NaNLABS

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of engineering at an art gallery that buys and sells art pieces through various channels. Our company represents many living artists and some not-living artists and their foundations. We put on quite a few throughout the year and participate in major art fairs. 

Additionally, we do a lot of work and outreach around art and artists, publish books, and work with museums, artists themselves, and artists’ liaisons to perpetuate good art. I work in the engineering department, and we have enhanced technology that we use for various purposes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

We build technology in-house and also use external technology, so we require a development team to maintain it and build new features related to sales, keeping track of artwork, and other aspects of running an art gallery. We service, develop, and refine various applications, and we contacted NaNLABS to help augment our engineering team to build out new features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS has helped us with back-of-house application work. We initially brought them in to work on the frontend of a web app. They helped with new features that we were building into our web application stack. Later, we brought them in for backend services to build features there as well. Although we’ve scaled down some aspects of the engagement, we continue to use NaNLABS for some of the backend work in our pipeline. 

What is the team composition?

We started with two developers from NaNLABS and later scaled to three total developers, one backend and one frontend developer. Currently, we’re only working with the backend developer.

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

Our former CTO had worked with other nearshore and offshore agencies in the past. Although I don’t recall how he came across NaNLABS, I know we explore all avenues when bringing in a partner. I was heavily involved in the sourcing and interviewing of their developers, and we felt like they were a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent less than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

NaNLABS is a great partner. Their work has received positive feedback from stakeholders; everyone is quite pleased, including our in-house developers. The folks from NaNLABS are super invested, have keen attention to detail, and see things through with high fidelity. Moreover, the team has a desire to get involved in other aspects of the work — they’re very involved and keyed into the process. Overall, they’re responsible and responsive, and their work output is good.

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

Their resources are full-time members of our team, so we oversee the project management side of things. However, their internal project manager is good at keeping in sync and ensuring the team gets feedback. We have a monthly check-in to understand how everyone is doing and if we need to pivot or shift. 

NaNLABS is very communicative and responsive. Overall, I’ve had a good experience with them, and the fact that they’re nearshore doesn’t impact our communication. We have a long feedback loop around their performance which is always nice to have with a vendor. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

NaNLABS’ team quality is high, and their output is good. They’ve been quick to bring on multiple people who have very swiftly understood a fairly complex system. I’ve worked with providers where that was not the case, so NaNLABS’ ability to source talent distinguishes them from others. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

NaNLABS has an interesting approach to how they model some of their developers, where some resources come as a unit, which is fair. However, this introduces cost and complexity because it’s a rigid system. Although I wouldn’t say they’re inflexible, this has definitely prevented us from continuing with a resource we may have wanted to keep working with. 

On the other hand, this might be what makes their team work well across the company, so it’s a cost-benefit aspect I can’t really speak to. Still, it would be ideal for me to more easily scale a team up or down without dealing with ramifications across the rest of the development team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be engaged with NaNLABS. If you know you can oversee their development team directly, they’re really great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a SaaS company. Our app is a conversational platform that aims to help employees improve their knowledge in the workplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

We needed their support in developing our web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS’ engineering resources implement different software solutions to develop some of the key functionalities of our web app. Our technology stack is comprised of TypeScript, React, Node.js, PostgreSQL, AWS, and Google Cloud.

What is the team composition?

We work with 5–6 resources from their team, depending on the project phase.

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

My friend recommended NaNLABS’ team to us. I reached out to them and was quickly impressed with their passionate and collaborative approach, so hiring them was an easy decision to make.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off our engagement with NaNLABS in August 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

NaNLABS is a skilled team that swiftly delivers solutions without compromising quality — they’ve built innovative features that continue to elevate our app’s performance. 

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via Slack. NanLABS has strong collaboration and project management skills. They incorporate our feedback, respond to our requests, and deliver our needs within quick turnaround times. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

NaNLABS is a professional team that easily translates our business ideas into feasible solutions. They communicate clearly to help us figure out what we truly want to build.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing else they can improve. NaNLABS has been a great development partner to us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

NaNLABS has a highly thoughtful implementation process — they’ll surely generate the right solutions for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an engineering manager for a cyber risk services startup based in San Francisco. The company has 100 team members including 40 full-time engineers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

We needed additional resources because we had client projects to deliver in 3–6 months.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS collaborates with our team to create solutions, including product architecture. Their team helped design, implement, and deliver a web app, which was built on Java Spring Boot and hosted on AWS. They supported quality control too.

What is the team composition?

Across the three-year collaboration, we've worked with 2–7 people from NaNLABS. We’re now working with four senior engineers and technical architects from their team.

