Selleo

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a company in the AdTech space. I am the technical product manager leading the frontend and backend development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

Selleo worked with us as a contractor for some of our frontend development needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They collaborated with our in-house developers and built the frontend user interface for one of our products. The UI is built on Angular.js and was based on wireframes and designs we provided. The UI was based on our wireframes and design, to which Selleo suggested improvements throughout the development process.

We ran most of the project management on our side, while they operated as an external workforce. A junior developer concentrated on design-related tasks and CSS, while a senior developer worked on architectural and algorithmic problems.

What is the team composition?

We worked mostly with the two developers.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

The collaboration started before I joined the company. To my knowledge, we hired them for two previous contracts before this one.

How much have you invested with them?

The total spend was between 50,000 €–150,000 € (approximately $58,000–$174,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

When I joined the company in February 2018, the project was already underway. We completed everything by August 2018, but will reach out to them again for future frontend projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We wouldn't have a working frontend without them. The functionality and reliability of their work is solid. As with any agile development process, we identified bugs regularly and prioritized to solve the most significant ones.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was smooth; most of our interactions were via Slack, Jira, and Google Sheets. We had daily meetings to coordinate the project and monthly retrospectives, in which we raised our concerns and found ways to collaborate more effectively.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Even though they were a remote contractor, they worked as if they were part of the in-house team. They outperformed any other contractor we’ve worked with, and their communication, dedication, and quality of work is second to none.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of any areas they should improve; they did a good job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We used them primarily as an extension of our staff, but I know they do ad hoc projects as well. If you’re hiring them as an external workforce, communicate with them as much as possible to ensure your expectations align with their understanding of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of an international business consultancy. I lead the development, technical project, and product teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Selleo?

To accelerate and improve the development of our core product, we needed to scale up our team.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a high-quality product, with regular and mapped updates, implemented and managed using agile development processes.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose to work with Selleo based on the cost, efficiency, and quality that they offered.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Their developers not only provide basic coding services, but they also participate in code reviews and offer feedback. We collaborate to define the best strategies for our product’s technical architecture, implementation plans, and development processes. The team’s suggestions are extremely valuable, making them a cornerstone of our product development.

They’ve taken on more tasks and responsibilities, building off of their initial coding role.

What was the team composition?

There are usually between 15–20 developers working on the product at any time. About 50% work on the frontend, and the other 50% focus on the backend. While the teams are restructured occasionally to accommodate our needs, the total number of resources is relatively constant.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The finished product is currently a major selling point for our company. As a central element in the grand scheme of our services, it has swayed many clients in our direction and boosted sales. Additionally, it is regularly used both internally and externally.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They joined our internal management process. At the direction of our product owner, scrum master, and QA team, the Selleo team communicates consistently and uses tools like GitHub, Slack, Jira, Confluence, and Trello to stay up to date with the project. We’ve never encountered a language barrier; all interactions and documents are done in English. They’re interested in our feedback, proactively finding ways to improve.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their talented developers don’t see this as just a simple project; it’s clear that they care about our success. This attitude is something money can’t buy, so I appreciate this level of dedication.

Additionally, their developers have a wide range of interests, extending their knowledge to improve different elements of my business.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

We run into minimal issues. The invoicing process is not as smooth as it could be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO [chief technology officer] of a small Swedish company called Studentvikarie. We’re a substitute service for schools that finds substitute teachers via a digital platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

It’s hard to hire programmers in Sweden right now. We needed to find good, near shore developers to help us build our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

They helped us build our digital platform and began the re-write from scratch. The web application uses HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React, which is backed up by a Ruby on Rails web service layer on top of a MongoDB. They do the full stack development, including the data modeling and service API development, and support our team with constant development. We don’t really think of them as an outside shop as they are part of the daily grind.

We have a designer in-house who lays out the main foundation of the graphical design, but she doesn’t do it all. They use their good judgment to build something that looks and work well. In terms of technical design, they involved in the early days when we started to migrate to Ruby on Rails platform. They have since helped us to make some architectural decisions. We recently integrated GraphQL, which was their initiative.

What is the team composition?

