Southern Minds

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a new social discovery platform. We are bootstrapping (self-funded) until we can demonstrate product market fit with an MVP. This means that we need to be able to make our limited capital go a long ways.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Southern Minds?

The development, as well as the project management and a lot of the product management process is all handled by Southern Minds. The design/UX work is handled by a Rosario-based partner of theirs that they introduced me to.

What were your goals for this project?

We are still working towards our first MVP now. Experienced developers in major US markets (SF, Boston, etc.) can cost easily 10 times what an equivalent dev is Rosario costs. Unless you are a technical founder, you can't even start to code a project in the US without outside capital. Doing my project with SM in Rosario allows this project to get started via bootstrapping.

SOLUTION

How did you select Southern Minds?

I had worked with one of the founders of SM before. Also, I had worked extensively with Argentines before and so I was well aware of the goldmine of talent available there for a fraction of the cost of US-based resources.

Describe the project in detail.

The project involves a content discovery component and a social component, which complement each other. The user's experience of the two will be seamless and intuitive, but there is a lot going on in the background. See above about importance of being able to make the most of the budget that we have.

What was the team composition?

Currently we are 1 FT front, 1 FT back, 1 1/2 time QA, 1 1/2 time team lead/architect, 1 1/2 time analyst. With plans to add another front and back in the coming months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are following a fairly standard scrum methodology and sprint productivity and velocity has been satisfactory.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I have worked with remote teams before and so everything has gone great, despite the distance. They have lots of experience working with US-based clients and so they understand collaboration tools, documentation and asynchronous communication to good effect.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I think what I have appreciated most are two things, First, the cat is out of the bag about the great talent available for attractive rates in Argentina, but you will need help to find and recruit the best candidates. SM has a very competent talent acquisition capability. Also, they have broad experience with large and small projects and so are able to "right-size" the team and engagement to your needs. It's not a matter of them the two extremes of they recruit devs, then your on your own to they own the whole project. They work with you to scale up projects and support programs to help the development as productive as possible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Having worked as a service provider to Fortune 100 giants before, I see the value in structured program management forums like formal business reviews. I would love to see a lightweight version of that put in place, even for young projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder and CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Southern Minds?

Launch a totally new platform with new functionality that is really innovative.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was the modify the retail and shopping experience and create a customized shopping experience for each shopper and provide them with amazing functionality and high value.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended by another partner which we have a long standing relationship with.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They helped with the discovery phase, outlined the solution, then worked on creating a really robust amazing platform. They were able to put into motion what we wanted flawlessly.

What was the team composition?

Project manager who did an amazing job and he managed various technical people which each had a specialization .

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far really happy but things are still in progress so too early for impact measurement.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was some of best I have seen. Amazing!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The project management, positive attitude, creativity, and technical ability.

Are there any areas for improvement?

no