Fount

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time we were working with Fount, I was transitioning from the VP of Software engineering to the CTO. I’m no longer with the business, but we were a small IoT [Internet of Things] start-up, with about eight people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fount?

It was really a bandwidth challenge. As an IoT company we were native mobile first on the front end and on the back we had a code base in Node.js hosted on AWS but we were also working on some other software which was the firmware for our hardware devices. Given that our team was just a few technical folks at the time, it wasn't that there was a particular problem, specifically, that we needed help with, other than adding new features that were asked for by the users as quickly as possible.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When it was just a few of us starting out we had not yet worked with Fount. As we raised some capital and were working to shift the software and the hardware from our product to consumers,  that’s when Fount joined and they were with us.

There were two IoT products we worked on. They’re somewhat similar in type of solution to Nest. However, they're for the outdoors and gardeners, it was all about automating gardening. They were both solar powered and connected over Wi-Fi. One product was a sensor that measured everything that is important to plants and the other product was a water valve that would connect to your existing watering system and basically add intelligence to it.

We eventually hired more in-house people, simply for a retention of organizational knowledge, not for any problems on Fount's end, on the contrary, they were very helpful.

What is the team dynamic?

When we initially began working with them there were two senior software engineers from their team that embedded into ours over the course working together, which lasted several months. There was a third senior software engineer added as well. The amount of time spent by any given engineer varied over time but was mutually agreed upon by us and Fount.

How did you come to work with Fount?

I would imagine that the way they find clients is normally different these days, but at the time they were a newer agency. They had the bandwidth to be actively looking for potential clients that aligned well with the expertise of their current team members. For example, the two senior software engineers from Fount, who were embedded with us, had an experience with IoT in their prior work. The business development team from fount reached out to me on Twitter, after having noticed that I worked for an IoT company that was somewhat high profile, and we started from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The range was between $135 - $155 an hour.

What is the status of this engagement?

Roughly, they started around 2015 and were with us for eight or nine months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a wonderful job of understanding the problem space and the tradeoffs for different solutions that would make sense given the timeline we were on, which was significantly better than the experience we've had with overseas developers in the past. I would give them the highest marks for the quality of their work.

How did Fount perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well, they worked pretty close to regular business hours and during those hours were available for agile or ad hoc calls that came up. Basically, whenever we had a need on the project management side of things I could give them a call. They have a sense of product and project management themselves, and that’s something that I was working to provide as well. We worked together to set expectations on the timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They expressed an interest in weighing in with some technical advice that was wasn't originally scoped within the project. They gave us some software architecture tips that were tangential to their work and that ultimately guided the direction that our software architecture went in. That was surprising and helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If there was a piece that they could work on I would say forecasting the hours that they could commit to far in advance would be helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of technology for Rhinogram, a healthcare communications platform that makes texting between doctors and patients secure and easy. I’m in charge of partnerships and exploring new technology. When we worked with Fount, I was the head of product and had responsibilities over development and product design.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fount?

When we first hired Fount, we were facing capacity issues. We needed to move fast to hit some deadlines, but the original outsourced team became overwhelmed. We needed somebody local who understood the technology stack we were using and could independently solve problems for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We kept the other team on for other work since we were doing a lot of things at once. We were using 2 different outsourced teams and another remote developer to build our product. Fount worked on the first version of a messaging application. We had them handle some portions of the app’s authentication and architecture. They also did some of the API connections. Fount took the lead on a lot of stuff since I didn’t have enough time to go around.

I worked with their business development head, Jack Dietrich. We could tell that he understood our issue and lined up the right team for us. Jack brought me a couple of resumes, and one of the guys was someone who I knew personally. Since I already knew his capabilities, he became part of the team. We had 2 developers: one was remote and one was local. During the interview, we could tell they were intellectually on different playing fields. They were aggressive and ready to get to work. They weren’t theorists — they were interested in action.

How did you come to work with Fount?

I ran into one of their guys in the bathroom of a networking event. I was explaining my situation, and he said we need to check out Fount. At the time, I wasn’t interested in doing a high-end local engagement. However, as I started talking to them, I realized they had resources available and that I even knew some of them. That made me decide to do it.

