Capicua

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive and a music education technology company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

We needed someone to develop our software.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We completely redesigned and overhauled our product. Capicua was brought on as an outsourced engineering team for us. We let go of all of our internal engineers, so they took over all the development areas. They’re building an entire functioning learning management system for music education from scratch. They’re using GraphQL, Microsoft Azure, JavaScript, TypeScript, and PostgreSQL for all the front- and back-end matters.

The software's key features include the ability to upload content, play videos, play songs, change the pitch and speed of songs, and match up lyrics to song titles.

What is the team composition?

We work with Ismael (Founder), QA developers, and other members of their team. There are around seven people involved in the project.

How did you come to work with Capicua?

I did research and several interviews for this. What I liked about Capicua was their good references, their prior work with companies in the US, and that the language barrier wasn’t a problem; there are no issues with communication compared to other offshore companies.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $500,000 with Capicua so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and the partnership is ongoing.

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

The product meets our quality metrics and is working properly. Capicua put countless hours into hard work, and that speaks for itself.

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Slack, Jira, Confluence, and Google Meet. Capicua’s team does a great job and is detail-oriented. They’re also organized and document everything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with Capicua’s work ethic. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s something they can improve on; they do a great job and there’s not much more that I can ask for.

Any advice for potential customers?

Capicua’s team likes details and doesn’t want to make assumptions. You need to make sure you’re spending the appropriate amount of time with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a company that develops technology products to serve the nonprofit industry to help them raise more money. I’m the owner and founder.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

We wanted to update the sponsorship industry within nonprofits. Over the last 20 plus years, trying to find corporate partners has remained a cumbersome research project.

We also wanted to create a learning lab so that lessons learned by experts in the field could be shared on-demand with newcomers to the charity world or folks trying to improve funding.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Capicua helped us from start to finish. They looked at how to transfer all of our existing learning lab content into a new LMS. They also created a data aggregator and implemented the UX from my business partner. They worked with him to refine the UX and add a dashboard feature.

The team also helped us with the data source prioritization and outreach. They helped us decide what needed to be in the MVP and what we could save for future releases.

The new LMS is web-based and mobile-friendly. It’s available on-demand with a certification. It sends emails automatically and there are prompts for users to take the next lesson. We continue to use them for other projects.

What is the team composition?

Ismael (Founder & Director) was our initial contact. At one point, we had 10–12 people working on our project.

How did you come to work with Capicua?

I was working out of the same WeWork office as Ismael. I told them about my company’s vision and he met with my partner six months later. He stayed in contact with us until we had the funding to move forward.

We were impressed by the depth and breadth of their experience; they had a lot of the pieces we were looking for in terms of e-stores, data aggregation, and LMS experience from previous projects. They also understood we were a startup and sometimes we move quickly. They were responsive and respectful.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2017, and our work is ongoing.

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

We were able to take some of the initial development work that they provided and do some testing with our audience. Then, we were able to implement that feedback immediately. The investors and CTOs have all commended the work we’ve done on the platform and the tech stack that was used. We’ve been called the best of the best and I credit that to Capicua.

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

I really appreciated how they broke things down into stages. They also did a lot of check-ins as we went along. They were great at meeting our deadlines. My business partner was in constant contact with them.

The only time they ever missed a deadline was our fault because we didn’t give them enough information to get moving. From their standpoint, they set real expectations and made sure that we understood the scope of work and the hours needed. We communicate via Zoom and Email. We also use Trello for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The sophistication of their work stands out. There are cheaper developers out there but their ability to service a client long term is attractive to me. I know they’re not going anywhere and they have a lot of amazingly skilled people.

They know all of the latest trends and they’re also team players. They’re willing to work with everyone on the team based on their skillset. They’re flexible, friendly, and helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve addressed this since 2017, but sometimes things take a bit longer or require more work. Building in some additional contingencies to their estimates to set better expectations for their clients would be great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be organized and ready. They’re able to move very quickly. If things slow down, it’s probably because the client isn’t prepared effectively. Be extremely responsive and prepared to start the project; it’ll move fast.

