OAKS LAB

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a legal and FinTech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK'S LAB?

We were trying to build a platform that automates the manual tasks done by banking and finance professionals.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

From a very basic Bootstrap framework, OAK’S LAB first had to build our custom software from scratch. In the first month, we scoped out the products in the platform; in the second month, we focused on building it with user testing; in the third month, we further designed, developed, and tested the platform. The tools the team worked with fall on AI technology or machine learning. 

The platform extracts key terms from uploaded legal agreements and then shares the output with other people — even if they aren’t signed up on the platform. Users can also search for keywords across thousands of pages and hundreds of contracts. 

OAK’S LAB focused exclusively on my project’s development process for three months. We've completed the project’s first phase but are still working on other tasks. They’ve also provided valuable support with sales, marketing, and fundraising.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, a lead designer, a lead engineer, and a sub engineer. 

How did you come to work with OAK'S LAB?

They were a referral from someone in the industry. I researched several providers and considered 10 companies that I then narrowed down to five. OAK’S LAB was one of the top three, and I decided to go with them because of their professionalism. The speed at which they delivered their high-quality proposal was very impressive. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the initial conversation in November 2020 and then signed the contracts in January 2021. We have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a number of user testing sessions that were very positive. The platform isn’t launched yet, but we’ve tested it internally, and it works broadly as we need it to.

We’ve also received positive feedback in many demonstrations with potential customers, who said it was very user-friendly and had a well-structured design. They’ve also praised the visual aspect, functionalities, and customized tools. 

How did OAK'S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

OAK’S LAB has been very professional in the way they’ve managed the project and expectations from start to finish. It’s been a ten out of ten on that front. We’ve had regular communication with the team. They’re well-organized, especially the project manager, who’s also very responsive.

I have a daily 10–20 minute call with them in the morning. If we need to talk about specific topics, we have Google Meet video calls. We also keep in contact through Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive aspect is their proactiveness. They bring ideas to the table and are very experienced. I’d say they deserve an 11 out of 10. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re excellent at what they do. 

Any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to be very clear on the scope and cost. The more you put in with the team, the more you get out of the engagement. It’s also worth investing the time that they recommend spending on planning and preparing your project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

DaysToHappy is the world's first all-in-one Employee Experience platform. I'm a member of the executive team responsible for technology and customer experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OAK'S LAB, and what were your goals?

Oaks Lab has been our development partner for every phase of our technology development. They have helped us from the very beginning. We are non-technical founders of the world's first all-in-one Employee Experience platform. Our goals were to design and development all aspects of our platform from the ground up.

SOLUTION

How did you select OAK'S LAB and what were the deciding factors?

A key factor in our decision to work with Oaks Lab is their focus on start-ups, their culture, their robust processes (e.g., strong agile shop with exceptional communication and partnership processes in place), and whole team model (designers, developers, business analysts, project managers, all working together - in a dedicated manner to bring our produce to life!).

Our expectations have been surpassed in all areas. We found it especially helpful as they helped us scope our initial build out of our platform. They took us through several key processes and activities that helped us build a strong product roadmap and strategy. They helped us understand the competitive landscape of our industry, where we fit, and how we could more effectively differentiate ourselves in the marketplace. This onboarding experience initially was invaluable!

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

Oaks Lab provided design, development, QA and Project Management support necessary to build our Employee Experience. platform from the ground up. This included an Admin Portal, integration with Twilio, Content Development module, Customer Facing Dashboard, Admin Dashboard, and all associated technologies. These technologies included Twilio, Google Cloud/Firebase, NodeJS & React. Oak's Lab also designed and developed our Marketing web-site found at www.daystohappy.com.

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

We had a Project Manager, 3 engineers, QA Engineer and Designer across two different projects with Oaks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been able to deliver 10's of thousands of Employee Experiences to our end users. We have averaged over 95% delivery rate through our SMS based platform. On average, our clients have seen a significant increase in their Employee Engagement scores as we have rolled our platform out to many clients since first launching our Oaks Lab designed platform.

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

Oaks Lab is an Agile shop with all of the bells and whistles. They have the full slate of Agile meetings and associated activities. Their documentation and project management is truly exceptional. They leverage great tools, Slack, Jira, Confluence, Product Board, etc. to help drive powerful communication between the teams. Their desire to be "one team" with the start-up is a huge key to their success. They truly operate as the founding team's development team and every interaction is based on high trust and high partnership.

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

The culture, the partnership with the start-up founders, the whole team mindset, integrated design, and the robust project management/communication/documentation, etc.

