VentureDevs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of development at LifeCents, an independent provider of financial educational services and technology solutions. Our primary product is an e-learning web app that empowers consumers to improve their financial health through an engaging, personalized experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VentureDevs?

We’d developed a sophisticated product with a robust backend that contained features designed to enhance the frontend user experience. However, the interface did not reflect many of these features, so our goal was to engage with VentureDevs in order to improve the overall UX. After diving in, it was apparent that a full frontend redesign was necessary. We expanded VentureDevs’ scope over time to include backend development as well as automated testing and other supporting roles.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we engaged VentureDevs purely for frontend development. But as we got into the project, we realized that we also needed to expand the backend based on our new business requirements and the enhancements that we wanted to make. Because the front- and backend were so tightly coupled, it was difficult to develop both layers simultaneously and even harder for our backend to support multiple clients. Furthermore, we wouldn’t be able to easily create a native app in the future with the existing technology stack.

We ended up working with VentureDevs to decouple the front- and backend. They kept .NET as the primary technology for the backend, but we switched from ASP.NET to ReactJS on the frontend. Currently, they’re supporting a migration as we transition from Rackspace to AWS. They’re also improving the general configuration of the environment and are working on the final phase of the redesign.

What is the team composition?

We began work with three frontend developers in the beginning and then added two more over time. They also assigned a .NET developer, product owner, QA tester, and an automated scripting developer. We’ve also engaged their DevOps engineers for other projects to enhance our application hosting environment.

How did you come to work with VentureDevs?

We’d partnered with an organization that had engaged with VentureDevs in the past for a couple static landing pages. It was a good experience, so they referred them to us. We worked with them in a smaller capacity to test the waters, but, over time, they consistently delivered and worked well with our team. It was only natural to expand the scope of our projects.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $300,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work started in May 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although we’re still working on the final phase of the redesign, our internal team has responded positively, and all user testing has been excellent. They’re still working to improve features of the interface, but we’ve yet to receive any negative feedback.

How did VentureDevsperform from a project management standpoint?

One of the places where they excel is in their project management. Every team has a product owner who oversees all communication with developers, making sure that they have all the resources necessary and understand our business needs within that context. This also allows the team to smoothly scale up or down, which is fantastic. They keep us updated and inform us of any concerns they may have.

As for their responsiveness, they always address our inquiries. If I have any issues, I can talk directly to the co-founder or the product owner to assign a resource and resolve the problem. We coordinate with them through phone, Slack for instant messaging, and email for longer communications or if other stakeholders are involved.

They also work well with project management solutions such as Jira and Confluence, and are well versed in agile development methodologies. We have multiple meetings per week, and the whole team gets together for sprint planning and demos. I also meet individually with various developers if they’re working on a specific feature and want to discuss things in more detail.

Furthermore, as a remote development firm, it’s critical that they’re able to communicate effectively. Not only do they have strong English skills, they’re able to push back on certain ideas and suggest alternatives if they think there’s a better way to solve a problem. This is a crucial part of any developer’s job because we may find that a solution we’d expected to work isn’t going to be the best fit for the end user.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In general, they work extremely well together as a team; I can tell from afar that they communicate and don’t have any internal issues. They’re also very engaged with the project itself. They seem to enjoy working on the app as much as we do. We couldn’t have hoped for anything more, especially from developers who are working remotely and have no direct connection to our company. They’re motivated and personally invested in their work’s output, which is not something we take for granted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In terms of development, nothing specific comes to mind. There were some challenges at the beginning with regard to some design work they performed, but it has been resolved with the new version.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on March 23, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall - 4.5, Quality - 4.5, Schedule - 4.5, Cost - 4.5, NPS - 5. New content is below:

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our business revolves around our financial wellness platform, LifeCents. I am in charge of all product development for LifeCents and am supporting applications and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VentureDevs?

Initially, we engaged with VentureDevs to redesign our web application UI. Over time, we slowly built out our entire development team through VentureDevs, including supporting roles such as quality assurance, scrum master, etc.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VentureDevs took over all development of the LifeCents ecosystem — backend, frontend, automated testing, DevOps, etc.

What is the team dynamic?

The team dynamic is/was fantastic. Excellent communication among all team members, constant support when needed, and developers don’t dislike code reviews (in fact, they insist on it). The atmosphere is casual, yet professional. Each developer takes pride in their own work, as well as the overall project. 

How did you come to work with VentureDevs?

Our investor had a previous relationship with VentureDevs and referred us.

How much have you invested with them?

Close to $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We just completed our final week with VentureDevs. Our product is in a strong place, and we are now planning to grow a small development team internally. We left on very good terms, and will likely work with them again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

We worked with VentureDevs over a period of 3 years. At first, the team operated on more of a ‘project’ basis, and we planned to end our contract much sooner. Over time, however, we recognized that they were doing excellent work, so we expanded the team to become our primary developers over a longer term.

At LifeCents, we began to recognize them as “our own” team rather than an external service provider. I believe they felt (and still feel) the same way. 

How did VentureDevs address the challenges that arose?

Both the individual team members and VentureDevs management stepped up anytime an issue arose, especially as we grew our relationship with them. In particular, we had a significant financial crisis internally for a period of about 6 months.

VentureDevs took every possible step to help us resolve the issue without reducing or terminating our service. This very possibly saved our business, and the crisis was averted thanks to their willingness to work with us rather than cut us off.

Note: This is one of the biggest reasons why VentureDevs deserves to have a five-star rating. 

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

VentureDevs is the most important vendor LifeCents has had. They allowed us to mature our product from entry to enterprise-level, allowing us to similarly grow our business.

How was project management handled?

Very well. At the top level, we were in direct contact with the CEO from the beginning of the engagement. Anytime we started a new project, they provided a solutions architect to work with us (in depth) free of charge. I had a dedicated relationship manager (“head of customer success”) who sent frequent updates and stayed in constant communication with VentureDevs leadership and our development team.

Finally and most importantly, we were assigned a dedicated Product Owner, who coordinated everything between the two teams (LifeCents product and VentureDevs developers). She alone allowed us to work more successfully with a remote development team than any in the past.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

I could create a long list, but one of their biggest strengths, aside from performing exceptionally well as developers, was their desire to build a long-lasting partnership. At every turn, their goal was to make us successful, and they would bring on anyone from their team (free of charge) that they thought could help – whether it was the CEO or an extra developer to help with a specific issue. 

In what specific areas can they improve?

Honestly, I can’t think of any worth mentioning.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

Make sure you take the relationship with your development team seriously. You can’t expect them to take a set of requirements and work without any additional contact. I worked with our team almost every day for three years, and it was a complete success. I’ve worked with other remote teams in the past who were not as communicative, and it was much more challenging to complete projects on time, and as expected.