We currently have 2 members of their team assigned to our work full-time. At the peak, we had 4 or 5 of them working for us.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

I don’t know, but right now, I am really happy with what they do and how we work together. I am really keen on keeping them.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent approximately $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in December 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m really happy working with them. We are a fairly young company and still in the exploration phase, meaning that we move fast and do a lot of lean product development. We are still in the startup phase in some aspects. We’re really happy to give them free rein to follow their instincts when solving things. They are very much on the same page as us when it comes to requirements and we feel like they are within our team. They have very good judgment and the things they have built come back well executed. They have surprised us in terms of code quality or breakages. I feel like I can trust them as I can my own team, which is important to me.

They’re good developers, which is a baseline minimum that I want with anyone I am working with, but they are also compatible from a cultural point of view. They take a lot of responsibility — you can leave an open request to them and they will come back and ask questions if they need to. I have not had them come back with a wrong solution, nor have they made a bad call on anything, so I feel we’re very much aligned.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform well. I’ve never had to push them or make them work faster in any way. I believe they do exactly what I expect them to do, and there are no surprises, which is what we look for in a team.

We track work in Pivotal for issue management and tracking, as well as GitHub. There is never a problem with the level of requirements set. If there are any questions, they will ask. Most of our communication is through Slack, which we have a daily buzzer on. We also have daily stand-ups since we’re in different geographical locations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very sympathetic to work with. For example, we have a process where we do code reviews internally. We have a lot of young developers here in our local office and have a senior person on Selleo’s team who is really appreciated by our members. In doing reviews, he has a high level of integrity and makes sure to not put anything through that shouldn’t go through. He is also super constructive and helpful in giving feedback. They are really easy to work with and never complain.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I had a team member replaced, which was unexpected to me. It was slightly annoying as we had started to build the team. It was a one-time thing and having worked with both people, I know they switched because one got the opportunity to work on a piece of technology he really wanted to work with, and from a personal level, I am fine with that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Documobi. We’re a SaaS company that provides consumers the technology to send messages by embedding user-generated content (video, audio, social) into digital and printed media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

We wanted to transition from in-house developers to an outsourced environment in order to maintain, build, and grow our platform. Specifically, we needed developers with sufficient flexibility and experience with Ruby on Rails.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, there was the process of familiarizing them with the technology we had built and where we were trying to take it. They stabilized the platform’s backend infrastructure using Rails and developed the mobile application for iOS and Android, using Apache Cordova. Additionally, they were helpful in securing the app’s data so it could be used by banking and financial services.

What is the team composition?

The Rails developer is our main point of contact. Depending on the scope of the development sprint, he’ll bring in internal resources with the skill-set needed.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

Our COO did a global search for potential partners that met our needs. We’re a small company so that eliminated most big vendors from the conversation. We narrowed it down to 3 companies and interviewed them. Selleo had Rails expertise and the capacity to perform occasional graphic design and DevOps. They were the right fit from every angle.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in May 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can say anecdotally, I’ve asked them to complete projects that are new to the whole world and they’ve always managed to do it. Capability and responsiveness make them cost-effective partners. If I had more money to spend, I’d spend it with them.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

I rely on them heavily from a project management standpoint. They follow up with us after every scrum session and help me manage the Trello board. If they miss a deadline, it’s usually because I changed something at the last minute. They’re good at communicating and careful when setting expectations. If I say something is urgent, they approach the situation like it’s urgent. It’s important to have trust between partners, and they’re open enough for that to cultivate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re almost as excited about the projects as I am. They have a great deal of empathy for what we’re trying to accomplish and for a startup, that’s important.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any improvements to recommend. I only hope they don’t grow too quickly and lose their personable demeanor.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise customers to communicate project specifics effectively and try to establish trust.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the lead for our project with Selleo. We are building an online collaboration tool for the healthcare industry. Our app would allow doctors to communicate with each other regarding cardiovascular issues. The product is compliant with HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996], with all protected health information being kept safe and secure.

Our main product is for reporting, while the one at hand is a supplemental communication tool. This collaboration app contains multiple pieces. Its main features are chat rooms that are created between doctors wanting to collaborate on a particular finding from a report, like a cardio issue that requires the input of peers. Users can launch the app from within the reporting tool, share their screens, have phone conferences, take pictures of their desktop, and attach images. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

When I came in, the project was in its infancy, with a proof-of-concept approach. We needed to go through the process of making it HIPAA-compliant and getting it ready for production. The app also went through several iterations and name changes.