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

There is always room to improve. I would suggest to continue to reinforce the basic processes of onboarding new clients and strengthening the communication (which is already very strong) even more. I think these two elements are so critical to what Oak's Lab does, that I think building on these strengths will continue to help them be successful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Operations at Lifebrand. We’re a social media startup. I function more as a C-Suite level executive. In my role, I run the day-to-day operations and product development calls in tandem with our project manager over at OAK’S LAB.

Our startup is social media health screening. We go through people’s social media pages with their consent and find any posts that are harmful or triggering. Then, we help them delete it. We’re protecting the brands of individuals and companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK’S LAB?

They were contracted to build our entire product back when we had no money or direction. We brought them on to build our wireframes and MVP. They did such an amazing job that we got our investors based on the graphic designs and simple products they put together. We had an influx of investors and cash. Then, the engagement expanded and OAK’S LAB was tasked to build out the entire product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OAK’S LAB has built our website, product, and AI for both our B2B and B2C platforms. They’ve been with us from the beginning as the only product development team we’ve used. Their team handles all of our graphic design, product development, and product management. We use their CTO as our acting CTO because we don’t have one.

Additionally, OAK’S LAB creates our marketing deliverables and logos. Their team has helped us with our patent applications and with our compliance. All the scoping for every piece of our platform and future features is done by them. They create roadmaps for our investors to show the direction we’re moving in.

Their team has helped us create a scaling map for ourselves, assisting us in our scaling process as we expand into Ukraine. OAK’S LAB has really done the soup to nuts on everything for scaling our business.

What is the team composition?

Our product development team has about nine individuals.

How did you come to work with OAK’S LAB?

One of the owners of OAK’S LAB connected with our CEO. We started an engagement with them because we loved their past work, and they had a passion for our product. It ended up being a natural fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $200,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started around January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We went to market in November 2020. Since then, we’ve had unprecedented interest in our product. It’s absolutely not because of our marketing efforts, because we haven’t spent much on marketing. It’s definitely because of the work that OAK’S LAB has done as well as the company they’ve helped refer us to. Our business exists because of our sales team and OAK’S LAB.

How did OAK’S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Jira, Productboard, and Atlassian tools for project management. OAK’S LAB is very efficient. They make sure they’re detail-oriented and on top of everything. Their team is flexible and willing to work with us to keep us organized and on-task. OAK’S LAB has helped us scope things out that we haven’t thought of before with each of our products. They make us better.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They don’t feel like a vendor. They feel like they’re a part of our team and family. That’s because they care about us and take pride in the work they do. OAK’S LAB ensures that everything they do is done right and done right the first time. It feels like our product is also their baby.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. They’re great communicators and work hard to make sure we’re happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them. It can be hard to trust someone else to do the right thing and care about your business as much as you do. However, OAK’S LAB is genuinely invested. Put your blind trust in their ability to bring your dreams to life. Have faith because they always deliver.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the former CTO for an organization that was in fintech.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK'S LAB?

Our team primarily consisted of one on-staff backend developer, so we need to bring on a white-label development team to support various components of our projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

OAK’S LAB developed two fintech platforms centered on cashback redemption. We retired an existing Java platform and built and deployed a .Net, MySql and C# platform for our primary hosted site using React for frontend development.

In the first project, they built a website that presented digital discount content to large affiliation groups. For example, if an affiliation’s member were to sign up with our platform, they would receive digital discounts at grocery stores. We’d source those discounts, present them to the member to redeem, then provide the cashback from consumer packaged goods companies.

We faced certain challenges such as finding ways to import content from third-party providers and then display it visually to members. This required us to set up individual wallets so that, when a member clipped something, it would go into their wallet until they redeemed it. We also had to find a way to manage the movement of cash money from one place to another in addition to creating a fairly significant admin portal that let members track their purchases, redemptions, and cash.  

The second product line that they built was a platform for credit cards. When a user registered their credit card and used it at certain merchants, they could get cashback off the total value spent.

What is the team composition? 

Daniel (Product & Project Manager) was our project manager and primary contact. I also spoke a lot with Jake (Co-Founder & CEO) and Andy (Chief Business Officer).

How did you come to work with OAK'S LAB?

I inherited them in a way. A few years ago, I was doing a lot of startups with another team, and one of them had found Jake before he started OAK’S LAB. We transitioned into OAK’S LAB from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $650,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them the same day that they formed back in January 2018. The engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Even though our customers kept changing directions, OAK’S LAB was able to build and deliver what we wanted according to the right schedule and price. We went through 3–4 makeovers and had to add additional pieces, but they were still responsive about getting those tasks done.

