We always had to go some steps back and often change our mind, to make the app better and better.

What was the team composition?

In the beginning I had an projectmanagerm who was my first contact. After a couple of month I got a main developer who takes care about the whole project and also develope mainly the app. I work and communicate with him since (I guess) 1,5 year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We still work together to improve the app and develope more features. More user are downloading the app. That is a sign, that more user like it. The main developer recommanded software and tools to see crashes more detailed. This helped us to react even faster and to stabilize the app.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

To be honest, the beginning was very bumpy. I was new to the business and had to come in first. The developers were very rigid in their way of working and required a lot of expertise that I didn't bring. This was very unsatisfactory for me personally. Because in the end everything became more expensive. Many costs could have been avoided due to better communication.

Some of the problems when you work with someone remotely and externally. And if everyone has different expectations of the other. BUT they were open to change: We had a long call and afterwards it worked much better. We discussed how we can improve communication , how we will work with estimations and approvals and since than working with LinkUp Studo changed a lot.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How they changed their mind, to make me - as their costumer - more happy. They are really interested in a long term cooperation and not only finish a project and don´t care about it anymore.

The Main Developer knows me in the meanwhile and know how I think about communication and estimations. He always has in mind, that I am not one of teh big companys with endless budget. He always offers packages and support to me, that I am able to implement.

And on the other hand he is endeavors to improve things inside the app without having to tell him. He suggest technical improvements (and I do not have any clue about that) which make the app faster and better. I particularly appreciate this!

Really great work with him and the whole team behinde. They are always on time. We usually do not have a straight schedule to get things done. But when we had some issues, whether it was a bug or a major problem, they attended to it - very quickly Something that is not self-evident in Germany. They could also be contacted late at night or at weekends and they helped where they could. I also appreciate that very much.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There can always be some improvement. Sometimes we still discuss timeline, estimates and communication. But in the end, I'm more than satisfied and absolutely happy with this company and look forward to further improving the MumMeFit app and creating and developing user-friendly features.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of Nutty Putty. We build mobile party game apps. We’ve released five Android apps so far, and are releasing a sixth in the next couple of months.

Our most popular game is Party Mafia, a multiplayer game for 5–50 people. Everybody plays from their own phone and connects to the host. Everyone is assigned a secret identity and, over multiple rounds, tries to figure out who the mafia members are. There are a bunch of additional roles, including citizens, detectives, and bodyguards

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We were looking for mobile app development help for Party Mafia.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LinkUp Studio developed an Android mobile app for us. Their team also designed the project from start to finish, creating several animations to bring the game to life. 

Once storyboarding was complete, their team created wireframes and then moved into the development phase. They built both the front- and backend of the platform and an API using Ruby on Rails, Mongo, and Flutter. LinkUp Studio also handles QA for us. Additionally, they recruited students to help test the game on a large scale to make sure all of the real-time communication worked. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with six members of the LinkUp Studio team. I worked with Nataliya (Co-Founder), who oversaw most of the design work. I also worked with Paul (User Experience Designer) and Alex (UI/UX Designer) on designs. We worked with Roman (Front-End Developer) on the front-end and Vitalii (Ruby on Rails Developer) on the backend. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $80,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement began in February 2019. The app has been released, but we’re working on improvements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a regular user base, even a few groups of 30–40 that play multiple times a week. We’ve seen interests from professional power players and chess grandmasters. 

Most of the reviews in the App Store are phenomenal and ranges from 4–5 stars. I even got an email from a user who played seven times in one night with a huge group of people. He even plans to bring it to his next company retreat. 

We’ve also seen some success in streaming the app on Twitch. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been a great way for people to connect with their friends, family, and coworkers remotely. As with any app, there were growing pains and redesigns, btu overall, it’s been a success.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

LinkUp Studio has been great. We have weekly meetings with their whole dev team where they’d provide us with updates. Our teams manage the project through Trello and use a ticketing system to keep track. We also communicate via Slack. 

We do have a time difference, but there were several hours of overlap in the morning where we could collaborate, hang out on Slack, and ask them questions. They manage the project well and their communication is great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

LinkUp Studio has a real passion for the work. Now, I don’t know if that’s because they love to play Mafia or because they love designing apps. I could tell they were investing in getting the app to work properly and be fun to play. They would even have late night mafia session to make sure it was perfect. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. If anything, we pushed a technology stack on them that they had never used before. That did make the first year pretty difficult, which would be true for anyone learning new technology. Now they have two years’ experience and it’s smooth sailing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communication is the key to success. Make sure you have a good system in place so you communicate daily, whether that’s through video calls or slack. It’s important to touch base daily and help them clear roadblocks.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Role: CEO Company specialize in transforming ideas mobile app to final development while working in a network of partners to develop this app

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LinkUp Studio?

