Solvd, Inc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Acelab Inc. is a venture-backed start-up building an online marketplace to link Architects to the manufacturers of Building Products. I'm the Head of Product at Acelab.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solvd Inc., and what were your goals?

We worked with Solvd to build the MVP version of our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected this vendor on the basis of their proven track record, workable time-zone, and high English fluency.

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

See results.

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

We had a team size that varied between 3 and 5 over the course of the project. The team was:

• Natalia Shkoda (Project Manager)
• Eugene Sviridov (Front-end Engineer)
• Evgeny Orel (Front-end Engineer)
• Mihael Tomashuk (Front-end Engineer)
• Alexander Shot (Front-end Engineer)
• Andrey Nazarenko (Back-end Engineer)
• Valeria Sivokhina (QA)
• Stanislav Harakhavik (QA)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Solvd was able to build out a stellar MVP of our core product that was both on-time and fit within our pre-seed budget, and they continued to work with us in the first half the seed phase to improve the Upload Portal.

Their professional engineers, powerful internal devops environment, and high quality corporate processes kept the project on track through many small design iterations. Their internal recruiting tools allowed us to adjust the team’s size several times throughout the project to meet our changing needs.

Solvd’s work was crucial in helping us raise a seed round. Afterwards we kept upgrading the Upload Portal, which our team used to create the world’s largest database of Window building products.

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

See results.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a startup that develops iOS applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc.?

I hired Solvd to help build my apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solvd built an iOS app for my users. It runs on iPhones and iPads. Although the app’s part of my business, it’s for my users to enter data, customize data, and chat with other users. After entering data, it appears in charts that users can export. Solvd also built a push notification feature into the platform. They handle the server that allows users to access their data on different devices too.

What is the team composition?

I’m currently working with two engineers. However, I also worked with five other engineers and a QA analyst at different times too.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc.?

I used to work for a company that used Solvd for development services. That’s how I knew about them.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent around $150,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them around May 2019, and our relationship’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform’s relatively crash-free and highly rated in the App Store, so users are really happy with it.

How did Solvd Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate over Slack, but I also use Confluence and Jira to share requirements and organize tasks. They’re great at meeting deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s easy to get started with Solvd. They’re responsive and execute projects well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m really happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It helps to know what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a digital marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc?

We have a propriety influencer-facing platform that we use to serve our brand and agency clients. They helped us integrate with another software platform that has a direct connection to social APIs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

This project involved three different companies: ours, the company that owns the software, and Solvd Inc. They served as sort of a bridge between us and the software company. Our platform is built on PHP, so they worked with that as we moved toward a platform that would provide us with more smooth connections with Facebook and Instagram.

We’re currently looking into starting up a long-term project with them. They’ve been helpful both in a pinch and with larger projects.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two of Solvd Inc’s team members, one being a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc?

Initially, we connected with their project manager, who’s based in Los Angeles. After noticing the quality of their work and understanding of our space, we were impressed. Their price point was a perfect match for us as well, so we decided to hire them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

This project took us about six months to complete, but we’ve also used them for other tasks here and there over the years. We originally started working together in 2017 and still collaborate now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Feedback from both our company and the one that owns the technology has been very positive. There were times when Solvd Inc was the only party that truly understood the entire universe of the product. In that way, they were really savvy in that space.

How did Solvd Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

We did frequent Zoom calls at the height of the development. Though the partnership was remote, they were accommodating to the time change. They would work off-hours to support the project. Our project manager and moved things forward, providing timely updates. The team handled language barriers seamlessly through video conferences and recordings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

When we needed something done, they were the only people who could accomplish the work. They were intuitively always on the right track. While there was some project management oversight from us, their expertise in the field really stood out. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they always came to the table with a solution. That was the most important thing to us. If we had an issue achieving an aim, they would find a promising alternative to make everything work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you put together a detailed project plan that describes what you’re looking for is essential. It’s important to have standards in writing to assist them in visualizing the work and budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of inDeap, an automation publishing company. We’re developing a software hub where we can combine information from multiple data sources, configure it, and send it to InDesign software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc?

We needed a company to help us fix the first version of our software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us fix our software, and we’re now working on a completely new second version to launch in Q1 2020. They did a complete review of our current Azure environment, giving us feedback about the backend, and then came up with a new plan.

Our software pushes its data to an InDesign Adobe product which creates catalogs. In Azure, Solvd Inc did the complete set up that fetches the data from external systems, sends it to our software—which has a UI on the frontend—and then pushes that data to our output channel.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager, a head architect, a frontend developer, a backend developer, and when necessary, dev ops.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc?