To me, that indicated that their architecture was good. Daniel, in particular, had a good idea of how things ought to work. He was very familiar with the UI/UX and had been on a lot of calls with our customers to understand how components needed to go together.

How did OAK'S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

They used a number of project management tools, which changed over time. Trello was their ticketing system, and they used Confluence as their communication platform. We also had calls several times a week. Daniel was diligent in his notetaking, so the sprints were always documented and well-managed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I liked the most was their level of flexibility and cooperation. As an organization, we were all over the map — staffing levels went up and down almost monthly, and they kept up with those changes. That adaptiveness was pretty impressive for the kind of work that they did.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything worth mentioning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend going with OAK’S LAB because they’re a good organization. Their ability to stand up websites and build mobile apps was on par with or better than other people I’d worked with. Their company culture was impressive, too. They did a lot of team-building and cultural activities, and it felt like it was a family.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of PlexTrac, which is a cybersecurity platform for workflow automation, tracking, and analytics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK’S LAB?

We needed help building out some key features of our platform to continue to grow our customer base and execute our roadmap faster.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OAK’S LAB provided full stack support. Their team aided software engineering and created new designs for our platform. They also helped us with redesigning parts of the platform. All of their deliverables related to product features, which would be delivered to our customers. Although our platform's a web-based app, it can also deploy into enterprises’ custom environments too.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six people in total from OAK’S LAB. There was a project manager, a designer, and software engineers. The team ebbed and flowed as our needs shifted.

How did you come to work with OAK’S LAB?

Our investors worked with OAK’S LAB through their other portfolio companies. That was the initial introduction. We talked with their other customers and checked referrals. We felt comfortable with them as we talked through what we needed.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with them in November 2019 and stopped working with them in October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In 2020, we grew our customer base quite well. That growth can definitely be attributed to the platform’s design and professionalism. OAK'S LAB worked on short turnaround times for key projects that helped us grow the business. Their team was a big support and helped us expand at an early stage.

How did OAK’S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

We used JIRA to manage the project and had daily stand-up meetings. Their team clearly pushed when there were tight deadlines based on our requirements. They did so without any complaints, which made them feel like a part of our team. That was a nice change of pace.

What did you find most impressive about them?

OAK’S LAB focused on process and quality code production. That isn’t necessarily common with other outsourced development providers. They focused on producing quality code and meeting the project’s objectives. Their team didn’t just ship products without having a proper testing process in place.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As our team grew, we realized it was time to wind down our collaboration with OAK’S LAB. Overall, we were pleased with them and would consider them again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set clear expectations for deliverables. If you have technical requirements, be clear about them upfront. That ensures that both teams will be on the same page.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Storyvine Inc. is a guided video technology platform that our clients use to produce reputable videos. I serve as the co-founder, president, and COO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK'S LAB?

We needed a developer to create our video platform. It’s a B2B solution that clients can use to quickly and professionally create videos.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

OAK’s LAB has been working as our outsourced development partner for almost five years, tackling our software, web, and mobile needs. They’ve primarily been working on our video technology platform Storyvine. This has involved creating a CMS solution and a video rendering engine. 

As part of that, their team has also redone our existing mobile app to allow users to capture videos in a very prescribed process. The solution has a series of templates set up to ask the user one question at a time, and they’ll answer on camera. Our software will then upload the content to the Cloud and stitch the clips together automatically.

What is the team composition? 

Kate (Product & Project Manager) is our main project manager, and then we work with Juraj (Full Stack JavaScript Developer) and Furkan (Full Stack Software Engineer). 

Outside of those three, there are many people who will come on to a task as needed. Olga (Product Designer) is our lead designer, then there’s Tommy (Mobile Software Engineer) for our Android apps, Petr (Full Stack Software Engineer) is our iOS developer, and then there’s a Ruby expert.

How did you come to work with OAK'S LAB?

We chose OAK’S LAB because they came highly recommended by one of our investors. Of course, we went out to bid a few more times. However, every time someone brought in another developer that they really liked, OAK’S LAB inevitably came in at a dramatically lower price.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent about $800,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since November 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because they’re based in a European country, they really know GDPR well. That means that they build systems that comply with the strictest privacy laws out there from the very beginning of development. Similarly, OAK’S LAB is security-minded. When one of our larger clients conducted penetration tests on our system, they came back and said that we were secure. 