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

I had a successful engagement with them while at a previous company. I decided to engage them in this project because of their skilled, committed, and collaborative team.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, the total cost is $100,000 or more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with NaNLABS in May 2018, and it’s an ongoing engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

NaNLABS produces top-notch work. Before working with their team, the quality of code and coverage was 0–10%. We increased those numbers to 85%–90% with the help of their engineers.

In the span of one year, we worked on 6–7 complex projects and had successful deliveries. We also adopted a lot of new technologies such as AWS Lambda, Serverless Computing, and Elasticsearch with the support of NaNLABS.

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira to track the projects. We don’t feel a difference between our full-time employees and NaNLABS’ engineers. NaNLABS adheres to our guidelines better than many of our internal team members.

We work across countries, and NaNLABS proactively notifies us about upcoming holidays or times when their team will be unavailable. I have never had to check on them in that regard over the past three years.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Rather than just doing what we ask them to do, NaNLABS asks us questions and considers alternative solutions. They give us alternative proposals and after a proposal's finalized, their team completes the task. NaNLABS takes responsibility for projects, working hard to finish their tasks even if it's after hours. They’re flexible and contribute to our projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It hasn’t affected their deliveries but NaNLABS could help their team members improve their English language abilities. NaNLABS is providing English lessons to their employees, so they've improved.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If clients make their process and project requirements clear, NaNLABS will deliver.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of MoxUnion. We’re a cyber insurance platform for agents, brokers, and producers that are selling commercial cyber insurance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

I’m in a pre-seed phase of Mox right now. I’ve done a lot of working speaking with customers, researching in the market, and getting some of my mockups into high-fidelity wireframes. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS helped me complete my vision of going from wireframes to a React application that I could demonstrate in relatively high-fidelity. 

During the initial scoping conversations, we were both in line with the technologies we should use to develop the product. We used Node.js, React as the frontend, and AWS. They also agreed that if we did any future development together, we’d want to be very microservice-based with a cloud-native architecture. All of that was really nice. 

What is the team composition?

Four people were assigned to this project.

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

I’d been looking at some firms to help me accelerate my interface design for some time. Earlier this year, I attended RSA, a big conference in San Francisco. I met a mutual colleague of NaNLABS that had done some work with them before, and they recommended them to me. I had an interview with one of the founders of NaNLABS, and it went from there.

It was awesome that I found them because they’d done work before in the cybersecurity industry. They weren’t the only firm I looked at.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost about $9,000. It was pretty affordable for most folks. 

What is the status of this engagement?

This project began in mid-June 2020. We completed the initial scope of the project in mid-August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has definitely allowed me to complete the story better when I give my demonstrations. Rather than having to use wireframes as my demonstration infrastructure, I now have an interactive React application.

The scope of the work was to make a demoable application, not an MVP, so there is very limited backend functionality. The interface design was great. I think this project went well because they’re a super competent team, but also because I provided them with everything they needed and had the scope of work pretty much pre-defined.

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great; I was the one who didn’t hit all of my deadlines. They used Slack, Google Meet, email — they were willing to communicate in any way we wanted to. They also got on individuals calls with me. All of that was really helpful.

They leveraged ClickUp, which is a pretty popular project management standpoint. They also used a tool called Storybook, which was nice for documenting the element of our React application.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Something I like about the NaNLABS team is that they’re open to new concepts. They’re from regions outside of the US; the founder I spoke to lived in France, and the team I worked with worked in South America. Everyone was bilingual, which was a benefit. They came in with open minds because we were from such different regions. The team was very proficient and technical. If you can put what you want into words, they can deliver to that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I need to do another project like this, I’d probably use them again. I think that they could probably get more business if, at the end of every project, they gave a short writeup of where the partnership could go from there and present their vision of working together again to the client. I’d love to see them own the ‘problem’ by making suggestions for the next round.

Any advice for potential customers?

I gave them as much as I possibly could. When working with NaNLABS or any company like them, the client needs to have their stuff together and know what they’re looking for. I was able to provide them everything they needed, as well as go into architecture and technical conversations. Being prepared and giving them information is what allowed them to hit the ground running.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an AI company. We automate expense reports.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

We wanted to automate the process of corporate expense reports.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS is our development team. They built Android and iOS apps to automate our corporate expense reports. They did all of the integrations that we needed with Google Calendar, a phone’s photo reel, and a lot of the data science matching of receipts to calendar. They pretty much handle all of our development. 

What is the team composition?

We work with four team members.

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

We were looking for a company that could develop not just a prototype or MVP, but an app that can be used by thousands of people. We went through our network, and NaNLABS came highly recommended by a few people.