Build an application on iOS and Android

What were your goals for this project?

To give a turn key solution from sketch to publishing the app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Recommendation from a colleague

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

1. Business development
2. App sketch
3. App design
4. App development
5. App integration with other services
6. App deployment
7. App publishing

What was the team composition?

- Business development (2)

- Account management (1)

- UA/UX designer (1)

- Backend Developer (2)

- Frontend Developer (2)

- Lead Developer (1)

Team expands as requirement and flexibility to increase number to meet deadline

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. There were SLAs of features and functionality
2. This is a development phase one therefore the LinkUp team were very helpful in improving features and required outcome
3. The work delivered beyond SLAs agreed

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

1. All colaberation was done via Slack and Email
2. The resound to request were replied never exceed 5 mins, which is something made the development phase on time
3. All speak English like a native and there never has been a single incident were we couldn't communicate 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Having worked with multiple development studio, LinkUp studio is a unique company due flowing:

- Management: Organised, on-points, fast understanding and utilization of tools to be agile

- Skills: Developers at LinkUp are the best I have ever seen, they exactly know how to solve problem at its best, they suddenly suggest method and way to develop on spot, I have never cam a cross any issue or bug were they will not be able to help. You want the best developers

- Intelligence: Clever approach to codes, saving time and cost.

- Trust: Instant detection with high level of trust, something I have never seen a studio does before.

- Experience: They will understand your ideas before getting to a low level design, they have the experience to save your time and money

Are there any areas for improvement?

To be honest I couldn't find any. but i'm sure they will expand and I hope they keep their standard as it is

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Chief Product Officer for OnCell. We’re a white-label platform for culture and heritage, parks, and the tourism sector. We work with organizations around the globe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We were looking to scale up our development team in order to streamline technologies with some new acquisitions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They've done backend development on two products using Ruby on Rails, front end UI work on our app builder interface and React Web development on our mobile web and admin interfaces.

What is the team composition?

We work with 2–3 fulltime people. I interact with different people on various projects.

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio?

An acquisition we made was using their services and recommended them, so we continued using them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €100,000 (approximately $113,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in July 2019 and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their quality is good, with little rework needed. They work efficiently, ask the right questions, and give good feedback.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I handle the project management for the engagement. We use GitHub and communicate via Slack. Their team is pretty good about meeting our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a smart team. They ask questions to ensure the right solution is implemented. They provide more of a partnership than just being a code factory.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be slightly better at giving daily updates.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about your expectations. Rely on them for design work, but make sure they’re asking questions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We built a new marketplace for temporary living in switzerland. We are three founders and iam responsible for the bussiness development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LinkUp Studio?

We hired LinkUp for the whole development of this marketplace with SaaS.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a new technology using marketplace from scratch. We had a MVP before, but it was useless. So we began from scratch to build this marketplace. And with LinkUP we found a great company with all kind of developers for any needs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

It was just research over the internet and for the begin, we didnt know LinkUp as company. But after a few contacting, it was clear it will be the right company. And so on, till today we re really happy with it.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They developed complete marketplace technology with a lot of functions, such as payments and quite lot of booking engine rules. Even the settle up of hosting by AWS was included, as well developing of scripts for automated testing. At all it tooks one year of development with more then 22 sprints and ongoing optimizations.

What was the team composition?

The project team has about 5 people. Frontend, backend developers, as well database, hosting and testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just started, so its quite difficult to say. But for sure, without LinkUp, we wouldnt start after a year of development.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Its quite good structured. We ve had exactly estimation of all sprints and developments. The team is very worried about the project and they see always that it goes forward. So communication works via Slack, which i really prefer. But they do as well video calls and are most of the time available. For all tasks we use Trello, so its very clearly arranged about open or closed tasks.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

For me its the team, so each individual team member has always beeing with the project and even a member has changed once, it was ongoing the same. As well the leader of the company, Mr. Sambir does a really good job and you can talk always to him with any needs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Neatly is a startup that I founded. I am tech veteran with a decade experience running the marketing for various startups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LinkUp Studio?

