Qubika

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Apartmentbutler.com. We're a B2B2C platform for apartment communities. We sell our services to large management companies and they offer those services to their residents as an amenity. Our platform is three-sided. We have a technical side for the property management companies to engage with their residents, and we have a supplier side, which we use to partner with local businesses. In addition, we have a dashboard and a web app that they use to schedule their jobs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with December Labs?

We were looking for a company to help us migrate our tech stack from version 1 to version 2.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a mobile app and we were designing a new database schema. First, we brought them on for a very small project–they were going to do the migration for us. But the scope of the project expanded quickly and they brought more developers on. December Labs successfully implemented every project we gave them, properly estimating the costs and the timeline. They were primarily working in PHP with MySQL database. They also used JavaScript and React on the frontend and node.js on the backend. In addition, they did some iOS work for us.

They were very engaged and brought a lot of things to our attention that we were missing, such as security issues and better ways to do the schema. Relaunching our whole teck stack was a large and costly project, in which December Labs played a vital role.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and four developers, some of whom are still engaged on a retainer basis.  

How did you come to work with December Labs?

We desperately needed additional capacity. One of their co-founders lives in the area (even though they're primarily based internationally). He was working out of our co-working space, so we got in touch with him. We were lucky to find them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2017 and the project lasted eight months, so it was completed in 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We recently closed our first venture capital round. We don't have in-house developers, which our venture capital considered a red flag. So having December Labs on our team made a big difference: our new investor became more comfortable (despite the fact that December Labs is an independent contractor) and ended up securing a deal with us.

How did December Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a collaborative process, and we mostly used Trello for project management. Also, they were great at meeting our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They took ownership of the project and made sure it was a success. That's something you don't see often from a contractor. They're still part of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and co-founder of Goldfinch Health, a company that helps employees of self-insured employers in the US take advantage of an approach referred to as enhanced recovery. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moove It?

We engaged Moove It to help us develop a case management application. Our platform would support occupational health nurses in tracking employees through disability periods, creating cases and scheduling follow-ups to ensure employees are staying on a path towards a recovery plan.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Moove It is developing a cloud-based software application for use on tablets, delivering a prototype designed through InVision.

What is the team composition?

I work with about five people, including designers, developers, and a couple of staff in leadership roles.

How did you come to work with Moove It?

One of their founders is based locally in Austin, Texas, so I was able to meet with him personally when I started searching for developers. I felt comfortable working with their team because they seemed to understand our business, our target market, and the challenges we face. They had previous experience developing similar technologies within the healthcare industry and—since they're based in South America—they also offer competitive rates.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested just under $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since July 2018, and the relationship is ongoing. We're in somewhat of a holding stage at the moment, but they were able to deliver our first set of mockups for a conference in the first week of September.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Moove It's deliverables have turned out better than we anticipated thus far. They've successfully brought our concept and vision to life, which has been a huge milestone for our company. We're very impressed with the quality of the work and their ability to incorporate additional ideas without taking away from our overall vision.

How did Moove It perform from a project management standpoint?

They've done a good job of executing on time and communicating directly to us as needed. When we proposed new ideas and changed the scope of work, they were very flexible and redesigned much of the work they'd already done without negatively impacting our deadline.

We mostly communicate through Slack, Google Hangout, and Zoom meetings. InVision has also been a useful tool because it allows us to view mockups throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do a great job of incorporating our feedback and providing their own input where they feel it would improve outcomes. It's been a very productive engagement overall.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We had a few issues involving formatting differences between the US and South America at first, but we were able to overcome those barriers very quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the executive manager at an international social innovation festival held in Chile. We mix music with content to connect with people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moove It?

They helped us develop a prototype.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used InVision to create our platform, which allows users to connect with each other.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two persons from their team.

How did you come to work with Moove It?

They were recommended by someone I really trust.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $10,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2018. At the moment, we are analyzing the budget to decide if we would continue with the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They helped us understand the scope of the project. We now have a baseline and an idea of where we want to go.

How did Moove it perform from a project management standpoint?

They met all deadlines and communicated well. We had meetings over Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We liked their personal approach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they are good at developing software, but they could still improve in terms of innovation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a developer, coordinating the digital services department of a credit card processing company, specifically the digital services department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moove It?

One of the services our company offers is invoice collection and we needed software to process payments for business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed software used by business to process payments, working on the frontend and the services parts. The backend was worked on in-house.

We also have an end-user solution which is a payment portal. Users can pay for services without having to go through a physical, specific payment point.

They used Ruby on Rails and native mobile app development for Android and iOS for the portal and its platform.

What is the team composition?

Though it changes, we’ve had a team of five developers.

How did you come to work with Moove It?

A technology manager from Uruguay started the relationship with them, and we found them from there.

How much have you invested in them?

We spend around $30,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2012 and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a very high opinion of them. Compared with other companies in the region, they’re better. They have a great methodology and are very precise and methodical. Their technical knowledge is also great and on top of the deliverables they give us, they provide us with extra knowledge and education.