How much have you invested with Fount?

We paid between $125 and $175 per hour. They were pricey but professional.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2015, and we worked with them until May 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

It was top quality. I would consider Fount’s team to be experts or nearly expert in Node for the backend. In terms of capabilities, Fount was heads and shoulders above the other outsourced team we had. They were creative, flexible, and found multiple ways to solve problems. I trusted their work. Even when things broke, I trusted them to fix it. Fount was instrumental in getting us over a challenging situation. They really got things done.

How did Fount perform from a project management standpoint?

I don’t recall any issues. They were pretty solid. We didn’t have a project manager, but I kept in touch with their business development guy. We had an internal project manager who managed their work. They had a good instinct to know when things were due. The project manager on our side wasn’t all that involved, but I was never worried that they wouldn’t hit a delivery.

What did you find most impressive about Fount?

I was impressed by their resourcefulness and their ability to find good solutions. For example, we needed people to be able to log in without a password. I had some exposure to Authy, which is a Twilio product, which I thought was overkill for what we needed. However, Fount discovered that product and fit it in nicely with what we were doing. They were able to integrate it, and it was refreshing to get that creative approach. They weren’t trying to rebuild anything from scratch. They just worked with what we had. They were aware of what existed and could build it into the product. I was impressed by that. I would expect if we hired them again, they would bring that same resourcefulness.

Are there any areas Fount could improve?

They were top notch. They were a little pricey, but that’s all.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide patient-specific, data-driven technology and solutions that enable healthcare organizations to optimize medication regimens. We improve patient outcomes, reduce hospitalizations, lower healthcare costs, and manage risk. We deliver our solutions through a comprehensive suite of technology-enabled products and services for medication risk management and risk adjustment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fount?

We noticed a lack of resources and needed more throughput. When we hired Fount, we were not prepared to hire full-time developers. We didn't necessarily bring in contractors to develop a specific product outside of our team. Our desire was to bring Fount on to assist our teams with ongoing initiatives and feature development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fount’s contractors have been involved in many important projects within our company and have always delivered value to our teams and products. Our business is growing and we have a lot of great ideas that we need to ramp up quickly.  Fount has been able to accommodate our needs and has done so with quality and ease.

How did you come to work with Fount?

Fount is a company local to us and was referred through some members of our tech community.  We reached out to them and felt that they’d be the right fit. We’ve worked with 3 or 4 different firms throughout our existence as a software development shop. When we were looking to ramp up development, we considered 3 companies: an offshore firm, a hybrid firm, and a local firm.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Fount in November 2015.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

During our time working together, they’ve been extremely valuable. We wanted Fount’s contractors to join our teams, assist, and be involved. We use Agile and Scrum processes, and they’ve been able to jump right in and produce consistently. They’ve required minimal overhead. With other vendors and contractors, it’s taken weeks to figure out a project’s background. These guys were able to provide value quickly. They’re smart and talented and have a fine-tuned skill set. In addition to providing solutions and assisting the team, they also educate members of our team with regards to knowledge sharing and other practices.

Fount’s flexibility has also been a major factor. As we’ve grown as a company, the needs of our business and products can change.  Fount has been able to fulfill our resource needs as they have changed and even shifted between projects when we have needed them to.   With previous companies, we didn't have that same level of flexibility.

How did Fount perform from a project management standpoint?

The number of Fount developers that have worked on our team at a time has varied between 1 and 6. Fount initially assigned candidates based on our scope of work and staff needs. I interviewed the candidates to ensure that they fit my teams appropriately, and we went from there. We developed a good relationship based on trust, and they’ve been providing extremely good candidates ever since.

Fount has performed extremely well from a project management standpoint. I left much of the organization up to the teams, Scrum masters, and project managers, but the Fount contractors have been self-sufficient and great at onboarding. They don’t need me to check on them all the time. They’re accountable and responsible, and they’ve definitely proven themselves.

What did you find most impressive about Fount?

The high quality of work, expertise, and ease of working with this team.  

Are there any areas Fount could improve?

Honestly, I can't think of any ways that Fount could improve. If I could, I’d love to have them on my team.