Valere

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of a two-sided marketplace for plant lovers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

I needed someone to develop my website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Valere Labs helped me create an online marketplace where multiple vendors can put up products and sellers can purchase directly from the vendors. There are turnkey platforms available on the market. However, because we’re looking to scale the platform, Valere Labs built our site from scratch. 

Valere dissected Etsy’s UX and design since we wanted to have something similar. We gave them minimal documentation for the project. 

What is the team composition?

We started by communicating with the owner. Once we got going, we had been on weekly Zoom calls with 2–3 design resources.  

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

We found them on Upwork. I had preliminary interviews with several vendors, but Valere Labs stood out because they had a better understanding of what I was trying to accomplish. A lot of the vendors who replied didn’t understand what a two-sided marketplace was. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $23,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from February–September 2021.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Valere Labs completed exactly what I needed them to do, and they finished the website. The platform is ready to launch, and our team will be taking it from there. Everything worked well, and the site was optimized to our expectations. 

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Valere Labs provided top-notch project management. They were proactive in their communication and pointed out challenges that we needed to discuss. In addition, they kept us on track, which allowed us to keep up with their team and meet our deadlines. 

I showed the code to several colleagues so they could analyze the product and determine if I got my money’s worth. Everyone was surprised that I received such a high-quality code considering its cost. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Valere Labs’ communication skills were impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This is my first time creating a website, so I don’t have anyone to compare them with. That said, throughout the process, I can’t think of anything they could have done differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want from the beginning, so you don’t have to dig yourself out because you didn’t think of things before engagement. Get a better understanding of your goals because they’re going to give you precisely what you ask for. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of the company. We provide an Education Technology solution designed for public schools in USA to enhance student understanding of STEM subjects relevance with real world experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valere Labs, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop a mobile experience to our students (customers) to enhance their engagement and understanding our platform.

SOLUTION

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

We were looking for someone who understands the Gen Z expectations of mobile experience and able to position our Web App experience into a mobile environment. Deciding factor was that Guy as CEO of this team truly understood our design needs and communicated the same with us successfully to gain our confidence.

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

Valere Labs team lead by Guy were engaged to design, develop and implement a mobile experience for our platform. Technologies used include Flutter, Python iOS Development Swift Data Science Web Services Development Project Management Capability Enterprise Software Software Architecture & Design Django SQL.

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

From the Vendor's team we had the CEO, Project Coordinator, GUI Designer, Developer Team Lead, Mobile App Developer and QA Lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This project has just been completed to our complete satisfaction, professionally and technically. We are extremely satisfied with Guy's team at Valere Labs. Their development and implementation schedules have been impeccable, and they've made adjustments as needed.

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

Project management was done in AGILE methodology using SLACK to communication and FIGMA to communicate product development mock-ups which made the entire experience very pleasant and effective. Google Meet was used for all our meetings.

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

This team has an unique capabilities to grasp customer needs and able to connect to a very highly competent team within the organization with very specific role assignments that made the entire project stages blend together seamlessly.

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

Nope. This is an exceptional team and looking forward to working with them for any and all possible opportunities.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of the social media platform - Vybe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valere Labs, and what were your goals?

The Vybe team wanted to create an iOS social media application to fill a niche in the ever growing social media market. Our team was able to design the UI of the application, but needed a partner to build the front and backend of the app. Valere was that partner.

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed several agencies off of a site called UpWork and chose Valere based on their experience, clear communication and project management, and cost.

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

The Vybe application was initially built out (partially) by another agency, ,unfortunately this agency was not able to pull Vybe across the finish line. The goal with Valere was to clean up the code from the previous agency, implement the remaining features and finalize all of the nuances/details within the app.

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

We initially spoke with the founder of the company and the lead project manager. Once work began, we spoke with the founder roughly once a month. We typically meet with the project manager, lead developer and a member of the QA team on a weekly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As this is an ongoing project, it is difficult to provide metrics to gauge the success of the project.

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

As mentioned before, the founder acted as more of a liaison to the project team. We spoke with him a few times when the project kicked off, and now we hear from him once a month for invoicing and a check-in. We have weekly meetings to discuss and track progress. The project manager breaks down all app needs into workable "tickets" and creates a 2 week sprint where the developer will address each ticket in the sprint.

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

We're very impressed with the level of communication we receive from the project team (project manager, QA, and dev team). At Valere Labs' fair price, we feel we've received great value.

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

More communication with the founder to setup specific goals for the project would be very welcome, and would also help establish a clearly timeline.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the GM of a trucking fleet that operates in the US and Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valere Labs, and what were your goals?

