Quisitive

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a mobile recommendations service similar to Yelp. I am the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Menlo Technologies?

We needed help building our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Menlo Technologies helped our company build the frontend and backend of our iOS app. We have a team of UI [User Inteface] designers who provided Menlo Technologies with screenshots for every component and asset needed within our app. Menlo Technologies' team converts those into the correct sizes, creates navigation bars, buttons, and all other frontend elements. Menlo Technologies, together with our team, also handled all backend server-side elements of the software.

How did you come to work with Menlo Technologies?

We interviewed 25 different agencies across the country. Menlo Technologies had the best qualifications for the tech stack that we were using, namely Node.js, Swift and a MongoDB database.

How much have you invested with Menlo Technologies?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Menlo Technologies in mid-July 2016, and are currently working on the Android version of our app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We're currently beta-testing the iOS version of our app, and it works amazingly. Menlo Technologies has a QA team which takes care of any bug or quality problem, working alongside our team. Everything has worked well, and Menlo Technologies will usually fix any bug within 24 hours free of charge, as per our contract.

How did Menlo Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We have bi-weekly check-ins on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Menlo Technologies gave us real-time feedback on how things are going, and what can or can't be done. They are always within hours of their estimates, and meet deadlines on 95% of cases.

We have a slack channel, and also use Basecamp and Jira, which is an amazing tool.

What distinguishes Menlo Technologies from other providers?

Menlo Technologies offered very personalized attention to us. Their vice president of delivery is one of our contacts, and takes part in all of our check-in calls. We've spoken with Menlo Technologies' CEO on a couple of occasions, and their general manager has also been present during communications. Our project manager from Menlo Technologies went to college in the US, and has a fantastic English level. He also used to work for AOL, and has a background in consumer technology.

Is there anything Menlo Technologies could have improved or done differently?

Any improvements are 2-sided, and we should also be more upfront in asking for features.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company gathers pay compensations information and board issues for public institutions. We perform analytics and sell that information through a software-as-a-service platform. Our company has been in business for 16 years. I am the Vice President of Products and Technology. I head engineering, product management and IT for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Menlo Technologies?

We have been using Menlo Technologies for a long time, so I'm not sure what the original challenge was, but it was definitely related to further leveraging our budget on the development front. We were able to get people of equal capabilities for a lower rate than the local one.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have 4 distinct product areas, and Menlo Technologies is involved in each of them. We assign a tech lead as the manager of the engineering team, as well as a local product manager. They determine what will occur within each development cycle, as well as individual tasks, and who will be assigned to each one of them. As much as half of our team is comprised of offshore developers and QA resources. Depending on the development type, we will assign tasks to the most well-equipped technical leads. Menlo Technologies has provided technical resources across a variety of projects. At any given time, we've used up to 33 resources from Menlo Technologies.

How did you come to work with Menlo Technologies?

I wasn't working with the company at that time.

How much have you invested with Menlo Technologies?

The cost of Menlo Technologies' services is within the millions of dollars range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing relationship with Menlo Technologies.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We've been very happy with Menlo Technologies' work, given that we've engaged them for so many years. We don't have to spend a lot of time getting them up-to-speed on certain projects because many of the developers have been working with us for a long time.

Tracking performance metrics was a very subjective process when I first came onboard, so I spent a year putting together strict criteria for tracking how the work was being accomplished. Menlo Technologies has told us that we're by far their most advanced client in this regard, so much so that they've started implementing these methods with some of their other projects.

We specifically keep a close eye on how many items are assigned to particular engineers, how long it takes them to finish tasks, as well as what they're quality of code is, measured in bug counts. Every once in a while, we have had to dig in deeper during code reviews, but I've been generally happy and found that Menlo Technologies is almost as critical as us during this process.

How did Menlo Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a few methods in place to address working remotely with Menlo Technologies' team. We use a Slack channel and have a dedicated project manager on-site. Given the fact that we've worked through distinct sprint cycles, and Menlo Technologies' is given specific assignments and due dates, we tend to be okay.

What did you find most impressive about Menlo Technologies?

Since we've been working with Menlo Technologies for a long time, the inherent knowledge they have with our systems has helped a lot. If we ever need to add additional resources, Menlo Technologies can provide the training. Swapping resources at will without losing a serious amount of time is a unique advantage.

