3topia

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a cybersecurity company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3topia?

We needed to convert a recent prototype for a product we were aiming to commercialize into an actual prototype that’s market-ready or at least consumer-ready.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I was leading the product side of things, and we built the prototype together. The team was also very helpful in not just implementing what was being told to them, but also in suggesting potential ways of doing things and thinking with their heads.

The team helped us develop the prototype for the phishing resistant second vector authenticator or app for Android. They also helped with creating some of the machine learning models for it.

There was a formal request for quotations. There was a description for the first version of the prototype we were aiming to develop. They came back with their own estimation for how long it would take and how much it would cost. In the meantime, we made some adjustments.

They basically were given a textural description, and of course, there were meetings, and I discussed everything with them.

What is the team composition?

There’s the main project lead from their side who was also the technical lead. Their team included a designer, a web developer, and a backend developer. In total, I interacted with 5–6 people, but it was also with the one project lead who was with us from the beginning until today.

How did you come to work with 3topia?

When we started working together, I was a senior postdoc at the University of Oxford, and my company is a spinout from them. We started collaborating while I was in one role, and the collaboration was successful. We’ve spun out this company, which is a newly formed startup.

Someone recommended them that I knew really well and trusted. We chose them among some other agencies that were recommended to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent £60,000–£100,000 (approximately $76,000–$127,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with 3topia started in April 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We like working with them, and we will continue the collaboration even after we start hiring our own individuals.

The collaboration was good. Their team showed a sense of ownership. They had suggestions of what to do next rather than just listen for instructions. They showed flexibility in the ever-changing nature of the project. It was easy to agree on the intensity of work.

Their team was accommodating. Whenever anything needed to be done the next day, it was done the next day. They were flexible to adjust the workload to our week-to-week needs. The technical quality of their work was always great.

How did 3topia perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they’ve performed well. They’ve been helpful. We had weekly calls and, more often, if needed, to align what they’re working on with what we’re aiming to achieve.

They made suggestions in the meetings. I’m very happy with how the whole collaboration went. Their level of advice was excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What sets them apart is how 3topia took ownership. They were part of the team by suggesting how to be more efficient and make a good product. They show they really care about the success of the project. They’re always available when needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of. 3topia has been an excellent partner to have. This was a friendly process from beginning to end. They work well, and they show they care.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you explain the whole story, vision, and mission as broadly as possible because that will help to get useful suggestions from their side.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is a leading online boat rental platform. Our vision is to bring the joy of boat holidays to millions around the world by digitalizing the boat rental market. I’m the CTO and one of the co-founders here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3topia?

We wanted to launch an MVP of sorts for a related, but different product line called mini cruises. They’re like cruises, but for smaller ships.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a web-based MVP in React that ended up being a stand-alone web application.

First, they flew out to Berlin for a week to do a design sprint with us, and they interviewed everyone relevant to the topic. By the end of the week, they created an MVP in a lean mockup.

After collecting all of this information, they implemented the product in somewhat of an agile way. They were able to directly use our cloud platform, and they put in the effort to ensure everything would work with our deployment strategies. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve been mostly in touch with Luca (CEO). I was also in touch with one of their senior developers. At any given time, there were between 2-4 people working on the project in parallel. That included at least one designer; the rest were developers.

How did you come to work with 3topia?

They were a recommendation from a mutual friend, and we were networking for a while. Three weeks after I told them that I had a budget and opportunity, they were available to do design sprints in Berlin.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $80,000 in their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May of 2019, and we wrapped things up in the first week or so of January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project itself was a flying success.  We got an end result that was easy to deploy and test. 

The MVP helped us confirm what was working or not working. We learned about the pitfalls and the best way to market this product. We immediately allocated a budget for performance marketing. But, due to the current circumstances of COVID-19, we’ve put the project on ice. 

How did 3topia perform from a project management standpoint?

They are as interested in business as they are in technology. It was easy for them to understand exactly what we wanted to achieve with the project, and that made everything much more smooth during development.

In total, there was some delay, but I would still say their workflow was as close to perfection as it could get. They were very independent, always asking questions. They offered regular updates and even pushed us to be more engaging with them. 

