Tech Alchemy

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the cofounder and COO of a all-in-one financial app to support online entrepreneurs and e-merchants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy, and what were your goals?

We are developing an iOS and web app that will provide access to the full onboarding process, as well as the card functions. Our users will use their iOS app to manage their payment cards, make wire transfers or P2P transfers on the go, read their key metrics from their various tools from their smartphone.

SOLUTION

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

The approach we have taken is to partner with Tech Alchemy. They have spent the last 5 years perfecting their proprietary design and development methodology. We made a point of presenting our vision on the very first meeting with Tech Alchemy. When we did settle on a partner we insisted on a presentation and discussion of the company vision and mission and returned to both throughout the build process.

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

We split our product development into 4 unique steps; Scoping, Design, Development and Deployment. In the design phase, we aim to deliver a Hi-Fi version of every screen in the product. The aim here is for us to fully understand how the product will work and to finalise the scope of the upcoming sprints. The design phase ends when we have an agreed scope on the project or upcoming sprint.

The design will work to reflect the ideation of our company, to show the high standard a customer can expect when using the product. The website and app will load quickly, run smoothly and look high quality. The design will ensure a clear and informative visit to the site and will provide the best user experience we can create.

The whole process will be collaborative so we can imply different teams at each step of the way and get internal feedback before moving on to the next stage. Our iOS app will provide access to the full onboarding process, as well as the card functions.

The web app will be most useful for accessing dashboards and activity monitoring tools. Our back-end application will allow our teams to monitor in real time the onboarding of our users as well as their ongoing due diligence.

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

Their team for this project is composed by : 1 Partner and CTO 2 Product Managers 2 Designers 1 Front-end Web developer, 1 Front-end iOS developer 3 Backend developers 1 DevOps engineer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The development phase is going at full steam and we are satisfied of the initiatives taken by Tech Alchemy. All of our development is supplemented with manual QA testing and so the site and app will be re-tested before every deployment, to make sure it is running perfectly.

As the development continues, we connect them to our partners so they can help us better meet deadlines and their analysis of each party's schedule helps us anticipate any blockages that may occur.

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

We made a point of presenting our vision on the very first meeting with Tech Alchemy. When we did settle on a partner we insisted on a presentation and discussion of the company vision and mission and returned to both throughout the build process.

Their team is now integrated with ours, they have their own google workspace email addresses and we are in constant contact on Slack. Their responsiveness and this level of integration allow us to get regular updates on the development of the product. We also have a common access to Jira and a continuously updated schedule.

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

The benefits of working with Tech Alchemy are that it:

• Gives us rapid access to technological expertise
• Provides us with the runway to recruit and build our in house team
• Gives us a strategic option for scaling
• They provide us with the opportunity to learn from a company that has deep experience in building technology products.

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

We would have appreciated it if they had stepped back from the project at the beginning and helped us to raise issues or challenges that we were not aware of. This has been corrected and we are now in constant communication to better anticipate the future.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a donations platform in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy, and what were your goals?

We needed to build the platform from scratch and a blockchain layer behind it.

SOLUTION

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

We found them via referral and we decided to go with them due to i) size and track record of team, ii) experience in relevant / similar projects, and iii) trust - they quickly came along as someone who wasn't chasing a quick buck but willing to partner for the long-term.

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

We had several discovery workshops where we scoped the entirety of the project. Technology used included Amazon QLDB, Flutter, Node.js and Mongo DB. The entire, blockchain-enabled platform, was the deliverable.

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

There were a total of 8 people on the team: Soham (co-founder of Tech Alchemy) as a technical advisor, a product manager, a UX designer, and 5 developers (blockchain, 2x back, web, front)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built an entire, functioning system.

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

All relevant tools that you can imagine - Slack, Jira, GitLab, etc. Their project management was clear and flexible. Above all, they adapted to our needs.

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

Not pushing to overengineer or extend project scope beyond necessary.

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

More communication I guess - not that there wasn't enough but as someone who likes to be on top

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm cofounder and CEO. We're creators of a fully digital coach for long term behaviour change

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy, and what were your goals?