I have not been very lucky with international development teams at this point, especially ones from India and other non-English-speaking countries.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app is a cloud-based solution with a lot of technology involved, including web sockets and WebRTC implementation. Selleo built our application using the latest technology, including Ruby on Rails with a React app. They made sure that we have full test coverage in place for the Ruby code. Selleo also assisted us in setting up the app on Amazon Web Services. Currently, we only need to fix minor bugs that come up. Selleo has also been open to helping in areas like documentation and building a user guide.

Our product required an iOS app since Safari does not support some of the functionalities we needed, namely the WebRTC component for screen and video-stream sharing. We also needed push notification capabilities, which are also not available on Safari for iOS. Another company built a native app based on the one created by Selleo, which added those functionalities. Selleo recommended a developer to us, but we also checked others.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

They had already been selected when I took the project over from our side. Selleo did a great job with the transition.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Selleo around a year and a half ago. We’re currently in the maintenance and verification phase, so we’ve gone down from 5 developers to 2, currently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve been quite impressed with Selleo’s work — they built a beautiful product with outstanding code. From what I’ve been hearing, the app has received a lot of accolades from the industry during conference demos. Selleo takes care of any issues along the way. They are constantly striving to use the latest technology, and the designers followed good standards.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

For a project of this magnitude, things are going smoothly from a development and management perspective. Our company follows the Agile approach, with daily stand-ups and updates. As part of the standard process, we have 2-week sprints, retrospectives, sprint planning, and reviews. Selleo’s people are familiar with all these steps.

Selleo’s team is professional, and they follow our timelines. They’ve put together the resources necessary, changing specialists as needed. For example, they reassigned people when we moved away from design work towards backend coding.

What did you find most impressive about Selleo?

I’ve usually struggled with making sure that international teams understood requirements, especially ones outside of English-speaking regions. Many times, the wrong thing is built or not enough questions are asked. I’ve not seen this at all with Selleo, even though the team is based in Poland. The majority speaks English well, and they would tell me if I’m speaking too fast or if something isn’t clear. This is valuable for us since communication is key in dealing with different time frames.

Are there any areas Selleo could improve?

Towards the end of the project, it would have been better to look at allocated resources sooner. There aren’t too many indications on our side that Selleo is winding it up, though.

Some of Selleo’s developers are very ambitious, which may be more of a positive than a negative. By this, I mean that they want to fix the product and code in order to have the highest-quality product. They are constantly trying to add more tickets for refactoring, which may push out time to delivery. While that’s a good thing, there’s a need to balance getting the best version out while maintaining the delivery cost and getting the tool into customers’ hands. From a consulting point of view, I can see that Selleo would want to keep our project going.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Selleo?

The company is a good choice for anyone looking for an alternative to a U.S.-based solution, at a lower price, if they’re willing to deal with the distance and language barrier. Selleo is essentially a frontend Ruby on Rails and JavaScript shop, not a place where someone could build an iOS app. Selleo recommended another company that could do that. We appreciated them not attempting to do something they are not capable of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Payment Card Solutions is a financial services company that specializes in operating prepaid MasterCard programs across Europe. We have been in business since 2006. I’m the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

We were restrained on our technical resources, especially for Rails developers. In the U.K., they’re in short supply and it’s difficult to recruit them. We were looking for some short-term help when we approached Selleo. They were able to help us out and we’ve worked with them ever since on a semi-permanent basis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help us maintain our existing large code base and built some standalone new systems that we needed to build for clients. The financial services systems we build enable people to access their card balances. Security and reliability are key factors for us. The systems are built in Ruby on Rails and incorporates HTML as well. They’ve done some frontend work and some graphic design as well. The graphic design they do is updating images on the website or reworking the art work. They help us come up with new card artwork. If we give them the assets, they can put it into the right template. That is not a major part of what they do for us. Requirements come in and I triage them and pass them out to internal resources or to Selleo. The work comes back and I review it. If everything is fine, we merge it to the code base.

How many resources were assigned to your project?

We have 2 resources on a semi-permanent basis but I’ve worked with 5 over the course of our relationship.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

One of my colleagues from work passed their name on to me, but he can’t remember where he found them. I approached them via their website. I spoke to them and asked questions, having never outsourced, and they answered them. I was happy and we worked with them on a trial basis, and it went well.

How much have you invested with Selleo?