Also, I have the feeling that the team knows each other really well because they work so well together. I never felt that we were out of sync. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to engage with us on a business level and truly understand the “why” and the business goal stood out. They really asked questions about our customers, even asking things that people don’t typically ask. To me, that was revolutionary. It was a lot of work in the initial stages, but after that, everything ran smoothly. 

They insist on working in a demanding, engaging way. Their requirement that they only want to work people if they can work with them at a higher level (and understand the business goal behind the project) sets them apart from other people I’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re very keen to work with them again once we have the budget. It was such a good experience that I can’t think of anything they could improve off of the top of my head.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Future customers should outline their business goals, offer meaningful work, and take the time to work with them according to their rules in order to get the best results. It’s important to approach them as an equal partner because they’re motivated by that approach. They’re interested in gaining experience in how to build products that are successful from a business perspective. That requires a certain amount of engagement that companies may not be used to. In the first week, we really had to reserve time to go through the entire design sprint. In the end, it really paid off. 
 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pametna kuca is a media company based in Croatia, founded in 2011. with two websites under it's portfolio. Srednja.hr & mirovina.hr. I am the founder and CEO of the company. Srednja.hr is focused on young people and education while mirovina.hr is focused on the elderly 55+ generation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 3topia?

We hired 3topia for making a solution that would improve the quizzes part of srednja.hr and transform it beyond the quiz level. Since we are focused an education we figured out schools systems have a big challenge with grading students. Pupils don't receive a good detailed feedback on how they know a certain topic they have to learn. 3topia made a system for us that helps individualize the learning process whilst we give a feedback to our users - how much they know on certain topic.

What were your goals for this project?

Making a functional web application with a numerous features that will allow us to connect users with each other, notification systems about their success, allowing users to create questions to see how hard they are for others.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

recommendations by several colleagues from the IT sector and their experience with AI.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We started working with numerous discussion sessions on the project, it culminated with wireframes on the project. The 'final' result was a designed and developed web project available at kvizovi.srednja.hr. It took several months for this part of the work to be done, since the whole architecture had to be build from scratch. From the registration process that had to be a bit more complex. For example, we asked users to give us their education portfolio so our algorithms could figure out what difficulty of questions they could suit them the best. We had to figure out a grading system from 1 to 10 and to recalculate every question afer a user answers it.

They whole system is based that every question is graded from 1 to 10 depending on how many people answered it correctly and what grade to they have. Since the launch we continued working and allowing users to follow each other. One important feature is also the notification system where we notify people when users who they follow ask a new questions, when 1,5,10,50,100,200 or more users answer their questions.

The user profile view is also constantly improved with new features, for example, the latest one was connecting users with other users registered from their school or faculty.

What was the team composition?

The project team had a person in charge who communicated with me with all issues and parts of the project, from the business to the development and design part.

They had five or more people working on different aspects on the project. It was convenient for me to to talk with one person and not will all of them. At the beginning of the projects, during sprints and wireframe discussions, all of them were present in some parts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We continued working with 3topia after the launch since the project launch was a success. We immediately gained tracking with users and finally ended the school year with 30.000 users. Although we were more focused on gaining users, not on monetizing the project from the beginning, we sold a couple of business profiles to our clients.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was hard to project with deadlines since there were a lot of parts that were hard to predict on how long they would take, but the management had made efforts to communicate in advance when something was going to be outside of the deadline and to explain what has happened inside the project that made it so.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The ability to deliver a difficult project with a young team of professionals in a short period of time.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Better documentation of the project before the start of the project and after the end. Also, the team can more suggestions themselves what to improve, try to pitch certain new features.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-founder and the CTO of Enterwell, a software design and development company from Zagreb, Croatia. We develop software for many different clients, mainly enterprise solutions. Our second team specializes in website and web application development. We mainly work with React on the frontend and Microsoft .NET and PHP on the backend.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3topia?

We work with a broad selection of clients, one of whom needed a mobile application. We contacted our good friends at 3topia to help since we didn’t have enough time to finish the job on our own. 

The client had the idea to curate a list of bars, pubs, and clubs in Munich, Germany. He was aiming to attract students who didn’t know the city, but wanted to find places to hang out and relax in during their free time. The aim was to allow client venues to provide information about their establishments, including events and promotions, and attract the right audience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our client asked for an Android and iOS application. They were not technical, and didn’t allocate enough budget to develop both versions at an acceptable level of quality. The team from 3topia suggested that we develop a React Native application for both platforms. That was acceptable for our client and their budget, and it also worked great for us.

