Fueled

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the EVP/general manager of TrafficCarma, which offers a white-labeled traffic app for local media sites. It’s an app for folks that don’t really need navigation but just need to know the best routes to get where they’re going. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Fueled?

We have developers in-house, but we fall short with UI and UX. We’re doing business with local and national broadcasters, and our UI wasn’t anywhere near what our competitors offered. People are using apps on their phones, so our work needed to be on par with some of the best firms out there. We needed to redesign the UI of the app, so we did a pretty exhaustive search to find the right firm to help us. The original design was done by our team and a local firm, but for the redesign we felt we needed to hire a provider who could deliver at the level of our competitors.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fueled put together a well-rounded team to work on the project. We had an initial kickoff meeting in their office for a few hours, which their key team members joined. Some of their team had experience with transportation apps, so they understood the concept of what we were doing. We told Fueled what we wanted without too much detail because we wanted them to come back with a really fresh look compared to what we’d done already. At this point, the app had been live for 6 months.

We were really happy with what Fueled came up with. It was a collaborative effort. We would meet in-person or via conference call on a weekly basis to talk about the project status.

They did a nice job of conducting a couple of research projects. One was with users of transportation or navigation apps in general to get a feel for the marketplace. Then, they conducted a number of interviews with some of our existing users to find out what they liked and didn’t like about the current app. Fueled also showed the users some mockups of what they had designed so we could get a proof of concept.

How did you come to work with Fueled?

We asked for recommendations in our network and identified some of the top firms in the space. We started out with 25 or 30 leads from coast to coast. We eventually narrowed the list to 3 firms. We selected Fueled primarily from the previous work they had done. The time we spent communicating during the vetting process gave us a really good feeling about them. We decided we wanted to go with a provider on the east coast that could lend a hands-on approach. They were also able to do the project in the timeline we needed.

How much have you invested with Fueled?

We spent less than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in January 2017, and it was completed in June 2017. 

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

We will not be implementing their work until September because we wanted to build some additional features first. Everyone who’s seen Fueled’s work—including prospects, potential investors, and advertisers—has been extremely impressed with what they designed.

How did Fueled perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an excellent job. They were incredibly well-organized and efficient, and they always hit their deadlines. They were open to our input and suggestions but weren’t afraid to push back when they thought we should go in a different direction. We used Slack to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about Fueled?

We thought very highly of their process and the quality of their work. Their ability to communicate their ideas and designs was also impressive.

Are there any areas Fueled could improve?

The billing process was confusing. We worked through that, but there’s probably a more efficient way for them to handle this aspect. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a contract director of web communications for an education nonprofit. I was the overall project manager during our relationship with Fueled. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Fueled?

Our organization tries to be forward-looking in terms of how we serve our members. We didn’t necessarily have a specific business challenge; we wanted to see how we could better serve our members, and whether that could be through an app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Fueled to do an app review for us. We started with a very open-ended RFP, which was essentially, “Should we do an app?” We had a vague idea that it might support orientation, but we weren’t entirely convinced of that. We liked that Fueled was willing to walk us through a discovery process without necessarily trying to ramp us into app development right away. So, they really just did discovery for us.

We decided that we weren’t going to do an app. Being able to make that decision from a place of knowledge was a goal of our process. Based on what Fueled conveyed, and through that discovery process, we felt that an app wasn’t right for us. That sounds like a negative, but we actually consider it a positive because it put us in a better position. We had some of the best people consider the apps we might build, and we still thought it wasn’t a direction we wanted to go. It was an oddly positive outcome. We just don’t have a big enough membership base to merit spending 6 figures on app development.

I don’t think we had any developers assigned to our project, but we had user experience people and project managers. I would say we had up to 7 people involved from Fueled. We had a project manager and a project lead whom I heard from consistently. When we did our weekly sprint calls, there were often 5 people on the line.

How did you come to work with Fueled?

I found a number of app companies through a Google search. I interviewed about 5, and we ended up selecting Fueled because we really felt like they understood the problem we had.

How much have you invested with Fueled?

I think we did a 6-week sprint period. Since we paid for portions in advance, we got a slight discount. We paid their standard rate for a discovery sprint. I think we were in the $50,000–$200,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think my first conversation with Fueled was in July of 2016, and we kicked off the discovery process in the fall of that year. We finished the project in January or February of 2017. 