Are there any areas Menlo Technologies could improve?

Menlo Technologies tended to be a little less critical in terms of code quality than our team. Like many offshore service providers, Menlo Technologies has usually done what we specified, and nothing more, rarely questioning what is being done. I can understand this since Menlo Technologies wasn't involved in the design, but it would be nice to have pushback when something doesn't make sense. On a couple of occasions, something wasn't on-spec and wasn't caught, which was a little concerning. Tightening up those areas, and providing more resources able to think outside the box would be an improvement and aid for our team. 

Another company I've used actually sent one person back-and-forth between sites, getting an idea of the culture and vibe at the client's location, and transferring that offshore. This helped tighten up the teams. When I brought this up to Menlo Technologies, they were willing to do it but wanted to triple the cost for that person. They did hire a senior person for this, but he only visits us about once a month.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is a semiconductor manufacturer. I am the Senior Manager and IT department administrator for the company. I am responsible for business processes and applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Menlo Technologies?

Menlo Technologies has been our go-to IT source for quite a while.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Menlo Technologies has provided consultation for technical challenges in our applications area.

One of the main projects on which Menlo Technologies worked was development for a revenue forecasting application for our sales team, which was presented with some decision-support information like open orders, sales forecasts, histories of sales, etc. The sales people needed to enter what they believed to be the forecast for the upcoming 15 months. The application required a .NET user interface, as well as bringing in data from various sources and normalizing it. It was intended to be used by various sales professionals across the US and Canada.

How did you come to work with Menlo Technologies?

Menlo Technologies was put in place by our previous IT director, so I was not involved in the selection process.

How much have you invested with Menlo Technologies?

I don't have this information.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing retainer with Menlo Technologies for support, mainly offshore. The same team also handles development on some of our projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Menlo Technologies worked with our own team, providing solutions which hadn't existed before. Our revenue forecast application replaced work being done through manual spreadsheets, with many different rules, and in a chaotic manner. Menlo Technologies enhanced the monthly revenue forecasting process to a point of being completely reliable. The time savings have been huge, amounting to several man-months per year. We no longer need to keep our sales people occupied with data collection and consolidation.

How did Menlo Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We have not had any issues with Menlo Technologies in this respect. Whenever we were presented with new staff on Menlo Technologies' team, their skills were as-advertised. This can sometimes be an issue with consulting firms, but Menlo Technologies has vetted its resources properly. We've worked together through a partnership, rather than using them as hired bodies, and I've appreciated Menlo Technologies' ability to give suggestions and offer different solutions.

What did you find most impressive about Menlo Technologies?

Base on my experience, Menlo Technologies' dedication to getting the job done has been unique. We have an offshore delivery manager working part-time with our team. He's been very effective and saved us a lot of mental energy and time by making sure that our teams are working with each other. This was problematic, given that we're on opposite sides of the Earth.

We've had minimal turnover on Menlo Technologies' staff, and they always planned out transitions as to not make them my problem.

Are there any areas Menlo Technologies could improve?

We're considering acquiring some apps and cloud solutions. As with any other company, we've looked towards less building and more buying, so we've turned to quick solutions from cloud providers, and haven't interacted with Menlo Technologies on this area. I'm not sure how a transition like this would fit within our consulting model.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Founder and Former CEO of a business services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Build and run websites

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Program a website

SOLUTION

How did you find Quisitive?

Clutch Site

Why did you select Quisitive over others?

We hired a company that Quisitive ultimately acquired. We did not hire Quisitive directly.

How many teammates from Quisitive were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Front and backend website development. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All was fine for a few years, but then the service disolved to zero.

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

Did not meet our needs whatsoever

What was your primary form of communication with Quisitive?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

It is no wonder that Quisitive’s share price did not have the confidence of the market, and you should not have confidence in this company either. Since January 2021 when its stock price on the OTC was $1.74, it plummeted in value to $0.25, losing 86% of its value, and then was acquired at $0.57 in March 2025. This is a company in shambles, with abysmal customer service in a desperate situation.

In stark contrast, the NASDAQ 100 Tech Sector increased 143% and the S&P 500 Tech Sector increased 106% in this timeframe. Another indicator of the depths of Quisitive is its Earnings per Share which was negative since 2020 up until the acquisition, with almost zero cash flow each of these years. They are cutting corners and are spread too thin to understand or care about client needs.