The first feature gives users a list of venues in their proximity. The app sends the user's coordinates to a server, retrieves data from that server, and presents it to the user. The information is available in list form and on Google Maps. Users can see the nearest establishments, click on any one, and see details like working hours, descriptions, galleries, and upcoming events.

I wasn't a project manager until the end, so I don’t know if the map feature was launched to production. 3topia delivered it working well, but it’s possible that the client decided to leave the functionality out of the application.

We assigned our own designer for the project. The client had had a good previous experience with us, and they wanted our designers to work on the application. Even though 3topia was not tasked with design, they worked closely with us and they helped us in this area. They didn’t produce graphics, but they did help us with the design.

The client loved the work produced by our designer, but it was hard to use in production for both Android and iOS. The client also had some ideas that didn’t follow the guidelines of the operating systems. The team from 3topia helped us convince the client that there was a better approach. In the end, the client agreed with them. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with one developer and another member who helped us with design. We focused on web development, but 3topia imparted valuable knowledge about decisions that needed to be made on the mobile side.

How did you come to work with 3topia?

One of their founders had worked with us earlier in his career. He proved himself as a good developer during his time at Enterwell. He was always responsible, and he handled a bit of software architecture on his own. He didn’t need anything to be drawn or specified for him in too much detail. He knew how to work independently.

After some time working with us, he opened his own company with two friends. We maintained a good relationship with them. When our client asked us to develop a mobile application on a tight delivery schedule, we knew that we should call someone we trusted. We needed someone who had proven that they could quickly deliver a high-quality version of what we asked. We required testing to ensure that there would be no embarrassing bugs in the production version.

The partner needed to talk to our client and handle project management on their end. They needed to deliver quality software stories to us, and, in the end, a software product to our client.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work was around 50,000 HRK ($7,940  USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The current project started in January 2018. It needed to be delivered by March 1, but the client was late with their deliverables. We didn’t have any info about the objects that would be inserted into the application.

The development start got delayed, but that wasn't an issue for 3topia. They prepared everything they could based on the information they had. When the data from the client came, they simply inserted it and made corrections. It was a great experience for me. Even though the client was late, 3topia predicted what the app would be and prepared almost everything. When the data came, they only had a few adjustments to make.

Development went as scheduled. 3topia’s part of the work was delivered in March 2018. The client wanted to wait on the website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client wanted their team to deploy the application. We transferred the code to them, and they deployed it. They weren't in the tech business, but 3topia educated them about what to expect during software and mobile app development. The client got a good idea of what they should expect throughout the process.

After everything was finished, the client was very satisfied with the product. We had only discussed one type of application, but they received high-quality Android and iOS versions. They didn’t have any issues with the apps. 3topia quickly fixed any issues we discovered during testing, and they were always available to answer questions from us or the client.

How did 3topia perform from a project management standpoint?

We managed the project without resources from 3topia. We used Trello for time tracking and GitLab for task tracking.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had a briefing with the client, who had a vague idea of what they wanted to make. They knew what they wanted to deliver to their customers, but didn’t know how to get to that point. 3topia did almost everything, from the briefing to the delivery of the applications.

We could rely on them to deliver on every deadline we set. If we set a deadline too early in our project management meetings, they let us know that it wasn't possible to finish in that time. When we set deadlines that were too long, they let us know they could deliver more quickly. They were connected to our real needs and put together a plan to fulfill them.

Neither we nor the client needed to worry about anything. We just had to manage the website and the application's backend. 3topia did everything on the mobile side. We simply gave them a brief and a list of client expectations, and they had a professional discussion with the client to tell them everything they needed to know. They over-delivered and gave the client exactly what they wanted. No one invested any extra time in the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

On a couple occasions, when the original planning didn’t work, they stepped in and did what we expected of them. They could have worried less for their own good.

3topia is a young company that wants to prove themselves. They did an extraordinary job, but they didn't need to fix things that weren't their fault. They weren't pushy. The client was okay with everything, but other clients may take advantage of them.