Any time they find an issue, they provide us with different solutions and their recommendations. On top of that, they participate in the development of new products and services on a consultation basis. In general, we’re very happy with them and I believe they provide us with great added value.

How did Moove It perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira as a project management tool and they present proposals using InVision. We have weekly calls to communicate, and then every two weeks after each sprint. We also use Slack for daily communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great as consultants—we always come to them to discuss new ideas, products, and projects. They’re not just a software factory that complies with specifications, they always provide an extra value. They’re also great at time management and are aware of the importance of meeting deadlines.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A possible improvement they could make is to work on the availability of experienced senior developers on short time to address the rapidly changing technology needs. This would enable them to effectively adapt to new challenges and maintain their competitiveness.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise clients with similar needs to choose an innovative project and conduct a joint pilot. This approach will allow to evaluate them effectively.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Stafapp. We’re a staffing and database platform for the commercial due diligence and real estate vertical.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moove It?

I was looking for someone to help me realize my business concept after a bad experience with a previous developer forced me to start the project over.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled the entire product development for our platform, which gives people the ability to locate and hire professional consultants for projects with tight deadlines. Our goal was to shorten that process to require only a single button click instead of coordinating through phone calls or emails. Moove It helped us automate the process, using Ruby on Rails for the backend and React Native to build mobile apps for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

There were three developers who worked on the whole project with us, but, at some points, there were as many as 10.

How did you come to work with Moove It?

They’d already been on my list from previous searches, and they had an office here in Texas. I called and asked them to take over as soon as I’d gotten my money back from the previous contractor.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re very transparent about their process and any challenges that come up, whether it’s on their end or ours. They’ve also been flexible and accommodating to us as a small, busy startup. Even when I can’t get back to them within 24–48 hours, they’re always patient and tackle other elements of the project until I can respond.

How did Moove It perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicate extremely well about the process. We always know how much longer it’s going to take. I had access to their internal Agile system, although I’ve never looked at it because they also send weekly invoices of how much time they spent on different elements of the project. I’m always aware of what’s happening.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re personable and easy to communicate with. Even with their technical expertise, they were patient about re-explaining things for me and putting the explanations into words I could understand. They’ve also done a great job with the development so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We ran into a language barrier at first, but that was the only issue. The learning curve there lasted a couple of weeks until we figured out how to talk to each other so that everyone could understand the tasks and project goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CTO of Grammarplanet, an online education company that teaches grammar.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moove It?

My partner and I wanted to convert our program from a print format to an interactive web-based program.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Moove It designed and developed our web-based educational program from scratch, using MongoDB and variations of JavaScript. They continue to add new features and content as needed. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a few designers and developers, as well as a project manager.

How did you come to work with Moove It?

I engaged a couple different vendors that had positive reviews on Clutch, and ultimately decided to work with Moove It based on their experience and portfolio of work. They also responded very well to our RFP and were reasonably priced. Because they had offices both in the US and in South America, we were able to negotiate a better rate by working with team members from both of their locations.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested about $70,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2018, and the relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website essentially is our business, so their work has been invaluable. They've done exceptionally well in designing a site that's user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Their team has also done an excellent job in understanding our needs and goals, and the site turned out better than we envisioned.

How did Moove It perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been flexible as we've made changes to the scope of work, and very responsive from the start. Any issues with miscommunications or transitioning of members on their team were dealt with relatively quickly and easily. They're also very nice and accommodating overall.

They work in sprints and use standard tools for tracking projects, including Google Docs and some of their own internal tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have been and continue to be a pleasure to work with. Despite the fact that the majority of their Uruguay office staff's first language isn't English, we haven't had any language barrier issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were times when they could've performed more testing, but because they relied on me to fully to test everything, they missed a few simple fixes unnecessarily.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of strategy for a financial services firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with December Labs?

We're launching a workstation for our clients, and we engaged December Labs to design its UX and UI.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

December Labs designed the UI and UX for our custom platform, producing mockups in Sketch.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one designer.

How did you come to work with December Labs?

We found them through Clutch after researching various design firms. We liked that they had experience in our industry, and they also offered competitive pricing and had a very professional website.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on the project from April–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

December Labs provided high-quality design work, and they delivered exactly on time. They estimated the work would take eight weeks, and they weren't a day late.

How did December Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very easy to work with; any feedback we provided was incorporated well, and they understood where we were coming from. We mostly communicated through Skype without any issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We enjoyed working with them overall. One of their representatives even visited our office, which showed how much they cared about the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Welwaze Medical, a startup that is developing technologies for early breast cancer detection. We have two products: a pad that detects cancer and an app that reads the pad’s results.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with December Labs?

We needed help developing the full app. We didn’t have the expertise we needed in-house, so we partnered with them to complete the development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided a full solution. They oversaw project management, design, front- and backend development, and all the technical aspects. They also worked with AI to develop a computer vision algorithm to read results.