You should avoid Quisitive at all costs. We fell into the Quisitive realm by accident as they acquired the highly worthy Menlo Technologies in 2020. Things started to go downhill in 2020 and completely fell apart by 2022, when the account management team at Menlo was fully replaced. The last straw was in September 2023 when Max was assigned to our account (the third account manager we had in a year and a very inexperienced recent college grad). Max was on the account for several months and still had absolutely no idea who we were, what we were building, or the programmatic needs of our impending launch strategy. Quisitive added no value whatsoever to our company. We dropped them soon after. So you are now forewarned – do not fall into the Quisitive downward spiral. 

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

If you look at the Quisitive Reviews on Clutch, ALL 15 of them are about the predicesor company, Menlo which we also liked very much. 

NOT ONE of the current reviews are actually about Quisitive, after the January 2020 takeover. 

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on May 7, 2020.

Elizabeth Franklin
CEO & Founder, The Franklin Report
Other industries

New York City, New York

1-10

Nov 2019 - Ongoing

$50,000 to $199,999

Verified

Project summary
Menlo Technologies helped their partners expand into new verticals by developing a new platform. Following project requirements closely, they took full control of the project’s tech stack.

Feedback summary
Although there are no metrics to quantify the success of this partnership, Menlo Technologies has delivered quality work and has exceeded expectations. With two teams, they’ve managed the project effectively and have collaborated seamlessly. They’re very skilled and experienced.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of The Franklin Report. We’re known to be the Michelin Guide for a wide range of residential services such as: architecture, interior design, contracting, and plumbing in five major cities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Menlo Technologies?

We are massively expanding into a new vertical market. We knew we needed to upgrade our technology team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

So far, they’ve built about 20% of our new business. We were very specific in regards to our roadmap and wireframes, but they took full control of our tech stack, and made excellent improvements, and did so thoughtfully, effectively and efficiently.

What is the team composition?

They have a frontend team in the US and a backend team in India. Garrett (Project Manager) is extraordinary at taking what’s in my head and communicating it to the rest of the team abroad. We also work with Dave (VP, Global Engineering & Delivery) and he has been exceptional at working through any hurdles; nothing is unsolvable to Dave.

Paul (VP) on the business side has been terrific at understanding the financial ramifications and the big picture. And, quite importantly, Srinivas (Manager) is the day-to-day project manager in India who has been clear, helpful, skillful, responsive, thoughtful and, so far, on time and on budget! And the rest of the team in India (go Riaz) has been outstanding at making our vision become a reality as well.  

How did you come to work with Menlo Technologies?

We found them on Clutch and they got back to us much faster and way more professionally than other companies we contacted. And their references were impeccable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2019 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in stealth mode, just starting the alpha testing. So far, everything has been close to perfect.

How did Menlo Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Basecamp. It has been excellent for us. They also respond immediately to us through their well-developed 2-week sprints with any necessary communications posted on Basecamp; thus, I can easily edit what is being implemented in the code.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The four team members mentioned above really deserve a shout out. They’re extraordinary talents. The domestic/abroad interface really makes them very unique. Their responsiveness to feedback also distinguishes them. If I have changes, they’re very gracious about working it into the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They don’t have a single thing that needs to be improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re incredibly experienced, so let them take the lead.

STAR RATINGS:
Overall rating: 5   

Quality: 5   

Cost: 5   

Schedule: 5   

Willing to refer: 5   

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of MarketHive. We’re an inbound market network that provides a complete ecosystem and universal income for all entrepreneurs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Menlo Technologies?

We needed to migrate our cloud system to Azure and upgrade our PHP platform and database. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to move to a more supportive platform while maintaining our functionality.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were impressed by their real-world expertise.

Describe the project in detail.

We met with their on- and offshore teams to review our requirements and develop manageable sprints.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a project manager, an architect, developers, and QA personnel.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We met all our milestones and went live with only a few issues. They were also able to fix several existing issues and update our documentation.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They managed the project smoothly with an agile approach and easy communication process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They possess great industry knowledge and make their experts constantly available.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There isn’t much for them to improve. We were very happy with their services and will continue to engage them.