There are good and bad elements of every project. 3topia had challenges and issues, but they never reached me. They delivered everything we asked for. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be open to 3topia’s suggestions. Their team can deliver anything you want. If you don't make requirements according to general guidelines, they'll let you know. If you want to develop something unconventional, they will do it. Listen to 3topia and give them responsibility. You will be rewarded, and they will enjoy working on the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of LifeShareCare, a quality assurance platform that improves transparency in the home care industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 3topia?

We needed to refine our mobile and web designs.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to give our platform a delightful feel, for all our user types.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I’d worked with them on another application, and their design went a step further than what was requested of them. They also developed that application and did beautiful work.

Describe the project in detail.

We already had a development team, so we just needed supplemental design help. They generated a new name, redesigned an important page on our web-based platform, and tweaked the designs of our iOS and Android mobile apps.

What was the team composition?

We worked with three people, each with specific roles: a product manager, a development technician, and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

3topia has followed our requirements to the letter, and always knows when to add their own creativity.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were flexible in working with our schedule and our priorities, and were always quick to return feedback and updates. Even though they’re based in Croatia, it hasn’t affected our being able to reach them and get a quick response. They’re organized, reliable, and acted the way you would hope they would.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They simply exceed expectations. They aim to please, and to make sure that you’re happy, as a client.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, there aren’t any.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business manager of a pawn shop chain. We buy and sell new and used goods.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3topia?

We needed to develop a platform with separate components for employees, managers, and owners. It needed to list all the goods we have in stock, organize client information, and include everything else related to our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

3topia utilized responsive web design to develop our platform, so it performs equally on mobile devices and desktops. It’s a singular platform but has different portions accessible by various staff members. Regular employees can only interact with one section of the site, while a manager like myself can utilize different elements. The owner has complete control and can access everything.

3topia also integrated the necessary functionalities to handle bills, transactions, and document client information. For example, purchasing a cell phone requires an employee to enter the product code, the selling price, and other item details into the system. We also advertise products, so they integrated a popup feature that lets us know when to remove an item that’s been sold.

What is the team composition?

They assigned three people to the project, but I’ve only been in touch with Luka (Co-Founder, 3topia).

How did you come to work with 3topia?

We contacted a few companies from our country due to their many years of experience. However, they were expensive and we liked that 3topia was a younger team. We hired them and the collaboration has been good so far.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $24,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 3topia in January 2018. The platform is almost complete and we’re currently testing it to make sure everything works correctly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new platform simplifies tasks that were previously tedious. 3topia’s work makes running the business significantly easier.

How did 3topia perform from a project management standpoint?

They work fast and are really professional. If testing goes okay, we’ll likely complete the project on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m not a programmer, but my perception is that the work they did was very complicated. We were previously using spreadsheets to manage data relating to customers, products, and everything else. 3topia successfully implemented everything we need on the new platform. They’ve revamped how we run the business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know how the project could’ve gone better. We thought the process would take longer than it has.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Carefully consider each company’s bid when looking for new vendors. 3topia’s price could be lower, but we’ve received higher offers from other companies to do the same work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work with 3topia in my capacity as the head of product for United Hatzalah. The organization is also called Israel Rescue, and was founded in Israel to transport volunteer ambulance medics and personnel to accidents and terror attack scenes as quickly as possible. The volunteer network they built successfully brought down response times across Israel from 10–20 minutes to two or three.

The organization in Israel was impressive. As it grew, more countries wanted to build similar models. Some people volunteer, and others provide funds for specialized motorcycles called “ambucycles" and other technologies and services that get people to emergencies as quickly as possible.

The service has launched in Panama, New York, and Washington, D.C., and is launching in a bunch of cities and countries all around the world. This organization has almost no religious affiliation. It just brings together people who want to save lives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3topia?

I’ve been a part of the charity for several years through donations and my family. Over the last two years, they started an initiative to build an application and launch it to tech platforms in the markets where the organization operates. 

Given my tech background, I worked with 3topia to build the first iteration of a mobile app that enables people to donate and keep track of life-saving stories. Every time a person saved a life, we wrote a blog post or other piece of content about it. This was my main goal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

3topia developed an iOS and Android app. There is a mobile-responsive version as well, but it was an app-first product. It was built in React.