There was a different company working on the frontend part, but they got acquired by Solvd Inc. When we needed a new backend development we asked them for it too.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over 50,000 euros (approximately $55,200 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We work very closely with them. They give us very transparent overviews of what they’re doing and the hours they work. We tracked the quantity of invoices that we get and compared them against the budget that was made.

How did Solvd Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is very transparent, over many different channels, and they’re proactive. We never thought we’d get so much input from their side—they really think with us, way beyond what is expected from them. It’s extremely good. They’re open and they meet deadlines. If we are going to miss a deadline, they tell us immediately, over our daily status calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed by their passion for helping us find a good solution. They really try and are extremely good at coming up with ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that could have been better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent with your plans and the goals you want to reach. Being open as a product owner allows them to get the whole picture and the full idea of what they need to deliver.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO at a software development company. We work with brands to bring a product or idea to market. That involves strategy, design, and development services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc.?

We had a couple of challenging projects where we needed to add more skilled developers to our capacity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided out-of-house developers. We mostly utilized their team of engineers. They worked on JavaScript and React.js projects for web apps and a robust business application. On one project, they provided full-scale development. In a different project, they offered team augmentation. They also supplied QA services.

Initially, we worked with them on a time-sensitive project, which went well. We then extended it further to more projects.

What is the team composition?

It varies by project, but we have contact with 4–5 people. This includes engineers and business managers.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc.?

We had a posting on a popular freelance marketplace. They approached us with a creative solution to the challenge we were facing. After that, they moved onto bigger projects for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $75,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in November 2018 and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From our team’s perspective, the general sense is that they’re professional people that deliver. They care about what they’re doing. The end client and other stakeholders have had very positive feedback. They’re proficient in working as primary developers or augmenting an existing team.

How did Solvd Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re quite flexible. They worked well with a traditional project management approach where we communicated through one point of contact. Their team also excelled at working under augmentation and directly communicating with us. Whenever we were stuck, they always provided someone to try and fix problems, such as when things weren’t going as quickly or clearly as we wanted. They hit all deadlines without any trouble.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have experience and are good at what they do while also being very open and approachable. If they don’t agree, they’ll tell you or come up with their own approach. They’re quite helpful and dedicated while also skilled enough to move in other directions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s always difficult to be perfect in every front. From our side, whenever there was a problem, they always showed up and fixed it, so there’s nothing specific I would have them do. Maybe just having more review and QA bundled with the development services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want to work with them, I would clearly define goals. If you share the business goals, they can really stand out and provide more value. Listening to their advice and experience is also helpful. There were a few projects where that was useful. Just be a good client and let the developers do their work.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

In a former role, I was head of sales, marketing, and customer success for a consumer electronics company. We developed smart glasses specifically for sports cyclists. Essentially, the product allows users to project data in front of their eyes, such as heartbeat or distance traveled.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc?

In that role, I worked with them on the company e-commerce platform and corporate site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were a small company with limited development resources. I wanted to expand our capabilities by hiring a partner. When we brought them on, their involvement in our operations expanded over time. They started off by developing the frontend of the platform.

Then, we decided to stop working with our backend developer and allocate that responsibility to them, too. From there, they took on a customer portal project that fell under the authority of a different division. We kept using them for different projects because we were very happy with their work.

In all of that, they helped us through several development challenges. For instance, we wanted to enable metrics like speed and heartbeat to change in real-time depending on user actions. If they looked to the left, the video projection would pan to the left. We couldn’t figure out how to build this internally, However, Solvd Inc listened to the requirements and returned with several different approaches that would fulfill the experience. In addition, they provided cost and time estimations that would cover everything, including development and QA testing.

Over the years, they worked on several other projects with us as well. In that way, they delivered what could be considered a turnkey solution. 

What is the team composition?

At a minimum, we worked with two resources. When we were approaching a big deadline, headcount was between 6–8 team members from their end.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc?

Several years ago, I was frustrated about not having the reliable web development resources we needed to most effectively operate. I asked one of my employees to explore freelance websites and randomly select five companies that could potentially help us. From there, I gave each vendor $100 and a development challenge that served as a test. After that, I reviewed the code and quality of service for each. We found Solvd Inc to be the best and started working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we ended up spending between $100,000–$250,000 on their services. That came out to about $10,000 each month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2017 and continue to do so.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I worked with a super dedicated team that cared about quality. They have a sizable QA testing department, so they’re always thinking about providing high-quality deliverables. While Solvd Inc values precision and a job well done, it’s very hard to find developers that can create something without bugs. My expectations allowed for a few bugs. It was more important that our partner could think through all the possible end results and tackle tough problems. Then, when we go into testing, that minor bugs can be sorted out. They were definitely able to deliver on that front.  