We have spent between $10,000 and $50,000 over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2016, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done some good stuff for us. We had a website for a client that needed building . We don’t normally build websites from the ground-up anymore, so we don’t have in-house resources for that. Selleo did have some people who specialized in HTML and CSS frontend work. They were able to deliver the product from the design very quickly with a very high standard, and I was very impressed. I always review the code when we get it back and there’s always some bugs. If I find any problems, they fix them. It’s never been a major problem. It’s the same I expect from my own team.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

We haven’t given them a project to manage, but they’re very well-organized. I went to visit them and they’ve got a well-organized setup. They’re well-managed as a team and very inclusive. I was impressed by their professionalism. We use Trello, Skype, and GChat [Google Talk] in our relationship with Selleo.

What did you find most impressive about Selleo?

We haven’t evaluated the competition, so I don’t know what makes them unique. I was very impressed with the quality of the frontend work they did, their professionalism, and their organization. They’re a good-sized company with 43 developers. They’ve had a lot of training and don’t move too fast in integrating. They provide outreach programs to the local high schools to try to foster new talent and spread their knowledge, which I feel is sensible and admirable.

Are there any areas Selleo could improve?

It’s important to make sure all the tests are passing when code gets sent over. Sometimes that’s been missed. I mentioned that to them and, since then, things have been better. It’s the same things I get from my own employees. Internally, the relationship has been very positive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO and CTO of SquadLocker. We provide applications for anyone looking to have decorative apparel created for their team, league, or group. We allow users to select products, upload logos, and instantly create online experiences that they can share with constituents for purchase.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

A year ago we were looking to scale our engineering team. Like many startups and technical organizations, we were struggling with the onshore costs associated with building software. We were on the lookout for offshore firms to scale our engineering efforts. We had an internal team of onshore contractors and other agencies. In some respects, we strategized moving resources from some of those other parties to groups like Selleo to facilitate expansion by lowering costs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There are 3 areas on our platform, including a store-building functionality for users, promotion for those stores, and an end-consumer purchasing channel. Selleo has helped us convert what we call “store builders” faster and put tools in place that allow us to produce the garments exactly as expected by the consumer.

They optimized conversions by adding functionality to all 3 experiences. These items guided people through the UX more effectively and impacted our ability to fulfill orders accurately. Users had to go through our online catalog, pick the different items they wanted, and make them available for their team. With Selleo, we’ve built store templates. Now, instead of a football coach having to go through all possible sweatshirts, warm-up suits, and t-shirts, we have built templates that allow us to create a store for that person in a matter of seconds, based on a few pieces of information. This gives them a starting point and simplifies the experience for the user.

A big part of our business is being able to produce logos that match specific Pantone colors within those designs. Dealing with RGB colors on a computer screens leads to a difference in results when using Pantone colors for printing. We’ve had some challenges in hitting the specific shades requested by customers. Selleo recently put together a component that will detect colors in the logo, prompt the user to confirm what we detected, and map the on-screen colors as closely as possible to the Pantone ones used with printers and threads for embroidery machines.

Selleo also participated in the design process. In the past, they focused on backend design and front end implementation, but, over the last couple of months, we have hired a full-time front end designer on their team. They are effectively working with us through the entire stack and development process.

Our initial team was comprised of 3–4 engineers. We recently expanded it to 10–11 people, including a full-time designer and a full-time Scrum master. Those engineers are now split into 3 smaller teams, which work on each part of our platform. Over the next 30–60 days, we plan to add another 5 or so engineers to the team. I anticipate continuing to grow with Selleo over time.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

I had done some offshore work before and didn’t have a great experience with some firms in Asia. I wanted to explore Eastern Europe, which seemed to have had more positive feedback over the last 2 years. I started with Google searches and came across different companies in Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, and Croatia. I talked to some of them, and Selleo stood out through their overall presentation, understanding, and the resumes of the people on the team.

How much have you invested with Selleo?

The cost of their work has been around $500,000. At the current pace, we will continue to spend around $600,000 per year, and we intend to add another 30% to the workflow.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Selleo in September 2016. The collaboration is ongoing and expanding. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As the code is written and engineers make pull requests, that code will be reviewed by multiple individuals within my team, who are not a part of Selleo. Overall, the quality of the code has been consistently high. The lead engineers on their team follow the patterns that were laid down by the other lead engineers and architects, but they’ve also done a nice job of providing feedback and suggestions about improving the code quality. As we add more folks, not everyone will follow the same approaches and paradigms.

