Puzzle

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CIO of Steppingblocks

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Steppingblocks is a data analytics company that helps universities and organizations understand student and workforce outcomes through powerful insights and career pathways visualization tools.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Puzzle to accomplish?

• Identify and attract high-caliber software developers with strong technical expertise and startup experience.

SOLUTION

How did you find Puzzle?

Referral

Why did you select Puzzle over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Puzzle were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Contribute to the development of our applications in the front end

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Filled two critical developer roles within the target 30-day window, including a senior full-stack engineer and a data pipeline specialist.

Increased qualified candidate rate by 60%, thanks to the recruiter’s targeted sourcing and pre-screening.

Reduced time spent by internal team on hiring tasks by over 40%, enabling leadership to stay focused on product and infrastructure goals.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The recruiter demonstrated excellent project management throughout the engagement. They communicated clearly, provided regular updates, and consistently delivered qualified developer candidates on or ahead of schedule. They were responsive to our evolving needs, adapted quickly to feedback, and showed a strong understanding of our technical requirements and team dynamics. Their structured approach and proactive communication helped us move efficiently through each hiring phase.

What was your primary form of communication with Puzzle?

Virtual Meeting

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

What impressed us most was their deep understanding of technical roles and their ability to identify talent that not only met the job requirements but also fit our company culture. Their approach was both strategic and personal—they asked thoughtful questions, moved quickly without sacrificing quality, and brought a level of insight and professionalism that set them apart from other recruiters we’ve worked with. Their commitment to our success felt genuine, and it showed in every candidate they presented.

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

We had a great experience overall, and the outcomes exceeded our expectations. If we were to suggest anything, it would simply be to keep us slightly more in the loop during the early stages of sourcing, just so we can better understand the direction and offer input sooner. But honestly, this was a minor point in an otherwise smooth and highly professional engagement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of MyTime

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

MyTime is a fully integrated appointment scheduling, point-of-sale and customer engagement platform for multi-location chains and franchises. It’s built to be modular, but it really shines when the various components work together to maximize revenue by reaching customers wherever they are at the moment they are ready to transact.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Puzzle to accomplish?

• Build and manage a customer service team
• Recruit full time software engineers
• Contract out software engineers to our team as needed

SOLUTION

How did you find Puzzle?

• Referral
• Direct Outreach

Why did you select Puzzle over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Other

How many teammates from Puzzle were assigned to this project?

12

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Provide Customer Service Lead, Customer Service Team Members, Frontend Software Engineers. Recruit full time DevOps, iOS, and Backend Engineers (Ruby). Provide staff augmentation for Frontend Engineers (Angular).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Amount of time to fully staff the team Quality of candidates Staff retention

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Puzzle is extremely responsive. Carlos, the founder, makes himself available at virtually any time and cares deeply about the success of the project and his customers. While the candidates and augmented staff don't always work out, Puzzle is willing to make things right to the best of their abilities. I appreciate their flexibility as they generally care about the long-term partnership rather than short-term gain.

What was your primary form of communication with Puzzle?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They work hard to ensure their clients' success. They genuinely care and spend time understanding our goals to ensure they can help us meet them.

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

I think they could do a better job vetting candidates with more background checking and more behavioral interview questions. I've been surprised how many people we hired didn't stay or had to be transitioned out.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder / CEO of iMitig8 Risk LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide a Risk Management Software Solution for Insurance Companies who underwrite Builders Risk Projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Puzzle to accomplish?

• Develop new features from our roadmap document
• Offer solutions to simplify the process
• Review and learn about our solution
• Provide Gap Analysis Report

SOLUTION

How did you find Puzzle?