Get to know them; they’re a fantastic group of people. They’re kind, loving, smart, and funny. See them as partners, friends, and colleagues and you’ll be extremely pleased with the work product that’s provided.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Re:store, a physical space service that allows physical placement to online brands. We take on store leases and convert them into shared spaces for online businesses. We have a subsidiary, and that's where Capicua is helping us.

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

We’re primarily a physical retail company. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we had to find omnichannel solutions, so we expanded into live stream selling. We partner with about 60 companies in any given month, so we tried to figure out how to have all those brands put their catalog online. We didn’t have a website at the time.

In addition to that, we wanted to do live-streamed shows to create content around the actual products. Instead of having a traditional website where customers could see and buy a product, we wanted to live stream from our stores. Then, customers would be able to buy in real-time as the products are displayed.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Capicua developed our e-commerce, live streaming website on Agora. We came in with a paper and a pen and listed our requirements. We didn't have a team at the time that had anything to do with the online business. As a result, they took our ideas and gave us the team that did the prototype, the wireframes, and everything else. We needed to make sure we were creating the features necessary for the vision we had for the business. 

The website is finished. Now, we’re working on launching an app in a month and a half. It will be another way for us to connect with customers. We’ll also be working on a project to allow other stores to live stream with us, which is going to open up a new revenue venue for our business. 

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Carlos (COO & Senior Graphic Designer), who also serves as the main project manager. We also work with Ismael (Founder & Director), although he works more on the finance side. 

How did you come to work with Capicua?

One of our team members did a project with Capicua when he was in a different tech company. We hired him as we were building up our online branch, and he recommended Capicua.

When we interviewed the team, it became instantly clear that they were a great option. They also had the right scope in terms of team members and the project timeline. We interviewed a lot of other firms, but for this project, we decided to go full-on with Capicua. We worked only with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent around $60,000–$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. 

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

Within three months, they're able to launch a whole live-streamed shopping experience with the catalog and everything included. It’s been insanely fast and cost-effective. The website is now finished, and it's used by 30–35 retailers. We originally created it for us, but we ended up expanding it to other businesses. 

We've increased our revenue by having online sales — we've essentially added a new revenue stream for us. We've also been able to increase our new customers. On the website alone, we get 200–300 brand new visitors every day. We're getting fresh eyes coming into the online store that we wouldn't otherwise have without the website.

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

Carlos is such a great manager. He understands the pushback that we give them, and he also pushes back on the team in an effective way. He keeps everyone motivated and moving fast but not in a way that there's any burnout. It's quite magical. Having worked with a lot of people in the past, we know that management is hard. However, his project management skills are incredible. 

I also appreciate their simplification of matters since our company is new to the tech space. We considered a hundred million features for the website, but Capicua told us to create a beta version first and then get feedback on that. It saved us time and money since we didn’t build features that wouldn’t have been helpful for us. 

I wasn't a big fan of working with agencies because I liked things to be done in-house. However, Capicua changed my mind. They've become part of the team. Before, we had to develop some management practices as a young startup. With them, we tapped into that side of things without having to rebuild management practices. Now, we're looking for ways we can use agencies like them in marketing and things like that. 

I also like the fact that they're in a different area and time zone because they have the time to absorb information and work on it. We use Slack, Google Meet, and email to communicate. We meet with them a lot on our live streaming channel, too. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their talents distinguish them. In the past, when we worked with agencies, we had a lot of turnover in talent. We didn't really have our dedicated people. We’d be promised a person, but someone else would be working for us. It created a lot of confusion. 

We don’t have that experience with Capicua. We’ve able to choose the people that we hire, and they’re the people that we meet with every day. We can also tell if the people have been working with Capicua for a long time. There's a good colleague situation going on, and contractors aren’t brought in at the last minute. They have a great pool of talent ready to jump into any project with relevant backgrounds. 

For instance, when we finished the website and started working on the app, we wanted to work with the same team because they were efficient. However, we needed new people because the business was growing. We also needed more app-based developers. Capicua was able to hire a great new team member within a week and a half. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Capicua needs to get the word out about them. I didn’t initially know about them, and the person that recommended them only found them on Upwork. I wouldn’t have found them there. They need to be better at positioning themselves as an agency that helps startups. They need to brand themselves better to get to the US market. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open-minded to hiring agencies, and compare the cost-efficiency of hiring just one person versus a whole team and having the management of the agency. I feel like people have a bad experience with agencies, but I would say Capicua has been easy to work with.