I turned to LinkUp to develop the Neatly app based on my specifications.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to develop a professional MVP that is good enough that people will be willing to pay for it.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I talked to several vendors that I found through Clutch. LinkUp had the most professional and thorough service offering and made me feel confident they could get the job done.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Design, develop and deploy the app. Connect it to a payment processor and email marketing platform. The project began with a discover phase where we mocked up the app and went through the different features. Once we were happy, they started developing the app with several sprints for reviews and changes.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with a project manager, several designers, front-end and back-end developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project has just launched but there are already several hundred businesses who saw the product video and screenshots and have signed up. The platform works as promised and looks great.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We had weekly project management meetings to go over what was done in the past week and what's planned for the next week. We also had a slack channel for regular communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The professionalism is most impressive. After having worked at many well-funded startups I can say that the team at LinkUp is the same quality. They have a strong understanding of how software should look and work and they move quickly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I'm very happy with their service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Imagine Marketing Group, a boutique agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

I’ve used both in-house and outsourced development teams in the past. I wanted to find an external team that would act like employees of my company to develop software—whether its products for third-party clients or internal products to help my companies run more smoothly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LinkUp Studio has developed software that engages heavily with business logic. Their scope of work includes automation, marketing, data-scraping, data-analysis, and CRM development. Their team utilizes PHP and Ruby on Rails for the backend and Laravel for the frontend.

What is the team composition?

I work with a team of around 9 people. My main points of contact are Nazar (Full-Stack Developer, LinkUp Studio), Ihor (Full-Stack Developer, LinkUp Studio) and Andriy (CEO, LinkUp Studio).

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio?

I interviewed over a hundred other firms before proceeding with LinkUp Studio, whom I found on Clutch and another site. I talked to Andriy and got the sense that he was an extremely competent and caring person.  

How much have you invested with them?

I currently spend roughly $12,000 with them monthly, although this is projected to go up to $20,000—$25,000 next year. In total, I’ve spent over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in February 2019, and it’s an ongoing, expanding relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has demonstrated a deep understanding of requirements in difficult projects. They’re able to come up with very good business logic and deliver excellent code. They’re very smart and capable in what they do.

I appreciate that they’re not afraid to tell you when they believe something works better than your proposed solution. They’ll explain their logic by creating charts and PDFs, and a plan of action. They’re invested in delivering what’s best for you, and not just what they’re told to create.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. Their project leads go out of their way to ensure that the client is comfortable and works hard to resolve any challenges that come up. We use a mixture of Trello and their own project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d highlight their investment in your success, which comes from top-down.

For example, Andriy suggested something a few months ago that I’d disagreed with him on—but in the end, he was absolutely right. I told him the other day that I’d been wrong, and he responded, “It doesn’t matter who was right—everything starts with an idea and only the results matter.” He really keeps a long-term relationship in mind and is very easy to work with.

Technically speaking, they excel at UX/UI, which has been extremely helpful. Their design capabilities match their development skills, which is rare.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think that as a growing company, their project management sometimes faces challenges. Having said that, they’re constantly exploring ways to improve their internal processes. They’re proactive in seeking improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’ve been outsourcing development for over 20 years, and I can assure you that they’d save you lots of time and money. Avoid the learning curve by hiring them, because they’ll absolutely deliver.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a GPS scavenger hunt mobile app that allows families to play a game and discover clues and history at nearby destinations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LinkUp Studio?

LinkUP built the mobile app as well as the CMS that allows destinations to create the content for the scavenger hunts.

What were your goals for this project?

My goals were to build as sustainable software platform that was modular and easy to make changes to as our business evolved.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Linkup was referred to me by a friend and I had worked with them on a previous project and have had an ongoing relationship with them for 5 years on different projects.

Describe the project in detail.

They worked closely with me and my team to build and iterate on our software - mobile app and web CMS. We provided written specs (which changed frequently) and designed weekly or monthly sprints around our business needs. Our mobile app was built with the React framework and our website is react.js + Rails.

What was the team composition?

We worked with 3 different developers - one was mostly full time on our project while two others were called in as needed for various parts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

LinkUP did a great job communicating and being responsive to our requests. They were an important part of our team on an ongoing basis. And I look forward to continuing to work with them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We used github issues and google docs to scope and manage our project. We had weekly calls and also communicated frequently on our slack channel. Their english was perfect and we never had any problems with the time zone or language difference. They were always willing to work late and hop on a call when needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were committed to our success and always did whatever was necessary to help us meet our business goals.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wish that they supported more platforms/languages since I've worked on a few projects that used frameworks that were not suited to LInkUP's stack.