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

We had them come to DC from New York for our kickoff meeting, and they brought 3 or 4 people and had some people on the phone as well. In the multi-hour session, they asked a lot of questions about our members, what we offer, and what problems we saw. They were really trying to understand the business problems we wanted to solve. We were incredibly impressed by the research they had done in advance and the questions they asked during the meeting. It showed they’d done a lot of work, but it also showed how quickly they acclimatized to the needs of our organization. We were very impressed, and the meeting went well.

The second deliverable was the concepts they developed for us. They developed 3 different concepts for an app we could potentially use as a minimum viable product [MVP]. We ultimately liked all 3 concepts, although we favored 1 as the clear leader for us to pursue. Their discovery process kept going through iterations of what that might work for us. In the end, if we’d felt that enough people would have downloaded the concept, we would have done it. We had no problems with the app concept, but we were concerned with how many people would actually use it, as we’re a niche organization.

At no point did I feel like they just told us about this app we had to develop and gave us a price tag. They really worked with us to figure out concepts that could be made into an app, and they didn’t limit themselves. They were very nimble in their thinking.

How did Fueled perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Slack as the team chatroom. We did weekly sprints, which were very Agile, and we had weekly check-in calls. At first, we started with Google Hangouts, but nobody in my office knows how to use that. We moved to another tool, but sometimes the screen would freeze, so we worked on that throughout the process. I wish I had asked in the beginning for a more formal management process.

What did you find most impressive about Fueled?

My impression, and what I heard from reference checks, is that they really excel at the conceptual portion, as well as their emphasis on a minimum viable product. Although we never quite got there, I know that they really stress being able to pick a concept, build an MVP, and then learn from that.

Are there any areas Fueled could improve?

My only complaint about them is that during the check-in calls, they sometimes had a lot of background noise, and sometimes I wasn’t sure about the point of the call. I didn’t really know where my team was supposed to come in and make a decision. That might be because we’re a formal group and needed more structure. We would have liked the weekly check-in calls to feel a little more on-point. I always hung up unsure about what they wanted. Other than that, my team really enjoyed the whole process. We felt like we really had great people thinking about our needs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a mobile micro-donation platform that will ask people to donate $1, $2 or $3 to causes and current events. The thought being that if you share your donation with your network and encourage your friend to give, it can aggregate to a large amount of money. I am the Chief Operating Officer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fueled?

My background is in financial technology but I’m not a developer myself. We were able to put together a PowerPoint deck prototype but we didn’t have any development skills among the three of us. We raised half a million dollars out of the gate and we needed to start building the platform, so we engaged Fueled after a little bit of research, a vetting process, and an RFP [request for proposal] process amongst a couple different vendors here in New York.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through some design sprints with them. They were week-long sprints in which we had a project manager sit with us for multiple hours per week and sketch out the prototype and start to develop the requirements for the platform. The cool thing about Fueled that I really liked is we walked in there with a pretty grand idea and they helped us scale that into something that is more appropriate for an MVP [minimum viable product] and a first platform. We did about five of those week-long sprints. It probably took us about seven weeks in total with some delays. They also helped us do some research on what Apple allowed with regard to charitable donations and we worked with Fueled to come up with some alternative methods of donating that were within Apple’s scope of their development guidelines. Ultimately, we hand them the credit for helping us refine our product and build something that complies with Apple’s regulations.

How did you come to work with Fueled?

Interestingly enough, we started out with your generic Google search of best mobile app development firms in New York City and they came up first. I say interestingly enough because we’re now working with their digital marketing agency, Taktical, who was responsible for getting them top placement on Google. We tried to vet them as best we could, and we used Clutch. We saw some other reviews from some other places as well. The engagement started at end of June, beginning of July of last year and we finally brought the development in-house in late February of this year.

How much have you invested with Fueled?

We spent $535,000 for everything.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was completed. They went above and beyond what we expected them to do. They quoted us about $300,000 to $325,000 and we almost doubled that. A lot of that had to do with the fact that we wanted additional features that they didn’t think that we needed for an MVP, and we had talked ourselves into the fact that we did need them. Also, we did go through a whole bunch of rounds of rejection with Apple, where they rejected us for a whole multitude of reasons and we had to fix those reasons as we progressed through the life cycle. That obviously extended both the time of development and the cost of development with Fueled.

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

We just launched. I can tell you that it is a beautifully designed app and all of our investors and early adopters comment on how beautifully designed it is. Fueled is to credit with a lot of that design.