SquadLocker offers a unique type of service. Through customer feedback, we’ve seen how easy the platform is to use, and how much they’ve liked the solution. Aside from customers, we’re also engaging with a variety of brands in the marketplace, as well as large apparel distributors. Every time I’ve talked to these people, they were amazed by our easy platform and clean UX.

Selleo has certainly contributed to our recognition as a market leader by customers and strategic partners. They’ve done this by showing up to retrospective meetings and offering constructive feedback on the process, the design, and the development. As someone who has worked in global software development for a number of years, this is a rare occurrence. Most agencies tend to focus on what they’re being asked to do without offering constructive feedback. Selleo treats this project as if it was their own business, offering great feedback on an almost weekly basis.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

Software is a tricky area, and deadlines are often based on rough estimates. As we start the building process, we have to adapt based on new information. In general, I think that Selleo did a good job of hitting the dates we targeted. When that didn’t happen, it never came as a surprise. As soon as there was an issue, Selleo was forthright in bringing it up. They’ve consistently gone above and beyond to finish tasks when we needed.

They’ve influenced our process and tools, as well as the design and development of the software. Selleo is a user in our JIRA environment. As we started to grow our local team, we were trying to find the best tool and went from Pivotal Tracker to Trello and JIRA. Selleo was helpful while making these jumps and offered suggestions as we were building workflows. We use GitHub for a repository and have adopted some of Selleo’s efficient practices. Their team suggested something called Prettier, which assists with some of the JavaScript linting activities to keep everything consistent.

What did you find most impressive about Selleo?

We engage with a lead engineer named Thomas from Selleo’s team, who is responsible for the other resources on their side. For all intents and purposes, he has reorganized his life around this project. There is a 6-hour time difference, and we often have calls at 2–3 p.m. Eastern Time. He consistently takes part in those calls, including some that occur at 11 p.m. his time. Selleo treated this engagement like more than a project and a paycheck. They are emotionally invested in what they’re doing, which, to me, is unique.

Are there any areas Selleo could improve?

As we scale teams, increase the amount of code being built, and extend the offering for the market, some growing pains may take place. Certain choices required Selleo to adjust and adapt. In hindsight, I would have made some different decisions, but I wouldn’t have expected Selleo to change. They’ve done everything I expected—being forthright, offering opinions, citing sources, and prioritizing the best interest of the project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a private equity real estate company. We buy buildings and invest in companies. We operate some of those buildings ourselves, which involves specific software. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

We needed full-time, full-stack Ruby on Rails developers. We were looking for a partner in the EU to help us accomplish our software goals. We have a full-time developer in-house, and the rest of our team is remote or offshore. We’ve had a lot of successful projects built in Ruby on Rails. We use other technologies as well, but that’s our primary focus. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked on 3 or 4 projects with Selleo. To date, they’ve worked on our web applications. One of them involved a large amount of real estate data. We collect the data, clean and organize it, and build interfaces on top of it to provide a clearer understanding of markets and various investment strategies. They’ve been really helpful with that. They’ve also done some public-facing website tasks for us. We’ve also worked on some IoT and smart home platforms. That’s been a really great experience. We’ve used them for some React work but haven’t gotten into React Native yet. We plan to expand the team in the future to tackle this area.

They have an organized and process-oriented approach to problems. Most outsource partners tend to be started by good developers that have a few friends but lack operation backgrounds. Selleo has done a good job of installing the right tools and caring about the process along the way. Their processes smooth out tasks during tight timelines or other issues.

How many resources were assigned to your project?

We use 3 resources from their side. Selleo has a partner company as well that does machine learning and big data work for us, which involves another developer.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

I don’t remember how I found them, but their process was very attractive. I was interested in their structure and transparency. They clearly took the time to work on their own branding. Most of these shops have a bad WordPress site, so we don’t know exactly what we’re buying. Selleo went to the next level. They present the developers themselves on their site with pictures, resumes, and projects they’ve worked on. Those little details create a much better buying experience.

How much have you invested with Selleo?

We’ve spent over $100,000 during our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2016, and the work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done phenomenal job overall. They’ve hit the project plans and deadlines that we set and stayed within budget. We build software for ourselves to improve our investing, and that’s been successful internally.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

We take care of project management on our end. Their lead developer has done a great job of enforcing the process. We have 2-week Agile sprints and use project management tools, including GitHub, Slack, Pivotal Tracker, and Skype for daily standups. They’ve been very receptive to using our tools and offer valuable opinions.  