How did Solvd Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

I collaborated with two project managers who were both very responsive. Their communication was great. It took within an hour to hear back from them. When they promise to get back to you, they do. We found them to be incredibly responsive and organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They gave me peace of mind throughout our collaboration. I could trust in their ability to research technologies, estimate costs, and solve major problems that touched every aspect of our product. In all of that, they could take the heavy lifting off my shoulders.

I see them as true partners because I know I can count on them to address my needs and goals. They provided top solutions and met the required deadlines. There were instances when they worked through the night several days in a row to meet deadlines. Even though I’m with a new company now, I still use their web development services.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Gradually, make them aware of all aspects of your project. They took tons of weight off my shoulders, but that didn’t happen on day one. At first, you need to be specific with the requirements to get them familiar with your expectations. Then, you’ll be able to invest less time on your end to manage them. At that point, they will run amazingly fast with the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an online film finance marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc?

We decided to hire a distributed team to get coverage around the world. Our team was originally introduced to their frontend developer, who’s led the charge in building our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

While working with us, they’ve touched pretty much every part of our site. We’ve had an ongoing relationship with them for quite a few years. They’ve helped us build out the frontend of our product. In that effort, we’ve gone through several Angular migrations with them. They’ve led us through that process.

The product they created is the marketplace for film projects that are ready for financing. We offer a few services that allow transparency and profitability forecasting for a given project. Our team recently introduced an opportunity matchmaking service, tool. They’ve made all of that possible on the frontend, working on e-commerce elements, script analysis, financial analysis.

Beyond that, they’ve enabled the site to interact with external APIs and render data to be compatible with them. At this point, they’ve been fully integrated into our team. It feels like we’ve been partners forever. 

What is the team composition?

Right now, we only have one developer working with us. However, headcount has varied slightly in the past.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc?

Initially, we were looking for independent contractors online. We found Solvd Inc and had such a great experience with them in our trial phase. Our team decided to continue to work with them based on the high-quality developers they’ve introduced to us. 

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent between $150,000–$250,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2017, and our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their developers go above and beyond in their work. They’re proactive with the product and are invested in the effort. There’s usually only so much we can expect from independent contractors in terms of investment, but they work extremely hard. Additionally, they collaborate well with our team and communicate effectively.  

How did Solvd Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

We have an in-house production team that set up mockups and frameworks. Solvd Inc communicates with the team to make sure specs are clear before going into our code. They’re great about checking in to make sure we’re happy with their developments. 

Communication is easy, especially through the developer we met initially. He’s stepped up to a more senior role in the effort because he knows the product fairly intimately. His job is to make sure the code meets our standards and coordinate with the rest of the product team. He’s very attuned to our needs, and we’re satisfied with the work. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve created the platform swiftly with their top-notch developers. The quality of developers and communication has been excellent. I’ve never had a bad experience with them, which is surprising given our long-term partnership.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. We’ve built a positive relationship that I hope to continue for a while.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We’ve benefitted from making sure that we get proactive, communicative developers. Communication is extremely important, especially with a remote, distributed partner. It’s critical that tasks aren’t miscommunicated.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a fashion technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc?

We needed help with front-end development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solvd Inc works to deliver a prototype that would help us to reach a proof of concept. We provided wireframes, which weren’t done professionally since I’m not a UX designer but their team has been able to translate our ideas into functionalities well. The product will function as a plug-in on a retailer’s website. When consumers enter a site, they'll be asked questions. Based on their answers, the plug-in establishes a profile. Solvd Inc has helped create that entire interface with us.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a project manager who was also a developer at one point. We have about five people total on the team.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc?

We started working with them through Upwork. The initial contact was good, and our engagement grew from there.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in April 2018, and our collaboration with Solvd Inc’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our product isn’t live, so metrics are difficult to provide. Solvd Inc has been on time with their delivery. Their team has been fit for purpose, building what has been expected. They’ve also been good when estimating project budgets.

How did Solvd Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Mainly, we’ve used Slack but have moved to Jira as well. They’ve been excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been a trustworthy and reliable team to work with. Compared to others, Solvd Inc has been outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s nothing detrimental, but some of their developers would benefit from more frequent communication with us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Prompt them for communication. If you're not sure they'll get back to you, don’t wait. Go ahead with the project and enjoy the ride.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company develops medical education technology, and I’m the president and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc?