They’re also great problem-solvers who go the extra mile. It’s pretty rare for us to hit a problem, but there was a time when a major client had done something that caused an issue. It was through no fault of our own nor OAK’S LAB. Regardless, they completely bent over backward to help us do what needed to be done.

How did OAK'S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

Over the years, we’ve noticed that their project management skills are unparalleled. They use all of the Atlassian software, including Jira, Confluence, and Trello. We also use Slack and Google Team Drive. In terms of communication, there’s no language barrier with them. Most of the people I’ve worked with on their team speak perfect English, even though it’s their second language.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Again, I’d have to highlight their project management. I’ve worked with quite a few other developers that just didn’t have the project management aspect down, so we never knew what was going on. The communication was bad, and we missed deadlines as a result.

In contrast, OAK’S LAB’s development process has a very strong project management component, and they’re ethical, too. In one case, one of their team members made a mistake and offered to pay it out of his own pocket. Even though it was such a minor issue, we really appreciated the gesture. There have also been times when OAK’S LAB’s owners have reached out to us because they’ve felt that they haven’t delivered perfectly. They’re willing to make amends and find a solution together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. They’re fun to work with — it’s a nice international group of people, and I’ve visited them several times.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

West Tenth is an innovative digital marketplace where you can discover and work with the home-based businesses near you. I served as a Founder & COO from project inception thru commercialization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OAK'S LAB?

Oak’s lab helped finalize product strategy, developed our initial iOS prototype, and helped us evolve/enhance the app in response to user feedback.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to craft a user experience that would help grow businesses and shoppers on this new platform. We hoped to also attract VC investment in our startup.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We met Jake at the Slush conference in Finland in early December 2018. After comparing the full suite of services that Oak’s Lab offered us in comparison with other development shops, their selection was a no brainer. Oak’s cost a bit more than other places but offered us help forming our brand, learning product management best practices, and even consulted on our startup growth strategies.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Oak’s helped us: *refine our brand and concept our first logo *develop and architect our initial iOS app through launch in the App Store *conduct user studies to inform updates and enhancements *consult informally on business development *maintain the app while onboarding first generations of users

What was the team composition?

Our team consisted of: *product manager *lead engineer *secondary engineers (we worked with 5-7 other engineers from the Oak’s team at various times) *product designers *CEO COO and CTO - involved on a monthly basis

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Oak’s team helped us bring our first app to market and grow its user base to several thousand individuals. They enhanced our transaction flow, our chat, and our registration process to grow retention and revenue over the course of the 1.5 years on the project.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management is one of Oak’s greatest strengths. As first time founders it was terrific to be exposed to project management best practices and methodologies. We learned Scrum and Kanban methods that we then implemented on internal initiatives. One downside was Oak’s tends to switch management platforms fairly frequently and our team got adoption fatigue from the frequent new logins and new interfaces.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The strategic nature of the partnership was by far the most important component of our time with Oak’s. As we’d hoped, Oak’s was much more than a development shop. Their team contributed to enhancements in our operations, our management styles, our go to market strategy, our intestine relations, etc. If a business leader is looking for a transaction partnership, for order takers, then skip Oak’s and hire a traditional dev shop. This team is invested holistically in your business’s growth.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As mentioned, we got a bit of platform adoption fatigue through frequent transitions into new business software.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Sindro. We’re creating a business management platform for fitness and wellness studios. So think of cycle or yoga studios—we’re building a platform to help them run their business. This includes everything from scheduling classes to managing staff and instructors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK’S LAB?

We needed to pull together a team to do everything from design to build. Hiring for that is often difficult because we don’t need an entire team for the whole project. So, we wanted to find a team that could handle design and development, scale up or down when needed, and then leave when the project is completed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OAK’S LAB supplemented our team to web design and development. They designed the frontend and developed did everything on the front- and backend. The platform has several components. The backend design was for the studios themselves to schedule classes, book rooms, and coordinate with instructors.

The frontend would then display this information so users can make appointments, get involved, and know details like where the class is located and which instructor is teaching. They focused on UX/UI throughout design because it’s at the core of what we’re trying to build. We wanted to good, friendly, and easy to use platform, both for the business owner, and the member trying to book a class.

What is the team composition?

They scale their team up and down based on what we need. We always had one project manager who was dedicated to our project, a few designers, and developers.

How did you come to work with OAK’S LAB?

Our lead investor worked with them in the past and suggested that we look into them. We met to talk to them about our project, and we were able to see some work they’ve done in the past. They talked a lot about being able to scale up or down within a week, which would have been impossible for me to do on my own.