At the time, they were going back and forth between South America and the US, so we got to meet them in San Francisco. That has changed with COVID, but their talent is exceptional, so their location doesn’t make a difference to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for about a year. We’re still actively working together, and we highly recommend them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done a fantastic job, and we’re delighted by their work. The results are a happy customer and a great product. 

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

I give them an A+ across the board. They’re great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had a very complicated task, and they’ve done a great job solving everything. I recommend them for both simple and complex work. I think most companies ship iPhone only, so they’ve excelled in shipping something that can be used on both Android and iOS platforms.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and head of production at Tongal, a studio-on demand platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

We hired them to build a website for one of our clients. It’s a place to open source creative ideas for a large toy company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS is building a new platform with new technologies. The team is doing the front- and backend and adding flexibility. They're including notification systems, payment platforms, and ways for the community at large to work together on creative ideas. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with five full-time developers, and we’ve also had two consultations with their co-founders. 

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

We did an extensive search first to find a partner. NaNLABS was then recommended by the head of product whose friend had worked with them and sung their praises. They came out as the clear frontrunner because of their services, experience, and what they were offering for the price point.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $67,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in January 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. We’ll be working on this project till the end of September 2020, and we’re talking to them about updating our codebase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We went through rigorous data testing where we had about 250 data testers. The feedback has been overwhelmingly fantastic. What’s been great about our partnership with NaNLABS is that we’ve been able to address feedback and make changes quite quickly.

We’re aiming to go live in August 2020. The technical work has been exceptional, and our internal tech team has become a better team because of NaNLABS’s experience. It’s been a very collaborative environment. We like them so much that we may continue working with them to update our own technologies. 

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

They are fantastic about meeting deadlines. We talk with them every week and we have a biweekly retrospective on our work. The team is also integrated into our Slack, Jira, Asana, and Kanban Boards.

They communicate very well in English, and we haven’t had many issues with things being lost in translation, which is impressive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their integration and collaboration are impressive. They integrated well with our tech team, which has been invaluable for this collaboration. They’re quick and clean in their development, which is great. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions. Anytime something has come up, the team has been able to help us to problem-solve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Lean on their experience. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a medical research company that develops alternative therapies for issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and opioid addiction.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NaNLABS?

We hired NaNLABS to design and develop the prototype of a data-gathering app.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create a high-quality and user-friendly app that would demonstrate our company's innovative approach to therapy research. We wanted a more efficient and effective way to gather data from subjects participating in a medical research study.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Another company highly recommended NaNLABS. We selected them based on their experience and high standards for excellence. They had a reputation for meeting deadlines on time or even earlier than expected.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

NaNLABS developed fully tailored solutions; nothing was off the shelf. In addition to the development work, they shared their technical expertise and brought valuable insights to the table. For example, they changed the way images are handled and rendered to limit the size of the web app, making it accessible from any device.

What was the team composition?

The NaNLABS team was appropriately sized and resourced. We knew the role of each team member, which did not change throughout the project. Their team was strongly led and managed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our solution was developed and launched early. Not only that, the app worked flawlessly from the start and required no follow-up revisions.

The NaNLABS team's impact and value to our company were exponential. Their work enabled us to promptly position our company as a thought leader in therapy research.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

This is the best project management we have ever experienced. Their flexible and iterative workflow resulted in timely delivery. They also had excellent response time and communication, so we always knew what was going on in the project.  

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The NaNLABS team was passionate and committed to the success of the product. We were impressed with their leadership and client service. They were also results-oriented, creative, personable, and insightful.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None, as they met or exceeded our expectations each step of the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a venture capital firm that focuses on real estate and construction technology. Specifically, I work on business development opportunities with the firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

We raise capital from large corporations, primarily in the real estate industry. We needed a systemized platform to share the range of companies in which we could invest.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS built the platform from scratch and connected it to several APIs. The team developed the backend and scraped data from other platforms that we used daily.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people.

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

A colleague introduced NaNLABS to our team after working with them. I had spoken with other developers, but NaNLABS was the first vendor to promise a quick turnaround. The team was reasonably priced and also had the benefit of an endorsement from someone I trusted.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent just under $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2018 and development wrapped up in February 2019. NaNLABS is still doing maintenance on the platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a resounding success because NaNLABS delivered what we had promised to our limited partners for a very long time. Currently, the platform as close to 60 C-Suite users from major corporations that use it daily, if not at least weekly. Although there’s potential to reach out further to the real estate industry, we’ve chosen to keep the platform in-house due to its proprietary nature.

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

The team brought technical expertise and valuable insight to the table. They had quick turnaround sand demonstrated impressive flexibility. Likewise, the iterative workflows were always timely.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were clearly invested in the project from a time commitment perspective. Passionate and helpful, NaNLABS always came from a place of yes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

NaNLABS delivered on their promises in a timely and professional manner. We would use them again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and VP of digital experience and operations for Tesloop. We’re a long-distance ride-share mobility service using Tesla electric cars. We provide transportation from Los Angeles to destinations such as Las Vegas, Palm Springs, and San Diego.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NaNLABS?

