CRON.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Codex, a wellness coaching website. We’re a marketplace for coaches.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CRON.?

We needed help with custom software development to bring the new product to the market. The difference between a good and bad product is having clean code, and some previous developers had made a mess.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CRON. has created an e-commerce space for physical wellness products. They’ve created profiles, a backend dashboard, and a frontend, so 3–4 tech layers are visible to customers. Additionally, there’s an admin layer, so it’ll be 5–6 layers by the time we’re done.

Some products are for e-commerce, some are for profile management, and some are landing pages. CRON. has brought everything together, including the marketplace model for physical products and services. Then, they've enabled different customer-facing profiles for customers and coaches and a whole review system.

On top of everything, blogs and knowledge management require CRON.’s extensive custom coding. We initially considered using WordPress or other custom platforms, but we’ve built our entire software using Laravel because it suits our needs better and is much more customizable.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been in contact with at least five team members; three are developers, and one is a finance person. João (COO) is the leader, and Diogo (Founder & Partner) gets involved in getting grants and government subsidies to find money for their customers, which is another service they offer.

How did you come to work with CRON.?

João is part of my business network. I’ve known him for a long time. When I was ready for a project, I called him to discuss what the previous developers had done. Even though we had to pay more, we paid extra to clean the code whenever we tried to solve a problem with the previous developers. Overall, João’s team was more detail-oriented.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in July 2023 and are about to finish the sixth round of sprints. We plan to stick with them for a long time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our main measure of success is the code working on our platform. Beyond that, we’ve gone through many hard conversations where we don’t necessarily agree, but we maintain a positive working relationship with CRON. This is essential because we might disagree sometimes, but we must be able to have conversations without walking away. Moreover, we still have smiles on our faces and enjoy working together.

How did CRON. perform from a project management standpoint?

We regularly communicate through Slack. We also use WhatsApp for emergencies and Zoom for regular meetings. Moreover, CRON. is very responsive. If something’s not working, I immediately put it on Slack, and they respond and try to fix it in less than an hour, if not minutes.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

All the developers are wonderful, but João has been fantastic as our project manager. Diogo also works closely with our team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CRON. knows their business and are in it to grow our business as well. They’re so closely knit and familiar that we don’t need to hire our own team; they’re part of our team. If they don’t know what they’re doing, they’re very honest about saying they need a minute to figure it out. They also justify when something takes more time and effort; they come back and report why.

Another outstanding thing about CRON. is that they always go above and beyond with the quality of their work. For example, we tasked them to install multiple currencies. They went through every place where currencies were mentioned to change that in the code, whereas another developer would’ve put a patch and done it just for the check-out time. Overall, CRON. does work that we don’t even know we need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to be more upfront about estimates. The team learns on the job, so it can’t always be accurate. They’ve gotten better over time, but it’s a growing point. We take their estimates with a pinch of salt.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you want and spend time with CRON. to get to a particular level before starting the work. Spend time and money to do a discovery phase; you’ll actually save money in the long run.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Wisify, an anthropometry devices company. We focus on assessing body composition and help sports nutritionists with the follow-up of their athletes and see their statuses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with CRON.?

My background is focused on creating hardware for my business rather than software, so we needed someone who could help me develop the mobile app and the backend part of our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CRON. is helping us develop the backend of our mobile and desktop apps. To jumpstart this process, we’ve shown them the product we already had built for the Android platform so they could have a starting point for the iOS product. After that, CRON.’s team has started deciding what technology to use to structure everything and manage the sprints of the developments. Regarding technologies, the team is using React and React Native.

What was the team composition? 

We mainly work with four members of CRON.’s team, including a project manager and three developers.

How did you come to work with CRON.?

Someone within our startup ecosystem referred CRON. to us and decided to work with them because they weren’t too big and seemed more committed to delivering a good product and being involved throughout the process.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent around €100,000 (approximately $109,000 USD) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

CRON.'s team not only contributes to the project's technical parts but also gives us nice tips through their knowledge. The team doesn't limit themselves; they proactively provide feedback about our business and market. Overall, CRON. is our development team and our business promoters.

How did CRON.perform from a project management standpoint?

CRON. is very structured in terms of planning deadlines and budgets. We always have some bugs, but they solve them. CRON.'s team is proactive and goes out of scope to help us solve our problems in the backend of our platforms.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CRON. is the first provider I've worked with, and we have a friendly relationship with them, which is nice. Moreover, CRON.'s team has been the same for the last four years, which doesn't happen with other companies, and it's great because we have a team that understands our product, and we don't have to teach the same thing several times.

CRON.'s expertise in hardware and Bluetooth communications is also unique.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We're constantly giving them our feedback regarding things we don't agree with or that they should improve, which they've been doing. The team adapts their workflow to be more efficient throughout the process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust CRON.'s team; they'll provide their best work because they're proactive. The team is also communicative and transparent throughout the process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an Executive of Gripwise Tech

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Gripwise is a cloud-based system, gathering data for the frailty and sarcopenia assessments in a simple and effective workflow, aiming to maintain health and quality of life of the elderly.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CRON. to accomplish?

• Develop mobile app
• Develop cloud backend

SOLUTION

How did you find CRON.?

Referral

Why did you select CRON. over others?

• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from CRON. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Cron developed our global software infrastructure, including iOS and Android apps, linking them to our BLE connected medical device handgrip. That included also two cloud backends with separated information regarding personal information and clinical information for security reasons. They also developed the webapp and account login system, allowing us to create and manage entities and professional users, as well as historic consultation reports.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The full system working and the additonal developments that we are working on.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We implemented an agile methodology, and in that base, the developments were made accordingly to what was expected, and the issues that naturaly occured, were explained and addressed on time.

What was your primary form of communication with CRON.?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their culture and proximity between the developers are impressive.

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

There is always room for improvement. In this case, I believe that they laked some specific knowledge about medical devices data protection.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO & Founder of Bloq.it

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide end-to-end smart locker networks to optimize operations for logistics companies

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CRON. to accomplish?

• Launch MVP of smart locker
• Improve MVP to fit more complex requirements

SOLUTION

How did you find CRON.?

Referral

Why did you select CRON. over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

How many teammates from CRON. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Create MVP of a smart locker that connects to a cloud server. Assistance with all the electronics and electrical work, including the software for the electronics to execute based on use-cases defined.

The product then evolved and Cron was a critical component of this evolution, where the project now involved adding more complex electronics and software. Now at the current stage we're still working with Cron for the knowledge they have on the platform that was built, and for them to provide value in improving said platform and training the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The project was focused in multiple deliverables of hardware and software implementations. Our products is now known as the best in our area, so that defines the success :)

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Cron responded very well when under stress and need for complex and fast results. The team was very committed in that regard. Sometimes deadlines weren't met, specifically when there was less oversight to make sure deadlines are being paid attention to.

What was your primary form of communication with CRON.?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their commitment to the project is impressive.

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

Better work in together creating the requirements and assisting in designing the solution based on market feedback.