They're very Americanized in the way they do business, so it simple for anyone without any experience working with a contract agency to work with them. They easily integrate into the business. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Lifetripper. We have five full-time people working on a mobile platform for remembering and sharing trips.

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

I wanted to build an MVP for the idea I was working on. The platform would need to gather information from Facebook, Instagram, cell phones, and so on, and I didn’t know if it was technically possible.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Capicua developed our MVP app for iOS from scratch. I was a one-person company at the time, so Capicua did everything for me. They helped me translate the idea into specifications and then did all the design and development.

The most challenging part was integrating APIs for Facebook and Instagram; the app also retrieves pictures and videos from cell phones directly. It has an additional feature for recreating trips based on geo-location information.

What is the team composition?

Their CEO helped me translate my idea into something technical they could build. Capicua then assigned me a designer and an iOS developer, and I was also in contact with their CTO.

How did you come to work with Capicua?

I live in San Francisco, but I’m from Uruguay, and I knew Capicua from a previous experience. I gave them a call to see if they’d be interested in helping me with my idea, and, luckily, they were.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost was around $35,000. Developing this kind of app could always be more affordable, but the quality was worth the money. I had less costly options, but I’d definitely work with Capicua again if I had another MVP to build.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Capicua in early 2018, and we finished the product in September of that year. They’ve also helped me build a website for a nonprofit.

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

I like the end-product in terms of both design and software performance. The scope and deadline were met — we made a plan, and Capicua respected it.

I was a solo founder, and they helped me with design, project management, and everything else I needed at the moment. I have my own team now — for strategic reasons — but Capicua was the perfect fit for me at the time.

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

I don’t recall using any project management tools. They may have used something internally, but not with me. We communicated through email and had weekly meetings. Their CTO was always available when I was working with the developer, so we didn’t have any communication problems. The CTO was in charge, and that was very important.

Capicua was clear in terms of scope and development time. We took a few more weeks to finish the project than I expected, but it wasn’t just their fault. I requested changes, as normally happens with software development, and Capicua handled them well. It wasn’t a very large project, but Capicua delivered on time and with the quality I expected.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Some companies work on design and other companies work on development, but Capicua offers everything, which is awesome. They’re a one-stop-shop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The cost could’ve been less. It was a lot of money for me at the moment, and it still is, but other than that there wasn’t much that could’ve gone wrong since it was a small project.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I like the extreme programming methodology, and Capicua worked that way, but I know that it’s not for everyone. It requires a lot of interaction from the client, and some people don’t have the time to do that.

Clients should determine what technologies are necessary to build the product and check whether the provider has the right resources.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of Bita, a German firm that creates software infrastructure for Financial Indexes creation, calculation, and dissemination.

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

Our IT team is focused on the back-end and quantitative development. We needed a Senior team of front-end developers to create the User Interface of our new product. We had the design, we had the back-end, but we didn't have the people to develop a pretty complex front-end where tons of financial data is visualized in different ways.

How did you select Capicua and what were the deciding factors?

We contacted many known agencies of developers. We selected Capicua because, while other agencies claimed to "do it all", they were clear that their focus was a beautiful design and nice front-end implementation.

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

The project was a front-end UI with more than 10 fairly complex views. The technology used was React.JS with Redux. The two big parts of the project were: creating the pixel-perfect front and doing the integration with the back-end (both REST API and websocket server). They also delivered a back-end service built in Node.JS that created automated PDFs with financial data visualizations.

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

Two developers. Both of them on the front-end side. Ismael, Capicua's CEO also helped with Product Management.

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

The general feedback of our first clients has been that the front-end is beautiful, intuitive, responsive.

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

We were in charge of the project management. Capicua's developers integrated with our methodology seamlessly. They also helped on a consultation level about QA and testing.

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

The willingness of delivering value not only at the software development level but also on the side of communications, QA, Product Management, etc.