It was time for us to transition from paper to a database. The entire project was built from the ground up.

SOLUTION

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

We posted a job listing and Valere Labs was selected out of a pool of candidates. It came down to ability, cost and keeping everything in house for the entire project.

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

We had a discovery period to understand the end goal. Wireframes were developed for web interfaces as well as all three mobile applications for both iOS and Android. The web application was developed first and then we moved onto the mobile applications. The project was stable and put into production quick.

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

A project manager was assigned to be our main point of contact. Most of our collaboration was with the project manager and a few developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The amount of duplication and hand written paperwork has decreased substantially. We have received comments on our mobile apps regarding their ease of use.

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

The project manager was easy to communicate with and we met weekly. All meetings were remote and we used Slack to keep the project organized.

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

A lot of our ideas needed to be organized and they did great. This was our first development project and they led the way.

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

Status reports on each stage of the project could have been helpful so that we could limit and misunderstandings.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Im the co-owner of Fantasy Wolf. Our company is the first ever marketplace where fantasy sports players can buy, sell and trade fantasy teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valere Labs, and what were your goals?

We hired Valere Labs to develop our website from the ground up. We worked hand in hand to make sure our vision came to reality. Since this was our first time developing a website we asked Guy and his team for a lot of feedback and help with ideas we had during our development.

SOLUTION

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

We selected this vendor because they were fair and honest. Relatability was a key factor for my partner and I, as Guy was the only developer who had some sort of fantasy sports background so that was a huge plus for us.

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

We had a kick off meeting to go over our goals and what made the most sense for what we wanted to do. We then got a breakdown of everything on our website from A to Z and the timelines in which they would be accomplished. We had a design phase where we made sure we hit the look we wanted very accurately down to the little details. We tested the site daily to make sure we found all the bugs before launch day.

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

We had Anmol who was our project manager. In total we had about 4 guys working on our project. Anmol and Sar were our key points of contact throughout the project. Our development team were constantly working on coding to make sure everything was smooth.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very happy with the site we received as our end product. We feel that our vision really came to reality and that we are ready to hit the ground running. Guy and his team are always there for us when we run into a snag so the reliability is fantastic. Overall our experience was great and we would highly recommend them.

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

We had weekly meetings were we would discuss where we were with the project. These meetings were very helpful if we had any changes or bugs we found they were all talked about at the meetings and resolved during the following days. If we needed them for anything Sar was always there to help us and solve the issues we found very quickly.

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

They worked with us on everything. Pricing, design, structure and coding they made sure for what we wanted which options were best suited for our needs for now and the future with growth.

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

Only things I would say is making sure to test all aspects of the site before launch to make sure little changes made from admin panels don't crash a page.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Trecco, a travel planning app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

We needed help with app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Valere Labs is developing an iOS app for us. It allows users to share, discover, and recommend their favorite places. The functionalities include the ability to create lists and share them with the community. Once we finish the iOS app, the team will move on to Android. We’ve launched the beta version, and we’re planning on publicly launching the first version soon.

What is the team composition?

I work with Sean (Project Manager), Guy (Founder), Anmol (Co-Founder), a lead developer, a frontend developer, and a backend developer.

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

I found Valere Labs on Google.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in January 2021 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve attracted about 1,000 users with the app, which is already fully functional and has no bugs.

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done a fair job, but they have some room for improvement. We’ve had to handle the project management ourselves, but the team’s day-to-day organization is excellent. To communicate, we usually use Slack or Asana. We also have a shared Google Sheet to track the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Valere Labs is a young startup that’s eager to bring our ideas to life. I couldn’t have found a better development partner at this price.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on their project management and QA processes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you can handle project management yourself.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of outdoorpals, a social network that connects users according to their favorite outdoor activities. We’re available on iOS and Android, and we have our own backend system to track events, users, and so on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

We needed someone who could create develop an MVP for our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Valere Labs developed the MVP of our iOS and Android apps using React Native on the frontend. They also created the first iteration of our backend platform. First, our internal team collaborated with them on the UI/UX design. The Valere Labs team then wrote the code, developed the front- and backend from scratch, and hosted the apps on AWS. Instead of building two native apps, they made one hybrid platform that allows them to work on both iOS and Android. The apps have integrations with Google Maps, Twilio, and various other plug-ins. The team continues to provide backend development support and other updates.

What is the team composition?

We only interface with 4–5 people, but eight teammates are working on the project: a project manager, a few co-founders, a designer, a QA specialist, and a lead engineer.