They have multiple technological capabilities and really took ownership of the product. They asked to speak with an oncologist to understand the data and get their insight. They were very involved and were like a part of our company.

What is the team composition? 

We work directly with Washington (Executive VP of Mobile & UX, December Labs).

How did you come to work with December Labs?

I needed a team with a range of capabilities, including computer vision expertise and blockchain knowhow. I interviewed four different suppliers and December Labs was the only company that could fill all our needs. I explained everything over several calls and they came back with suggestions. I met with them in person and decided they were the right group to work with.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018. We’re currently in development and will launch the beta in August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve delivered a good quality product.

How did December Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They execute everything according to the project plan. Their timelines are always realistic and they’ve hit every milestone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They take ownership of the product and are a part of the team. They are available at all hours and their level of commitment and engagement is very high. They understand our philosophy and are willing to argue their points and make improvements. They operate as an extension of our startup.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering at Seneca Systems. We sell our application to local governments to help them manage their communications and workflows.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with December Labs?

Our application was primarily web-based and we needed someone to develop a subset of the features from the web app into a mobile app for both Android and iOS.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We began by giving them a demo of the web app, listing out which features we wanted in the mobile app, and providing them with documentation of our API. Then, they developed the wireframe and preliminary design work. That went through a few cycles of revision until it was approved, and from there they started doing the design work.

Every two weeks they would give us a new build, we’d provide feedback, and they would implement that for the next build. Toward the end of the project, they went through the web app and identified and implemented additional features they thought would increase the user experience.

They developed the app with React Native and it’s available for iOS and Android. They designed everything from login to listing out communications, and enabling city employees to respond across multiple channels from one interface. Users can also manage workflow so that they can track progress details until completion, as well as add notes and locations.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two engineers, two designers, and had a business contact that would check in every few weeks.

How did you come to work with December Labs?

They reached out to us through email. We decided to work with them after I spoke with one of their customers who had a great experience.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with December Labs February–May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The only metric we were tracking was project length, and they exceeded our expectations.

We haven’t launched yet, but I can say that their design skills are great. The user interface they created is beautiful and easy to use.

They pay attention to detail, try to understand the problem, and come up with solutions instead of just meeting requirements. December Labs thinks through what you tell them to do and suggests alternatives when they are better for the project. Most of the time, they were able to identify and solve problems before I ever mentioned them.

How did December Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They gave us updates every two weeks on changes in the build, project progress, what work remained, where the project was in relation to the established timeline, and the expected end. In addition to these updates, we had daily communication through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

December Labs was familiar with the agile management methodology, which enabled them to adapt to changes in the app and overall project needs. I appreciated that they didn’t need much detailed guidance. They knew our API, and whatever they weren’t familiar with, they would find out. We didn’t have to invest a lot of our own project management or development time to support their development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really, I was impressed with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think December Labs works better when they are given an entire project versus working as part of a team mixed with their developers and their customers’ development teams. It requires trusting them, but it’s worth it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an iOS investment app that people can use to generate intelligently-tailored portfolios and have our team of investment professionals actively manage their accounts. We’re part robo-advisor and part traditional advisor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with December Labs?

We started off with some other developers to build the app’s backend foundation, but they were too slow and some of the code was a bit sloppy. We were trying to create a scalable, robust system that could grow with us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

December Labs worked on our platform. It’s a native iOS app with a .NET backend that’s hosted on Microsoft Azure. We have some deep integrations with our custodian bank and broker dealer, as well as with Plaid for ACH authentication.

What is the team composition?

They assigned two developers and a project manager to the project.

How did you come to work with December Labs?

Another startup we knew had used and recommended them. We were ending our angel round and looking to enter the seed investment phase, so timing was very important. I used to be software engineer, so I know how hard it is to find talented and affordable in-house developers and convince them to join a startup.

Within two weeks, December Labs gave us two senior developers who worked well and fit our budget. We didn’t have to pay additional expenses, so it wasn’t just a matter of outsourcing, but being able to scale up and down. They essentially helped us get to the next stage.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost so far has been around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October or November 2017. The collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve fixed all of the bugs and the app is scalable. We’ve become confident in our ability to grow without the technology platform becoming an issue. Our users are happy and so are we.

How did December Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve worked well with them. Their English-speaking abilities and communication skills are great. December Labs works according to U.S. time zones, so it’s worked out well.

We use Slack, Google Hangouts, and Trello for project management. Their process is on par with that of any top-tier, U.S. startup.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re willing to work with startups and understand the hardships we’re facing. Their team can act as a good sounding board for us because they’ve been there before. They simply employ quality developers. Everyone on their team is great.

I know of another startup that’s using them. They have machine learning and AI components, and December Labs gives them access to anything they need. They have developers who can do anything effectively. We’re hoping to implement some machine learning later on as well for some parts of the app. We’ll easily be able to do that because of them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no complaints.