The leaders and members of their team were young and enthusiastic. They were hardworking and I trusted that they would push this project forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $300,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

They project started in June 2019 and is ongoing,

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The functionality of the site is great. The results are the best part about working with them. Every two weeks, we conduct our own user testing. We find potential buyers and beta clients, and we always get positive feedback. CX has been the best part of our project and people like the direction we’re going in. We’re also able to pass that feedback on to OAK’S LAB and they implement it in the next sprint. Out of the hundreds of features we’ve implemented, we’ve only found eight bugs. Overall, the impact they’ve had on our business has been huge.

How did OAK’S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

They assigned a project manager at the beginning of our collaboration and they’re 100% focused on our project. Our manager is younger and has less experience, but he makes up for it with effort and organization. He keeps the conversation between our team and theirs, despite a nine-hour time difference. He’s done a fantastic job and I’d love to keep working with him.

We communicate through Slack. We also use Figma to see designs in real-time, make comments, and the designers implement our feedback right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to execute and complete a project is very impressive. We’ve added an unbelievable number of features because they’re so efficient. Between June and August alone, they completed 125 features with very few bugs. Not only do they get things done quickly, they don’t sacrifice quality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly can’t think of anything. This has been the most positive experience I’ve had.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be well prepared. They’re always ready to get to work. The team is full of great problem-solvers and go-getters. So, you can’t be lackluster. Go in with everything you got, and be ready to work, because that’s how they work too.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a product manager at Plotify. We’re creating a marketplace for investors to buy and sell property globally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK’S LAB?

We had a need to create a mobile app and an admin portal where we can manage some of the processes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OAK’S LAB created the apps for iOS and Android using JavaScript. The apps are currently in an early beta stage, so we’re controlling who is on our app. The investors that we’re onboarding are partners of our CEO and founders.

We have partnerships with our clients, and OAK’S LAB has implemented some functions to do our “know your customer” (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. They’ve also done some work that will allow for a multi-region onboarding flow. Each country has different regulatory landscapes that we need to tailor the onboarding flow to. 

At the moment, we plan to have a UK flow, a US flow, and an India flow, and then a flow for the rest of the world. As we onboard new clients, we will look at what countries they are coming from and what the regulatory landscape is. We’ll see if it falls within one of the four flows already or make a new flow. 

Once an investor onboards, they can check our listing section, scroll through different countries, and find the plots they want to invest in. It is a four-step purchase process where they look at some documents, confirm the figures, and purchase the plot. 

Through the admin portal, we check that everything is in order. The app allows for ongoing plot management so we can see some of the vague financial details of what everything costs. It also has support functions as well as a live chat with our admin portal. We also have information on how it works on the app. 

We need to finish off a couple of key features, and one of them is the multi-region onboarding flow. Once some of these features are complete, we will be able to go live on the App Store and Google Play Store.

What is the team composition?

We have a designated project manager and a lead engineer who I speak with every day. We also have a designer, a team of full-stack, backend, and frontend developers, and a testing team consisting of a QA person and QA technician.

How did you come to work with OAK’S LAB?

There are a few reasons we chose them. Some of our founders had worked with them before and had seen the quality of the work they produce. I went out to Prague and spent some time with them a few months ago. OAK’S LAB’s founders are fascinating people. They have worked together on 40 companies now, 20 of which were start-ups. The knowledge that they can pass on to their teams and clients is huge. I certainly learned a lot from just sitting with them. They also have a open workspace in a fantastic building in Prague. 

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent over $350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in February 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback we have been getting from our investors has been really positive. They like the feel of the app and how easy and simple it is to use. Our regulators have also said they really like the app and how slick it was. OAK’S LAB is always trying to find ways of improving the apps. The testing team not only test new functionalities, but they also think of ways we can improve. That comes into my role as well—managing the product. 

We want to keep this app at the forefront, and OAK’S LAB delivers that. They know what works and what doesn’t work, and they have been extremely flexible while giving us invaluable input. The work and designs they produce are innovative. The knowledge they have passed on by working with so many startups has really accelerated our app.

How did OAK’S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had two project managers in the time we’ve worked with OAK’S LAB. They go through project management training that’s tailored by the CEO because that is what his background is in. As a result, OAK’S LAB actually delivers what they promise in a sprint. Nothing gets pushed over into the next sprint, which allows me to plan ahead. 