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

We posted a listing on Upwork, and they responded. We interviewed 15 freelancers and agencies, and Valere Labs were the most qualified and experienced in our space. They had built a lot of successful outdoor sports apps.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $26,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in August 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Valere Lab’s work is phenomenal, and it’s exactly what we wanted. The platform just launched, so we don’t have much feedback yet. However, we’re impressed with the team — they’ve given us invaluable input and suggestions, especially on the UI/UX design.

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite the time zone difference, the team is very responsive. Working with a foreign company actually turned out to be an advantage — they work when we’re asleep, which allows us to check their work during business hours. We interface through Slack, and they’re able to communicate well despite the language barrier. We’ve also had calls on Google Meet and Zoom. Overall, it’s been pretty straightforward. Their founder is always available and willing to help, too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The cost of their services is very reasonable. The Valere Labs team is also great at React Native — the hybrid platform they created has allowed us to save up on costs. Their experience with outdoor sports and GPS-integrated apps is also impressive. They’re a good fit for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their testing and QC processes could be better. There are times where it seems like our internal team’s testing the app and finding all the bugs. Some of their deliverables have been incomplete, and they could’ve done a more thorough job of making sure that everything was working. Unfortunately, there may have been a bit of a language barrier and miscommunication.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very involved in the process; the Valere Labs team works better if you provide constant feedback. On the other hand, if you’re looking to be more hands-off, I don’t think they would be a good fit.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Global Learning Universe (GLU) a provider of mnemonic based content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valere Labs, and what were your goals?

We wanted a mobile app for I-phone users to access over 500 videos that teach Mandarin Chinese through mnemonic based entertainment content. Part of the challenge was to develop a simple, streamlined format that allowed users to find and use videos without a lot of distraction. Also required was built-in access for us to update videos at any time, as these are frequently updated.

SOLUTION

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

I liked the business model at Valere where the main office was located here in the USA with additional staff offshore. In addition, Guy had also developed subscription-based apps as an income business for himself, which signaled to me that he was intimately familiar with the marketing issues that content-based apps face, as well as the technical issues.

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

Guy walked me through his process and introduced me to his team in India. Early on he set up the content system, so my team could continue final editing, loading, testing, and changing 500+ videos. We refined the UX design together as his team built the app.

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

I worked with a primary contact in India who had several staff on her team as well as directly with Guy. They are all readily available and responsive to issues as they emerge.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

First of all, the project was delivered on time and on budget. Guy and his team offered a number of additional project additions which I agreed to do and these were implemented with the same fidelity to cost and schedule. Since launch 8 months ago the app has worked seamlessly. In addition, Guy and his team helped us with initial ad campaigns in which we have gradually moved to our current 4X return on ad spend.

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

Guy operates in a down-to-earth management style. He is concise and direct in his analysis. His offshore team is personable and they communicate issues clearly.

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

Guy is looking out for your business as if it were his own. He and his team offer well thought out next steps in the evolution of the project that extend the initial success.

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

I like the way Guy and his team work. And I will be looking to Guy to continue the success of our product launch, including several project additions that he and his team suggested.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a basketball simulation app that’s been maintained over the last 20 years in the Windows environment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

A lot of depth and statistical analysis were involved behind this app, and we wanted to turn it into something that could interact with the public. Ideally, we wanted people to log in with any device — be it an iPad, computer, or phone — and use the basketball simulation software. The goal was to make it very easy to use that someone who hadn't used it before could easily jump right in and play without reading any manual or watching a how-to video. 

My expertise was in backend development, so I didn't have any UI/UX experience. As a result, I looked for either a developer or a small organization that could make this Windows app more intuitive. I hired Valere Labs to do that. The app was written in the 90s, so it didn’t translate well into a web application that people were used to seeing. That was where I relied on their expertise.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Valere Labs not only developed the app’s front end; they also worked with APIs that potentially had bugs. Moreover, I didn’t specify a frontend technology they should use other than what was generally accepted among developers. The technology shouldn’t require any browser plugins because I wanted to make the application device agnostic. 

For this project, I developed a bunch of milestones to make the application functional as early as possible while developing key features along the way. The idea was to add better functionality for each milestone. 

What is the team composition?

We always work with three people at a time, consisting of a project manager and two developers. Guy (Advisor) was directly involved in the project early on when we were doing wireframes and screen design. 

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

I found them on Upwork. I received around 25 different proposals, but I wanted someone who had done a sports app before. Valere has actually done a basketball mobile application, so that was a huge plus for them, and that put them in the final selection. I eventually narrowed my choices down to two, which were Valere and another company. 