They initially built the app for the New York market. Its donation elements connected to the backend of the organization’s existing CRM. 3topia had A-to-Z involvement with the CMS around the application.

The app allowed users to donate and keep track of financials and newsfeeds. Like the Facebook newsfeed, it uses push notifications to automatically share everything posted on United Hatzalah’s main blog with all the members who’ve donated. It prompted users to share every story on the app through social media.

The app is basically a social reinforcement platform for the organization, building young leadership and getting people more involved.

People can not only give monetary donations, but also donate their time and abilities. For example, a graphic designer can offer to build something for an event run by the organization. This feature has already been built, and it will be available shortly.

Soon, we’ll release a functionality that allows people to donate or sponsor specific medics, and keep track of those people’s lives. They’ll see all the rescues they’ve performed and get a one-on-one feeling, rather than the one-to-many feeling of just donating to an organization.

What is the team composition?

I’ve mainly worked with their co-founders, one of which is also the head of design. They were the only two I interacted with.

How did you come to work with 3topia?

I am on the young leadership board of United Hatzalah, and I’ve founded a few other tech companies. We've built up a team of developers in Croatia, one of whom introduced me to 3topia. My in-house resources were in over their heads and didn’t have the capacity for the project. That was our first interaction with 3topia.

My co-founder and CTO, who was also in Croatia, introduced me to their co-founder. They had either gone to school or worked together. A few people from 3topia got together and started the agency. It was a good opportunity, and I knew that I would be able to work with them on this rather than engaging in a classic outsourcing scenario.

I respected the fact that they were not only willing to be flexible, but also really got behind what we were doing. They even wanted to make some inquiries to see if they could get the organization started in Croatia. They went a bit above and beyond what the average development shop would have done.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the project has been slightly above $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The app launched a month and a half ago. We started working with 3topia in mid to late August 2017. Our activation period was 6-8 months. If not been for the delays on our end, it would have realistically taken 3–4 months to build. 

We went through a number of iterations, and things got held up on our end more than theirs. The organization was holding a lot of events, and certain things got in the way. It’s a nonprofit, so we have certain inefficiencies.

We still need to make some tiny fixes. To their credit, they’ve been willing to help beyond the scope we discussed. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We'll be promoting the app at a series of events in the next one to three months. There aren't enough specific numbers yet. Qualitatively, every event where we showcased the app generated a ton of buzz.

Everyone mentioned its simplicity, which allowed users to have a one-to-one relationship. They actually saw where their money was going, rather than just donating to a cause and hearing back every once in a while. Users read stories about people saving lives almost daily. That was a very nice selling point to a lot of donors.

In the last six months, they raised more than half a million dollars at these showcase events. The very clear interest showed that we were heading in the right direction.

How did 3topia perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a white-labeled, easy-to-use project management tool. We had shortcomings on our end, but the systems they used were great. They responded quickly, especially given the six-hour difference between here and Croatia. They always responded to emails in less than 30 minutes. We did almost everything over Google Hangouts and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I've worked with a few outsourcing and dev shops from a number of places, from Palo Alto and New York to Israel and Croatia. Each one had a bit of nuance.

Because of 3topia's position in its lifecycle, and because of our organization's status, the match couldn't have been better. They wanted to prove themselves, and we didn’t have an endless budget. They were extremely understanding, but also aggressive in a helpful way. I’ve since referred three different projects to them, and they’ve delivered on each one. It’s nice to put our name behind them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are a relatively young agency, in terms of how long they’ve been around, not the age of the individual team members. They needed to consider certain formal elements, such as a project management platform. They implemented it a quarter of the way through our collaboration, and it immediately made a world of difference.

They need to fill some logistical gaps. As they grow, they will realize that they should consider certain formalities. I’ve helped them fine-tune their referral agreements and other elements that will help them grow, both as an agency and individually with each of their clients.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Don’t hesitate to give them the big picture. When working with development shops, most people are building quick websites that don’t require much thought. 3topia is most helpful when thinking through in-depth elements, not just saying yes to the initial suggestion.

View working with them as an opportunity. Don't only approach the team once they have everything specified. Approach them when you want to think through those elements. 3topia thought through a lot of the business elements, which was helpful.