We are a small team, and though we have technical abilities, we wanted to accelerate app development speed, with a trustworthy agency. Ideally one which felt more like an extension of our own team

SOLUTION

How did you select Tech Alchemy and what were the deciding factors?

We scanned the market, spoke with at least 6 agencies, as well as references. Soham was very open and honest from the beginning. It was clear that they felt strongly about the success of the teams they worked with.

Not as transactional as others. Strong references and good value enabled us to move forwards

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

• Work with us on project planning
• Help us to scope how to turn visual designs into a functional and scalable app
• Develop the app
• Support us post launch and through the hiring process of our internal team members

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

Soham (CEO) and Jake (Product Lead)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen early versions of the app. Am optimistic about the full build

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

Honest and collaborative

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

They are personable, young, and easy to work with.

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

Bigger nudges if there's anything on our side holding something up (i.e. project management of the external team) - this is very hard to do and I think would be classified as outside of the expected job :D

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a clean tech business that enables individuals to monitor, track, reduce and offset their carbon footprint through their banking app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy, and what were your goals?

Without any software expertise, we reached out to Tech Alchemy to provide us with full comprehensive assistance on scoping out the products, the design of the products and the build of the products. They came very well reviwed as a few of our connections used them.

Our goal was to secure a bank to implement our technology before building it

SOLUTION

How did you select Tech Alchemy and what were the deciding factors?

Having spoken to a few developers, I was introduced to Tech Alchemy by a friend. They stood out by a long way because I immediately sensed a level of trust and level of profession.

They also had a great ability to explain what we were looking for. Lastly, their price was extremely competitive.

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

They scoped and designed our wireframe. On quick demand they edited the designs depending on the business we were talking too. They provided a comprehensive intergration guide in 1.5 weeks to deliver to the banks.

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

I have worked personally with 2 people. Arjun (co-founder) and Sara (UX design). Both were exceptional

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone we have spoken to loves the designs. We have been to banks and they are keen to conduct a pilot. We have worked with behavioural psychologists and they believe the designs are good to create positive behavioural change.

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

We communicated via email and zoom

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

direct access to founder and Ux designer. Trust and good communication stood out for me. with their ability to understand exactly what we wanted.

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

I believe there could be some improvements made on the copy for the designs, noticed a few errors.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a white-label solution for hospitality businesses to launch own-brand ordering systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy, and what were your goals?

We needed a solution that could create a system that worked across a variety of businesses of varying size. It was important that we had one day on-boarding and simplified systems. Due to the lack of innovation in the sector we needed something that was easily understood and operated by restaurant owners. We also needed a variety of integrations both domestically and abroad.

SOLUTION

How did you select Tech Alchemy and what were the deciding factors?

We needed to outsource elements of our product but also needed them to work alongside our CTO so flexibility was key.

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

Map out a full design of a web and mobile based ordering system. This was built in Laravel and Flutter.

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

Jake and Arjun were our project managers and we had between 3-6 developers on at any one time across the mobile and web platforms.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solution was created from scratch within 3 months and delivered in a timely and professional manner. The need for further feature development was evident after testing and we worked well to prioritise and implement these.

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

We had daily stand ups everyday across the entire development team on google hangouts and then used Slack for our daily comms.

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

Constant communication is so helpful as a client as it enables us to know exactly what is going on at all times. Delivering to a timeline is also crucial when co-ordinating with other elements of our sales team.

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

No, work was reviewed and improvements to processes and performance made throughout.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are Fintech company, working as an online banking service for cross-border businesses. We provide business clients with European IBAN to accept bank transfers from around the world and help foreign entrepreneurs to reach customers on new markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy, and what were your goals?

Tech Alchemy was working on our onboarding web app. It is a unique system which helps us to collect all necessary documents and information from our clients (usually holding companies under complex structure).

It includes features to draw ownership charts and other complicated schemes. Web app is supposed to provide our clients with a smooth user journey to open an account with us.

Apart from clients, there are three departments involved in using the app, including Sales people, Compliance officers and Client relationship managers.