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

Sometimes the written communication could improve on the developers' side.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a consulting agency. We work with agencies to develop technologies in the education space.

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

I’m working with a client to develop an app, a mobile app for helping young people discover their gifts to get them to start meaningful careers.

We developed a minimum viable product last year and were testing it with some customers.  Now we’re in the process of refactoring the app and bringing it to market. We hired Capicua to help us refactor the user experience that we already developed into a world-class product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our MVP was developed for us in Android. The scope of the work with the team was to analyze what we had already done in terms of the context of the customer feedback we received from our initial test. We redesigned the entire mobile app over a two-month period with them.

For the technologies we used, we used InVision and Sketch. We also developed rapid prototypes that we tested with some customers during the process too.

What is the team composition?

We had four people work on it at various parts. The CEO worked well with us on strategy and branding work. We had a lead designer who worked with us fill time, a UX designer, and someone else working on project management.

How did you come to work with Capicua?

I think we found them on Clutch. I have a developer that I worked with, and they were doing some searching on UpWork too. We had a competitive process, and they really impressed me with their proposal. It really showed that they understood the problem, put the effort into how to solve it, and had a great portfolio. They also were the cheapest option.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s in the ballpark of $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since November 2020.

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

We had a test group that tested our original app, and we went back to that test group with the new design. Our testing group was very positive about Capicua’s usability changes. They said the look and feel were amazing.

Our project sponsors were also very on board with the project. They’ve been very happy with the work. The board of directors was likewise wowed by the design.

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

They had fantastic communication and were very timely with deliverables. They promised to work quickly and they delivered what was promised.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Strategically, they really understood the problem. They approached everything from a place of understanding. They really understood our problem and the visual design was excellent since they were able to convey what we wanted from a brand perspective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. It’s been a really positive experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your homework upfront about what you want to accomplish, then give them the information so they can familiarize themselves with you and what your needs are.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a boutique technology agency. We focus on e-commerce and back office automation.

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

We hired them for staff augmentation. We needed more developers for a specific project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped me identify an engineer to use for my project. There were initial conversations regarding the technology requirements. Afterwards they were able to sift through their staff of developer consultants to identify a resource who would be able to help me with my specific needs.

The project was a web application that integrated two legacy systems and impacted the directory integration. They used HTML, CSS, JavaScript, .NET, C#, on an SQL server.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one person from their team.

How did you come to work with Capicua?

I found them on UpWork. I gave them a smaller prototype project and was very satisfied with their work. I continued to expand the contract we started.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $110,000–$130,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018, and we wrapped up in February 2019.

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

The benefits of working with them were the reduced overhead costs for technology and project management

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

We had daily standup meetings, along with a project management through Assembla.The team was very self-driving and managed themselves. They kept me updated and provided technological direction for me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their understanding, in terms of communication, stood out. If a developer didn’t speak English well, they were able to provide additional resources to help out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to start out with a smaller project. Define the engagement and address and issues early on before starting a larger project.

Please describe your company and your position there.

we are a commercial and residential cleaning company that operates in nyc.

For what projects/services did your company hire Capicua?

we wanted to have a new logo and marketing material and website material as well.

What were your goals for this project?

acquire a fresh look while building our brand. new logo. new look.

How did you select Capicua?

we found the company at a networking event and started communication after a week of meeting. after looking at other companies we decided to go with them because of the way they communicate with their clients (very easy to communicate) and also based on their past work.

Describe the project in detail.

once we started working together, we set up a meeting to discuss my needs and what i was really looking for when it comes to our new logo. after that they sent me a few options, i picked an option and then we worked on doing a few revisions on the logo till i was satisfy with it.

after this we started working on business cards, flyers, uniforms, etc. the process was very pleasant since they actually listen to you and reply to you in a very timely manner.

What was the team composition?

the designer and the project manager. it was easy to communicate.