I sent both of them the first milestone of the project to see which one I liked better. Valere turned out to be less expensive than the other one, and their output was much better. As a result, I decided to give them the rest of the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on the project in April 2020. The engagement is technically ongoing, but I’m doing backend debugging and beta testing to find issues, inaccuracies, and things like that. As a result, our work with Valere is on hold. I hope to finish debugging within a month or two.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I work with 3–4 basketball fans who have looked at the app, and they like it. They like the UI design and the fact that it works on multiple devices; it also doesn’t matter whether they’re using Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Overall, the app works well and the feedback has all been positive. The application runs on any browser and device, and it’s designed to work with APIs. Valere Labs has met all of my requirements. 

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had twice-a-week scrum meetings so that we can review their progress for the day. We set up a Trello board to track issues, deliverables, tasks I need to do, and tasks they need to do. We also set up a Slack channel so we can communicate timelines, links, and screenshots. Valere Labs has recommended using Angular, which I had heard about but never really used before. 

It’s their suggestion that we use Trello, which is a lot better for tracking individual tasks than Slack. We’ve also created a private GitHub repository, which I wish we’d started earlier. We use it for code checking. Prior to using GitHub, we were just filling things out on our codebase. That was okay, but it was also a little bit clumsy. With GitHub, we can track and pull requests easily. Using GitHub is also Valere’s idea, and I’ve not used it before this project. 

Overall, the Valere team has always been able to turn bugs or issues around any time we find them. When I report such problems on Slack or Trello, they turn it around within 24 hours. Even though they’re an offshore team, everything works out well. I can submit a bug request to them, and I’ll have something I can test the next morning. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What has really made them stand out right away was the fact that they’ve done sports apps before. I thought it might be hard to find such a team because all the applications out there come from big shops, such as EA Sports. As a result, I didn’t expect to find anybody that had ever done any sports applications before, let alone one with basketball. In other words, Valere’s experience has given them a leg up right off the bat. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish we used some of the tools they recommended earlier on in the project for efficiency. Things may have gone more efficiently if we’d used GitHub and Trello earlier on. However, not using the tools didn’t really hamper our progress. On top of that, this isn’t my full-time job, so I’m only supporting it in my spare time. As a result, I’m sometimes the cause of the bottlenecks and not the Valere team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The clearer deliverables you have upfront, the better. I initially wanted to give them free rein on the project. However, this is a complicated application, and I’ve realized that I wanted to work on it in a specific way. We had to adapt that as we went. 

Having all of the project milestones in advance has also been helpful. On top of that, rather than doing the demo with different developers over and over again, I recorded a private video of how to use my Windows application. Then, they shared the video with the rest of the team so that they can go back and view it again. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the creator of a free-to-play fantasy sports app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

I needed help with app development to speed up the release date.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first had a discovery phase to discuss the project in detail. Valere Lab’s CEO had built apps before and was an entrepreneur himself, so he knew a lot about the process. They had a few suggestions based on market research and where the general trend of apps was going, which they later implemented.

Afterward, they began to develop the iOS app. I already had the design ready to go, so Valere Labs just worked on the front- and backend development. Months after they delivered the app, I also had them apply some updates.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager and a team of around 13 developers.

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

I posted a listing on Upwork, where I found their profile. I chose them after seeing some of their prior work.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2020–March 2021. The bulk of development wrapped up in December 2020, so we had a finished product based on our initial contract by then. In March 2021, I hired them again to add some expansions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I haven't released the app, so I don't have metrics yet. However, Valere Labs did a good job. I wanted a professional company to work on the app, but I also had a background in development. I reviewed some of their work, and it was excellent. 

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well on project management. We had weekly meetings and a communication channel where we interfaced regularly. Everyone was very open about communication through the channel. We both tried to be as communicative as possible and work through things together, which was very helpful. 

During our initial meetings, it was hard to follow because I wasn't familiar with their internal processes. However, once I saw some of their work, our meetings went a lot smoother. We were able to talk about specific features that they had completed and anything that needed touch-ups. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about them was how cost-efficient they were. The cost was very cheap for the quality of work Valere Labs delivered. Their CEO’s prior experience with building apps and startups was super helpful, as well. He gave me a lot of valuable advice on topics that were outside the scope of the project. Overall, the team was very competent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve dedicated more time to understand the scope beforehand. The project was conceptually challenging to build out, and Valere Labs did get it done in the end; however, had they understood the project before starting, they would’ve finished it much faster. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say definitely be as involved as you can be — you have to be part of the development process. Be proactive in looking through their work, so you can finalize some features and move on to new ones without having to go back and keep iterating through the process.