SOLUTION

How did you select Tech Alchemy and what were the deciding factors?

We were in touch with three different teams of developers. Having presented the logic of what we require to each team, we collected their vision and solutions. With no doubts Tech Alchemy had the best approach and idea.

Their team has shown that they are those who are always thinking out of the box. So we signed an agreement with Tech Alchemy straightway.

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

We had calls every week, sometimes twice in a week. All our comments were taken into account.

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

From 5 to 7, depending on the task.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome is insane because now so many processes have been automated. We are very satisfied with what Tech Alchemy has delivered. That is why we are planing to continue working with their team towards other projects as well.

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

No delays. Always responsive.

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

Their way of thinking and very responsible approach was impressive.

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

Not at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company provides brands and media agencies with the analytics to understand the return on investment for offline advertising spend. My position was Founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy?

We hired Tech Alchemy to help test our unit economics and develop our business model and subsequently our go to market strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

Our ambition was to develop a go to market strategy that investors could get behind.

SOLUTION

How did you select Tech Alchemy?

We were introduced to Tech Alchemy from an existing client of theirs.

Describe the project in detail.

Together with Tech Alchemy we worked to create an accurate assessment of our revenue models and go to market strategy. In essence we worked with them to shape our existing product into something customers would be willing to buy, and investors would be willing to support.

We started working with Soham to delve into the assumptions we had made about our customers and what revenue could realistically be derived from them. From there we created a number of models to assess retention, lifetime value and acquisition and used this to reshape our model and product.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with Soham Trivedi, as our business and funding advisor.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tech Alchemy enabled us to quickly realise that our existing revenue models were unable to support the business long-term and allowed us to create a new business strategy that would.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Extremely, we used slack as a platform for communication which allowed day-to-day seamless communication between ourselves and the Tech Alchemy team. We also had regular face to face meetings with Soham in order to put together a written assessment and strategy for development.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The broad experience they were able to bring to the table. Tech Alchemy's knowledge was able to advance our decision making quickly, based on quantitative insights.

This, combined with their technical expertise meant they were a fantastic partner for us as a startup. I wish we had worked with them from the beginning.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founding team member of a fitness SaaS product that provides management software for boutique fitness studios

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy, and what were your goals?

Our website was created roughly 3-4 years ago at the start of our company and as a result was extremely outdated. Since our in-house development team is thin and they were working on further development of our product, we hired Tech Alchemy to help design and develop a website built off of Webflow.

By doing so our goal was to increase traffic to our site substantially, but also to really focus on providing visitors to our site a brief overview for understanding what our product does and how it can benefit our end user.

SOLUTION

How did you select Tech Alchemy and what were the deciding factors?

We were doing in depth research online for development companies for about 2-3 months and after speaking to Soham and his team/reviewing the work that they have built thus far, it was a no brainer to move forward with them. From communication, design skills, and price point they fit exactly what we were looking for.

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

We had a kickoff meeting to discuss our goals and objectives. From there, the team at Tech Alchemy added us to their development platform so we can see daily/weekly progress as well as leave input on what designs we did/didn’t like.

They delivered mockups and wireframes for our site then after a few iterations their team designed and developed our site. They were very responsive and for a period we would have weekly calls just to make sure we were on the same page.

Extremely responsive and willing to work with anything we threw at them.

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

3: The cofounders and 2 developers. Our main POC was Co-Founder Soham

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clients, partners, Investors, and our team members really love the updated design and messaging, clients now have a better understanding of our services which decreased our onboarding since potential clients knew beforehand what product they were checking out.

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

We would have weekly/bi-weekly stand-ups with the project manager and main developer, who communicated with the team what were looking to have done. If there were any delays, they us know ahead of time so we could plan appropriately and were very vocal throughout the entire process.

We communicated through email and if there was ever a misunderstanding they were willing to hop on a call almost immediately to sort through and come to an understanding so they could continue to crush out the development.

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

They developed an extremely professional, modern site that is incredibly easy to update with the CRM they setup in Webflow.