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

i was very happy with the results. i even got compliments from one of the biggest designer in new york city which told me that my logo was amazing. and this is a woman that had worked on the fast food chain logo, and more. so i was very happy with the end product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

communication was one of the keys that made this project easy. they kept their deadlines. they were fast at replying. and even after the project was completed i reached out to them for a minor thing and they did it in hours at no charge. i doubt any other company out there will do that.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

great company to work with on projects. i was impress on how they work in sync with each other. They definitely knew what they were doing and actually took the time to listen to us. that saves a lot of time because they make sure they know what we looking for and that minimize the back and forth.

Are there any areas for improvement?

nothing i can really think about, i usually always recommend them whenever someone needs work done for their brands. i didnt experience any issues while working with them on my project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Marathon Kids is a nonprofit with a mission to keep kids moving. I’m the IT project manager of the organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

We were trying to take a legacy, analog program that tracks running progress for kids in elementary and middle schools. This was historically a paper-based process, and we’re trying to digitize it by creating an online platform. The goal is to grow our community and bring the program into a digital age.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial RFP was for a web-based platform with registration services and tracking via a mobile app. Capicua has exceeded expectations and delivered aspects including user experience, design thinking, and more that we didn’t know as a small organization would be involved in the project. They’ve really introduced us to new methods and principles of product development.

In terms of technologies, they built with React and a JavaScript framework for the web app and React Native for the mobile app. The mobile app is different from the website; it tracks the kid’s progress by scanning a badge and feeds to the website.

What is the team composition?

Directly, in the discovery phase, we worked with more designers on a day-to-day basis than we do know. Later, we worked with Ismael (Founder & Director). His design background was very valuable, marrying it with a business strategy that has turned us into something like a technology startup. We also worked with Paula (Project Manager), who handled the development project management. Those were the two key people, although we also had calls with their data architect, AWS architect, and some other design people.

How did you come to work with Capicua?

We put an RFP together and shopped it to around 6–7 local contacts before narrowing it down to three people. One of our staff members recommended Capicua based on our past projects. We also liked their tech stack, and their proposal was above and beyond what others put together. They even put together an InVision prototype of what the app could look like and do.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $250,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started together in January 2020, and the system went live in August. Since then, they’ve been tracking features, correcting issues, and more.

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

We were trying to at least convert the number of users in our analog system to the digital program and we did that. That was a key indicator for us that our objectives and goals were met. Next, we’re going to grow that number.

We liked it so much they did another project for us: integrating the web app into our Salesforce environment to help us, as an organization, have more insight into what actions users are taking, what stage of onboarding they’re in, and how much impact they’re having on students at their schools.

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

They gave us access to their Jira board. We use Asana internally, and they were happy to conform to our way of doing it; there’s an integration with Jira. We had direct insight into what they were working on which helped make sure were all aligned.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to the design — both visual design and product design — stood out. As an organization, we were focused on moving fast and developing features, but they helped us understand that it wasn’t a race and to make data-based decisions. Their experience helped us define how we need to move forward as an organization.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took us some time to figure out how to work together. We didn’t implement the Asana and Jira integration until a month or two after the go-live. That maybe falls on us; we could have had better communication between teams. It wasn’t until we introduced this clear workflow that there was greater transparency. We would have benefited from introducing that earlier.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open-minded and open to feedback. That really helped us. Lean on their expertise; make them a partner in your project rather than just a development agency.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a software development firm. We’re responsible for delivery of digital services and software development.

What challenge were you trying to address with Capicua?

We needed a partner to collaborate with to build an online learning management platform for high net worth individuals.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked together on the build. We used an LMS based on WordPress called LearnDash.

What is the team composition?

There were about four people on the team.

How did you come to work with Capicua?

I met the founder of Capicua, and we got along well. I gave his team a shot with the project and wasn’t disappointed.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January of this year.

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

We were able to deliver a high-quality platform that met our client’s needs and expectations, which were very high. The look, feel, and user interface were all excellent. What could’ve been a $150,000 project was delivered within a much smaller budget because the quality of communication and of the team.

How did Capicua perform from a project management standpoint?

The management of the project was a shared responsibility between both of our parties. We didn’t have any issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We found Capicua to be really inquisitive and interested in the work. They were punctual for meetings and appointments, and they were always eager to bring new ideas to the table.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. A lot of the technology we used was new to them, but they were able to learn it quickly.