We were looking for someone to provide an entire development stack. We had no in-house developers, so we need everything from backend database content buckets, to web-based administrative tools, to a VR frontend user client on web and mobile.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our goal is to provide health care students with additional tools to help them understand more complicated topics such as anatomy. We needed to develop a full-stack VR application that would place students in the situations they were studying, and we needed to develop it with the capability to scale this up to a global level.

We relied on a variety of developers through Solvd Inc who performed different tasks like architecting the database and designing the code that would drive the database and the user interface. We required a graphics engineer who was able to handle the incoming 3D content that we make use of and was able to perform a lot of optimization tasks on that.

In order to make the application as high quality as we wanted and also deliverable over a cell network, we had to invest heavily in our development talent. Everything had to be able to draw information across web interfaces, iOS and Android, and Steam VR quite quickly.

What is the team composition?

At any given time, we had 2–4 people working on the project, and the allocation of those resources shifted over time between more senior and junior developers as certain objectives were met.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc?

I’ve known one of their employees for close to eleven years now from a content management project that we worked on for another company. We stayed in touch over the years, and once he started working with the folks at what is now Solvd Inc, their experience and expertise just seemed like a perfect fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $300,000 on the project.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from June 2017–April 2019

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The opinions of professors and students using the content are what we really value most because ultimately that’s who our customer is, and we’ve gotten some really great feedback on that side. Instructors are constantly telling me how easy the program is to use and how quickly everything loads and students have also said that the environment looks and interacts better than anybody else’s.

At the same time, we’ve actually gotten feedback from people on the engineering side remarking on how smoothly everything operates. One gentleman, in particular, was kind of flabbergasted and didn’t believe that it was on the cloud at first. So, we’re really proud of the optimization that we’ve achieved in that regard.

How did Solvd Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re happy with the way things worked out, and our workflows and task orientations run really smoothly now. Once we both got used to each others’ style of operation, we were able to map out the operation very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think the most impressive thing is their scale. They have so much different talent that they’ve been able to grow their company very quickly and having access to all those different skillsets for different requirements can be extremely useful on a project like this.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our approach to project management has evolved over our relationship, and we had some issues to iron out in terms of managing priorities and communication channels at first. I think that’s mostly attributable to organizational changes within their company and the usual kind of growing pains that you see in a project, more so than any inherent problem.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Pay a lot of attention to your specifications upfront wherever possible. Have somebody on your team who’s heading up all the wireframes, mockups, etc. This is true of any project, but the more time you spend in the planning stages, the quicker and better the result.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a company called Nerd Wallet, which is a customer-first finance advice company. I am a senior director of engineering here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solvd Inc?

When I joined Nerd Wallet around two years ago, there was no QA aspect of our business, so it was basically a content only company. Once we started to become a little more product-centered in our services, we were introducing more complicated features and realized we needed a QA department to go along with it. I was charged with building and hiring the resources we needed to get that done.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solvd Inc is involved in all QA tasks that we do across the board. Their team brought in tools and information frameworks they had already established in order to manage similar systems. They are the main execution drivers on all of our regression testing and on all of our development projects as well.

What is the team composition?

They have about 17 individuals working on our account.

How did you come to work with Solvd Inc?

I interviewed multiple companies for the work we needed, and my main interest was that they be a one-stop-shop. I didn’t want someone to do manual testing, because I knew that as we scaled, we were going to need to be able to automate these processes.

I also wanted the company to come in with their own expertise because I had other generational challenges that I needed to solve so I needed them to be able to handle that aspect of their work internally. They ticked all the boxes there, so we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Right now, we’re spending almost $1,000,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because of the infrastructure that they brought to the project, we were able to take advantage of the reporting functionality and could actually measure the results of the runs really quickly as everything developed. Having their solutions for automation means you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and getting up to speed quickly in that way was a huge bonus for us.

How did Solvd Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a great understanding of bug tracking and logging issues and are willing to shift their working hours so they can accommodate any needs we have. Their hard work gained the respect of our developers in San Francisco, which is a very difficult thing to do.

Their team does a great job of communicating with us around timelines and issues. They always make sure that our headquarters has all the information they need to effectively make decisions and that they have all the resources they need to keep up with the pace we ask of them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are the most well-rounded service provider I’ve ever found. Easily one of the best companies I’ve ever worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because there is such a big cultural difference between Eastern Europe and California, individual members of their team often don’t have the best interview skills, but we’ve actually been able to work with them on that aspect in order to help their team demonstrate their talent over people who just present themselves well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go for it and just have clear expectations for what you want out of the engagement. If you don’t know yourself and your goals as a company you will never be able to scale effectively, no matter how much help you have. They can help you in every other way after that.