My team had never worked in webflow before and the team at Tech Alchemy made sure to not only set things up so it was easy to navigate, but also take the time to go over how to use webflow for our future use.

I really love how personal and open to communicating everyone is there. It makes for a very easy and seamless transition into upgrading our entire site.

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

Nope! Well done everyone!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Coliving company uses technology to connect people through properties for the purpose of community building within coliving spaces.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy?

They were asked to build a website and app for our coliving community once launched. Tech Alchemy was responsible for building out the technology, booking system, visual walkthroughs, messaging system and the ability for those in the community to connect.

What were your goals for this project?

The idea is to have a working MVP of our product that we can showcase to investors so we can raise finance off the back of this to complete the project and launch the product. We are now on our way to launching the product, partly due to the success of Tech Alchemy's help.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Tech Alchemy are very well talked off and credited within the tech community. They had done some previous work for a colleague of mine and his tech company. The product they produced for him was absolutely outstanding and therefore I used their services for my product.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Once engaged Tech Alchemy provided:

1.  A detailed specification of our features
2.  A road map for achieving both the website and app products with milestones
3.  Wireframe modules for the product
4. Design frames of our product within Invision
5.  Web hosting support
6. Content strategy and support
7. The launch of the basic website
8. Development of the app product

What was the team composition?

The team was composed of the:

1. Project manager
2. Developer
3. Designer
4. Content writing and support

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A number of different outcomes were attained by the support of Tech Alchemy.

1. We were able to showcase the product to our investor group that enabled us to raise funding.
2. We were able to showcase the product to landlords and therefore upscale our uniqueness and ability to attract customers.
3. Finally, it enabled us to align our team and processes around the product through external experience and management processes once launched.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management was arranged transparently. The whole team was connected through the project management system. They gave us milestones and we worked with the entire Tech Alchemy team to achieve them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Tech Alchemy had a deep knowledge of the space because of their previous work on similar products in the property space. In addition, they had a profound knowledge of how VR can be used to optimize the customer experience.

Having run several startups and working with outsourced teams, it's really important that agencies have a real knowledge of the space and simply not trying to sell you services for money.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think Tech Alchemy has done an amazing job as far as getting a product ready and shipped. As with any agency sticking to exact deadlines is always difficult, but to be honest, this is an industry issue and not specific to TA, nonetheless, they were excellent.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Holofy is a London based Proptech startup that builds software for short and long term rental markets. My position is Chief of Product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tech Alchemy?

TA was hired to build the back-end infrastructure and front end components for Apps and Website services that Holofy went to market with. The core features comprised of Booking & Calendar management, Video Features, Payments, KYC verifications, 3rd party service integrations and Dashboard Management.

What were your goals for this project?

Deliver a end-to-end digital experience to clients using short term rental spaces, whilst automating as much as possible the host tasks and responsibilities.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Interviewed founders in-person and chosen from about 5 alternatives we found on the international market. All of our board was involved in taking the final decision.

Describe the project in detail.

Holofy is a Booking platform for short term rental spaces and a management tool for hosts. As such, developing the entire journey from space discovery to check out, while simultaneously giving hosts cutting edge tools to curate a stay experience is a monumental task that we successfully delivered to market together.

What was the team composition?

We scaled resources based on challenges and deadlines that varied in complexity and size over the entire lifecycle of our collaboration. Team size varied from 3-5 developers to as much as 12-15, and the scaling was seamless.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our product reached maturity in record time whilst getting stellar reviews and engagement from guests. Bugs and flaws are inevitable, but the team responded in a timely manner to fix the product as we discovered issues.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication, workflow and chemistry with the cofounders were amongst the main strongpoints on which we built our collaboration and chose TA over competitors. The flow consisted of in-person meetings and use of virtual management tools such as jira, trello etc.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

90% of agencies out there profit from loose briefs or lack of clarity whilst a project is built. TA stands out by being in the 10%, where they put in the extra effort to define, bring clarity, and contribute with ideas in how a project takes shape.

Are there any areas for improvement?

In retrospect, the integration with internal dev teams ( if any ) could have been done differently.