Referral

Why did you select Puzzle over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Puzzle were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Provide software delivery services following a roadmap document. The services also included project management and compliance with SOC2 deliverables to ensure our clients, maintenance of the existing platform, assisting with onboarding of new clients and providing demos to new clients.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We set key milestones and targets which were met above and beyond our original expectations.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The PM delivered with excellent standards, tracking each task until completed. They used JIRA to aid the process and held meetings daily with the team and weekly with our company. Sprints were delivered on time, with only minor variations. Once Puzzel learnt more about our product, they made some valuable contributions and key decisions in favor of the deliverable outcome.

What was your primary form of communication with Puzzle?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

The company would always put themselves out to help and offer assistance, being a start-up, we needed as much advice and guidance as possible and Puzzel delivered this without additional cost. They really believed in our software, and they went above and beyond.

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

During the discovery phase, I believe more time should have been spent in this area to truly dig deeper into the intricacies of the software. The team had to work with an existing product that was transferred from a previous development company. During the deep dive, it was found there were more complex issue to manage, something that we didn't identify in our submission, yet they worked well to find these issues and managed the process to the best of outcome.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO of Hoopla.com

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Mobile app to discover local experiences and events, through short form video

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Puzzle to accomplish?

• Build technical MVP

SOLUTION

How did you find Puzzle?

Referral

Why did you select Puzzle over others?

Close to my geographic location, Pricing fit our budget, Good value for cost

What was the size of Puzzle’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Helped source and recruit a team of engineers to help build our MVP product. This included Backend, frontend and a PM

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Built a small roadmap. Weekly we would meet to discuss feature, issues, progress Another meeting was setup weekly to discuss features iterations

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Very responsive. The Deadline for pushing the MVP out was not a hard deadline, though we had an idea of about when we would like it ready. As we continued to flesh out what was and was not possible for MVP, as well as, considered additional features important to the launch , the deadline got extended. Overall they went over and beyond to make sure things were moving along consistently and if there were any issues with any of the team members, they were quick to resolve and discuss.

What was your primary form of communication with Puzzle?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

They were very responsive and really cared about ensuring we had a positive experience. Some team members we recruited we did have issues with, but they worked with us to help improv any issues we were facing.

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

Not really. Any time you're outsourcing, there is always going to be a period of time necessary to get used to the team and get to understand each other's expectations. The team worked really hard and was quite involved

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Boomreturns, an e-commerce service provider. We provide solutions for retailers to improve their online returns.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Puzzle?

We wanted to add reliable team members to our technical team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Puzzle has helped us find good candidates for our team. We first provided them with a job description we had prepared, and based on it, they started prescreening candidates from their network. Then, they sent us some resumes that they thought would fit our needs.

Puzzle has also been involved in the onboarding process. Additionally, they’ve offered to put together a training process, but we’ve decided to do that internally. Now, they handle the new resources’ payroll, and they bill us directly every two weeks.

What is the team composition?

We work with Carlos (Founder & CEO).

How did you come to work with Puzzle?

Puzzle worked on our co-working space in Atlanta, so we already knew Carlos. When we were looking for additional support, we reached out to him and started a contract negotiation process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the candidates that Puzzle has brought is great, and our technical team is very happy with the new resources. Additionally, these resources have helped us improve our capabilities.

How did Puzzle perform from a project management standpoint?

Puzzle has performed very well. They’re very communicative, and they made themselves available when necessary — we’re very happy with that. We communicate via email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Puzzle is very communicative, available, and flexible, and they always try to find solutions for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with Puzzle on what you need so that they can find it for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of ArboHQ, and we have an accounting software that provides bookkeeping for tech entrepreneurs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Puzzle?

We were employing a large number of team members, and we were tired off going through 500 different resumes in order to find a quality candidate. Since we were going through a lot of growth, we hired Puzzle to provide recruitment services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Puzzle provides support in our recruitment process, specifically in pre-screening potential candidates for our open position. So far, we've sourced executive assistants and customer representatives through them. The customer representatives will be in charge of looking after our email, making sure it is organized.

The team has also provided preliminary training to hired candidates, which includes teaching them how to answer phone calls,  how to respond to certain inquiries, and how to ensure everything is grammatically correct.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with five people, including Alan (Chief Engineer & SVP). 