We needed to create a new web application to allow our customers to book seats in our cars. In the prior versions of our booking website, customers had trouble navigating through the workflow of booking a trip.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NaNLABS developed the frontend of the web app using React, as well as Redux for handling data. One challenge was that we were already using a Django open-source web framework to manage the database. They had to work very closely with our internal architects and backend engineer to create the API endpoints required for the new frontend.

The web app allows users to book as many or as few seats as needed. Our vehicles run at a pre-scheduled time but not on a predefined route. Users choose from many available pick-up and drop-off locations. For example, a vehicle traveling from Los Angeles to Palm Springs can make stops along the way to pick up or drop off in over a dozen cities.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two frontend developers and one backend developer. We also worked with a UI/UX designer.

How did you come to work with NaNLABS?

They were referred to us by a product consultant who was helping us with our information architecture. We’d been working with a development shop in Ukraine, but it was slow going. We decided to switch to NaNLABS on the strength of his referral. We also liked that they were willing to work with our existing technologies, and they even learned new systems as needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent in the range of $100,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on this project from April–September 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our company made a business decision to undergo a pivot, so we don’t have many metrics for this web application. However, we did do both internal and outside user testing. The web app performed exactly as designed. The quality of their work was evident. There were no dead ends or bugs that could cause users to get stuck and not be able to proceed. They helped us to rethink some of our UX choices, which resulted in a more cohesive user experience. We're even using some of their developers on our new project.

How did NaNLABS perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was excellent. This was the first time I've worked with an external development shop that didn't have a dedicated project manager. I actually found that their system worked better. They had a lead developer handle those duties, which meant there was no extra layer between our teams. We had direct communication with their team, and that was more effective.

They adopted our product management tools since we were already using Pivotal Tracker. We appreciated that they were willing to embrace our technologies in order to give us the stack that we wanted. They were highly organized and diligent about setting expectations in terms of deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered world-class results while dealing with our constant iterations. The results would still be impressive if we’d given them a highly-detailed spec right from the start. We instead made real-time decisions based on user feedback, which created a highly agile environment.

It’s spectacular that they were able to deliver such high quality given the rapidly evolving requirements and design direction. Their team really took the initiative to explore and understand our business challenges and specific operating quirks. They really got to know our business despite not being able to directly observe our operation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We tried to share some of the backend workload in order to increase our throughput. Ultimately, we found that that didn't work well. For their part, NaNLABS recognized that they weren't able to fully integrate and deliver at the same velocity on this part. They discounted that work for us, so we didn't pay for anything that wasn't up to their standards.

Any advice for potential customers?

The more that you have your internal processes and procedures well-defined and mapped out, the easier it is for them to adopt. They’re willing to take on any project management tool and follow any procedures you already have in place. It will make the process quicker if you have that information well-documented. We’ve done that now, so any additional developers that we add in the future will have an easier time getting to know our process without having to ask a lot of questions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the E-Commerce Director at Open Sports, a retail company focused on the sports sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nanlabs?

We needed someone to develop all the online platforms for one of our brands.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked in PHP and with SQL to create a customized Magento site. They also expanded our product catalog, improved our ordering process, and integrated various payment and shipping modules. They also created some custom developments for our catalog regarding image visualization.

We’re currently working on a project to incorporate various features and improvements in our shopping cart and check-out process. We went through our developments with an eye towards our target audience – millennials in particular – so we made sure that the site was mobile responsive.

What is the team composition?

At the beginning there were three people involved in the project, but the number increased once we got started.

How did you come to work with Nanlabs?

I know one of the company’s SEO resources, so I’ve been familiar with them since they began. We had a bad experience with a previous provider, so we wanted to find another partner. We decided to work with a local startup because of the proximity and our knowledge of their work.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $30,000 on the first phase of the project, but now, we spend between $5,000–$7,000 every month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since July 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They reached all of our goals and delivered everything on time. The site is scalable and they fulfilled all of our design and UX priorities. Site performance has been great since the launch, as has functionality.

How did Nanlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They explained their ticket system to us, which we found to be a good and transparent tool, especially so for our non-technical team members. They used Trello internally and their response time on incidents that arose was very quick.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re our technology ally, showing us new ways of doing things and making their own proposals. They commit to excellent performance. They generate budgets and solutions quickly to show you the best option.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We don’t have any complaints at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re experts on giving you solutions as long as you effectively communicate effectively what your goal is.