What did you find most impressive about Selleo?

We can talk to them every day, and their leadership is very responsive. They’re willing to work with us instead of sticking to an adversarial vendor relationship.

Are there any areas Selleo could improve?

We’re constantly getting better on the development end by mixing their resources with our other resources. I don’t have any specific concerns to mention.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a software as a service [SaaS] platform that businesses use to create and deliver online training to their employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

We were looking to augment our domestic engineering team with a larger, lower-cost option for development talent. We knew what we needed to do, so we wanted to speed up development at a cost-effective rate, allowing us to build a competitive advantage by lowering our overall cost structure for research and development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We already had a functional product. Selleo worked on everything from bugs to large-scale features. These were pretty basic, web application features for content management and e-learning design. Selleo used Ruby on Rails, Postgres, Heroku, and JavaScript.

The team at Selleo was fully integrated with our in-house team. We had 3–5 engineers who reported directly to our head of engineering. We treated them and worked with them just like our own employees. They worked on the same types of projects with the same project management system. They really assimilated directly into our process. We don’t have a separate QA function, so the developers are responsible for the quality of their code. Selleo fit into that process.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

I interviewed about 5 firms in Ukraine and Poland, and Selleo had the right balance of economics, skills, and professionalism.

How much have you invested with Selleo?

We invested about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January of 2016, and we wrapped up our engagement in December of that year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a good job, produced high-quality work, and were cost-effective. So, they allowed us to get more work done faster and for a lower price. Their work was reliable and stable. In a certain area, we had to grow staffing faster with more experienced people. Selleo was limited with their senior people, which eventually led to our disengagement. We needed a lot more senior people much faster than they could provide, so we went a different direction. However, we were incredibly satisfied with their work. They delivered to the highest level of quality.

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well and did what they said they would. We used Pivotal Tracker during our collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about Selleo?

They were less expensive than most places in Poland, maybe because they’re located outside of the major metropolitan areas. They were able to give us a lower cost than their competitors.

Are there any areas Selleo could improve?

I recommend that they acquire more senior talent.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Neutopia is a SAAS learning platform. I am the project manager and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Selleo?

The main thing I was focused on was just making a better platform for learning from a teacher’s and student's point of view. I wanted it to be motivating and easy to use, and to encourage more curiosity from students. It needed to work in a more modern way than the other platforms I’ve seen.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I approached them with the UX designs and the information architecture designs. From there, they did a quote on what would be required to implement everything on the designs. They provided backend and frontend services, and a little UX design help. Most of the UX was done, but they did some improvements and changes on the fly. The platform provides playlists for learning. Users can add content, similar to Pinterest, and make playlists and turn that into a course. Selleo used Ruby and Angular to build the platform. We started with two team members, and we got up to five.

How did you come to work with Selleo?

I did a web search for developers in Poland, and I found three companies, including Selleo. I chose them because I was really impressed with the first meeting we had. They seemed to be ethical, which I really liked. The quote they gave me was very professional. It was a line-item quote, whereas every other agency had just given me a price. Selleo also got back to me very quickly, and other companies took quite a long time. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still in the pilot phase inside schools, and the pilots have gone extremely well. The usage by students is very high. People love the platform. After students use it for several weeks, I get asked if I’m going to take them off the platform at the end of the course. They get concerned that they’ll be locked out. 

How did Selleo perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they’ve done a great job.  Before starting the project I had heard stories of some of the challenges of building software, but I’m happy to say the process of building the platform with my team at Selleo has been excellent and very enjoyable.The guys are like family to me. Even as a virtual team, I probably see them more than some of my friends here in Sydney.  I look forward to the standups and really enjoy my working relationship with all of the guys.

What did you find most impressive about Selleo?

What sets Selleo apart is the enthusiasm and care taken on the project beyond scope. We have a spirit on the team that’s definitely in the culture at Selleo, very similar to the type of culture I try to foster as a teacher. I look forward to our meetings, it’s always fun as well as productive.  The guys are really into the project and I know they really care about it’s success. I believe Selleo chooses very good people and have an excellent company culture.  I’m very happy to be working with a company that shares my values and that has made the whole experience work very well.

Are there any areas Selleo could improve?

I can’t think of anything.