From that standpoint, I have been really impressed. I worked in project management myself, where it was a lot more structured and rigid, and OAK’S LAB seems to have this intuition. They are very good at estimating and having the whole team involved when they do estimates. The entire process is very well-engineered. They use GitHub and Zenhub to manage the tickets, bugs, and future enhancements. We use Google G Suite as well to manage what we do.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The founders’ depth of knowledge has been key for us. It feels very personal with them. They take a huge interest in us even though they have quite a few companies on their books. 

The amount of people we come into contact with at OAK’S LAB is really a credit to them. It has fast-forwarded us as a business; we have implemented their ideas in how we look at our company's vision, milestones, and culture, to create a place where we want to work. OAK'S Lab is at the head of the pack in these areas when building itself as a company. To me, that is important.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The main issue for me is just the distance between our offices. When I went over to Prague for a couple of weeks, the amount of work that we got done was incredible. However, this really isn’t their fault. Plus, the time zone difference between Prague and the UK is one hour, which is not a problem whatsoever. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief commercial officer and head of product at Dot Residential, a full-service real estate agent for property investors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK’S LAB?

Our main challenge was that we didn’t have any technical expertise in-house, so we hired OAK’S LAB for development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re a tech-enabled, full-service, real estate agency for property investors. We give them a platform where they can find companies that they want to invest in and own.

OAK’S LAB built the whole technology platform for us from scratch as well as all our other technology products. They’re our development experts and provide hosting for our platform. They develop all our new features and ensure that things are closely controlled and secure. They use React frameworks, Google Cloud, AWS, and all the other modern technologies.

We ended up having a longer-term relationship with OAK’S LAB. We’ve used them for the MVP and now we’re up to the first version. We’ve started recruiting our own in-house tech team, but OAK’S LAB has done a great job for us and we continue to work with them.

What is the team composition?

There’s one frontend developer, two full-stack developers, and a project manager assigned to our project. There have been times where we had a QA specialist on board full-time as well as a product designer.

How did you come to work with OAK’S LAB?

They were recommended to us by our original venture capital investor, who OAK’S LAB had an existing relationship with. We did look at a couple of other vendors at the time, but given OAK’S LAB’s relationship with our main investor, we chose them. They’re friendly and extremely professional. They made us feel confident that they’d be able to get us to this initial product build.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $25,000–$30,000 per month for the past 12 months so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing. There have been periods where we’ve backed off and didn’t need their help. The actual work has lasted about 12 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re approaching 1,500 investor members on our platform who are looking at our property investment opportunities. We’ve listed over £5 million (approximately $6,576,025 USD) worth of properties with the average price of around £200,000 (approximately $263,041 USD). We’ve also transacted on about 10–15 properties, though it’s still relatively early in terms of the evolution of the whole business. The platform that OAK’S LAB built has allowed us to do all of this despite being only being launched since May.

The experience we provide to investors is very tailored and customized. Customers can choose how much mortgage they want to take on and select from various furniture and design options. OAK’S LAB built our whole customized experience, which has been key for transacting properties. They’ve been there from start to finish and feel like they’re part of your in-house team.

The quality of the overall build has been great, without any major bugs or glitches. OAK’S LAB has addressed any minor issues right away. I can’t speak highly enough of them and we continue to rely on them.

How did OAK’S LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team has always been very receptive and helpful to any issues or challenges. OAK’S LAB is available on the weekend and late at night, and they go the extra mile. We use Slack to communicate on a daily basis, and clients can be as involved or uninvolved as they want. We tend to be very involved and we work very closely with them. We have set processes in place and we always know where everything is in the process.

We also have a GitHub board for all the tickets and for tracking work. We use Google Hangouts for a couple of weekly calls we have together. Together with OAK’S LAB, we do a sprint plan every two weeks and have a monthly call for going over the previous month’s work and catching up on our business goals. We’ve pushed them quite hard on several occasions and deadlines are always met. Several members of their team have had to work late nights to meet particular deadlines for new feature launches.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism is pretty awesome and the work they’ve delivered is amazing. The manner in which OAK’S LAB goes about their work really stands out. They feel like an in-house team, which is really good when you’re at a very early stage and you’re going through a lot of changes.

When I’ve spoken about the technology stacks we used with other developers, they’ve been impressed with OAK’S LAB and have said that they’re using the latest technologies that most large organizations would be adopting.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes when projects are in the testing environment, some things can get a little bit lost in translation. This could be improved but it has nothing to do with the actual technical build. For instance, it could be a label that’s spelled incorrectly. It’s just small details that are missed but that’s mainly because they’re focused on development.