How did you come to work with Puzzle?

We were at an event talking about our needs and about finding teammates whom we could trust. Puzzle then reached out to us and talked about what they could do for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent less than $10,000. We’re charged on an hourly basis, and we send our payment every 15 days.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in November 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Puzzle team has ben able to provide us with good candidates.We have internal measures in monitoring the team members we’ve hire through them. Based on the performance of each member, we provide feedback to Puzzle.

How did Puzzle perform from a project management standpoint?

Alan closely works with us in setting up meetings, which makes things a lot easier. We talk to Alan if we have any questions and he also gets in touch with us on a monthly basis to make sure everything is okay. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Every representative that we’re working with has already been filtered through the process that Puzzle has conducted. As a result, we’ve saved a lot of time, money, and energy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I don’t have any negative experiences yet.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set up your project’s expectations and process. Once those are laid out, you’ll get the best out of the engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a private equity firm that invests in technology businesses in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Puzzle Recruitment?

We were looking to hire an analyst in Honduras, and we needed help with finding a candidate.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Puzzle Recruitment found and recruited an analyst for us. We first discussed what we were looking for in a candidate and proceeded to source one for us.

What is the team composition?

We only worked with Carlos (Founder & CEO). 

How did you come to work with Puzzle Recruitment?

They were recommended to us by a firm we previously worked with. We interviewed Puzzle Recruitment, and they seemed to understand what we were looking for, so we hired them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Puzzle Recruitment did an excellent job of finding a suitable candidate within less than a month. The candidate was a really great hire.

How did Puzzle Recruitment perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was solid.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Puzzle Recruitment was great at adapting to what we needed. They did a good job of taking our initial feedback and getting the job done quickly. We really valued the turnaround time. The team was also easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they could’ve done better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Engineer Up

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

IT consulting for Fortune 500 companies

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Puzzle to accomplish?

• Software Engineering
• QA

SOLUTION

How did you find Puzzle?

Referral

Why did you select Puzzle over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Puzzle were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Software engineering, QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Time and materials

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management is great and consistently on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Puzzle?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

Work ethic as commendable.

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

No improvements needed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President & COO of Cytta Corp

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Development technologies and taking them to the market

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Puzzle to accomplish?

• Clean up many unused instances AWS
• Take platform from MVP to commercialisation by creating a mult-tennant solution

SOLUTION

How did you find Puzzle?

Referral

Why did you select Puzzle over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Puzzle were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

go through existing code for multiple applications.
Security vulnerability.

clean up AWS

make the code enterprise software ready

business consulting and future partnership structuring

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

first clean up instanses on AWS - result lower monthly cost 

making a market ready SAAS platform 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Amazing team.. delivery above and beyond. Great communications. Very professional

What was your primary form of communication with Puzzle?

Virtual Meeting

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

True understanding of the clients needs

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

All my interactions were amazing, and I'm very happy with all the services provided. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of SparkFire

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SparkFire drives audience engagement through one-on-one AI conversations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Puzzle to accomplish?

• Recruit great software engineers
• Help us scale our team
• Help us build our initial product

SOLUTION

How did you find Puzzle?

Referral

Why did you select Puzzle over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Puzzle were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Puzzle helped us craft our job requirements, interview potential near-shore engineers, hire and onboard engineers, handles all of the payroll/benefits/etc, and stays in touch with us regarding any HR or performance related issues at every step of the process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We've accelerated our product development and released the initial version of the product to our customers.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The Puzzle team has always responded promptly to any of our needs. They setup a Slack channel where we can ping whenever we need something, and they get back to us quickly. We've been extremely happy with the support they have provided our business.

What was your primary form of communication with Puzzle?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their support after the hire has been really impressive. They are always checking in, making sure things are going well, and working quickly to address any issues.

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

No - they've been an ideal partner for us!