How did Fueled perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well from a project management standpoint, it wasn’t perfect but it was great. I think that their people are somewhat stretched, but our account manager never made us feel like we were a small-time client. You couldn’t call her any hour of the day or night and expect her to pick up but she was very responsive, very helpful, and just a pleasure to work with. The developers, the project managers, and the account managers are all exceptionally smart. There’s no dead weight in that company. They do a very good job of hiring smart people.

What did you find most impressive about Fueled?

They get it. They understand the demographic that we’re building this platform for. We’re going after millennials and they understand what millennials need. I also think they do a good job of helping you scale down to what’s actually required. Fueled is not cheap at the end of the day, and my one complaint with them is that they’re incredibly expensive compared to some of their competitors. But they do a good job of helping you spend your money wisely once you commit to going with that expensive option. They’re cool, they’re hip, and they’re a great brand. The people that are running the company are smart.

Are there any areas Fueled could improve?

We did have some concerns when we went through the multiple rounds of Apple rejection. We felt that they were somewhat responsible for guiding us down a path that got us rejected and caused us a couple of weeks of rework, but they were willing to help us alleviate the cost of some of this additional rework. Additionally, we had to work with three project managers over the course of our project. We were only there for six months so they had a pretty substantial turnover with a couple of key people. One thing I did like coming from a technical background is they provide a great deal of transparency. They gave me direct access through Slack to their frontend developer in India and their backend developer in New York. I had meetings directly with them without the account manager present. They let the clients have a good deal of freedom to talk to anybody on their team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is MysteryVibe. I am the Chief Executive Officer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fueled?

We wanted to make an app which drives our hardware. We make toys for women and we wanted to make an app which is very well designed and appeals to the public. It was a design problem that we wanted to solve.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created the entire design of the app as well as the build for iOS. They built everything from scratch.

How did you come to work with Fueled?

We found them by looking at a lot of award winning apps that they have built. We were looking for good apps that we already like and tried to find out who built them. That’s how we found them. Then we talked to them here in London. We have a London office, so we talked to them and then they produced it.

How much have you invested with Fueled?

We have spent $500,000.

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

In the nine months that it has been live, the app has been downloaded more than 150,000 times.

How did Fueled perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really good; they took ownership of everything. They managed everything. They don’t need much guidance and they’re very independent. They also take care of other elements of the app such as submission, and they do a very good job of it.

What did you find most impressive about Fueled?

They’re very diligent, they really care about UX and design. It’s very special and not many developers and designers think that well. It was a very good experience and we still work with them. I have nothing to say which isn’t good. Also, there are a lot of good programmers in their design component. We know a lot of good programmers but there are very few teams who design as well as Fueled.

Are there any areas Fueled could improve?

We hope it’s always faster but I think it’s part of any project. Things always take longer than we planned.

Please describe your organization.

We are a new app that just launched about a month ago [March 2016]. It provides information in terms of architecture, historical places, and tourist attractions around you.

What is your position?

I'm the founder and CEO.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Fueled?

I'm not a developer, so I needed a team to lead the development and design of my app.

On what platforms is it available?

It's only available on iOS right now.

How did you come to work with Fueled?

There is an app called QuizUp, which is literally my favorite app of all time. I like the functionalities, how it works, and how it never crashes. I did a little bit more research and found out that Fueled made QuizUp. Since it was my favorite app, I wanted to work with the company that built it. That's one of the reasons I contacted Fueled. Also, because of their designs and how they are well known in the industry of app developments. That's why I chose Fueled.

I did go to other agencies as well but, when I was at Fueled, I felt the innovation and the willingness – them wanting to work with you and develop something that people will use. The vibe and the energy that I got visiting  Fueled was much more exciting than while visiting other app development companies.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was around $50,000 to $200,000.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

So far, I haven't done much marketing because the product right now is just in minimum viable product. I haven't included all the features that I envisioned yet.

I'm just going around and meeting with people and getting some feedback – what do you want to see, and what don't you want to see – so I don't have much in terms of metrics to share.

What distinguishes Fueled from other providers?

Fueled's communication is good.

Is there anything Fueled could have improved or done differently?

In the project, there were notification issues that would have been great if that issue didn't happen. If you were to download the app and walk around New York City, you got many notifications for many points of interest, and that was annoying for users. That's something that should have been caught up front, but that's the only thing. It's alright because we'll probably fix it in next version.

Please describe your organization.

I work for Verizon Wireless. I do national operations, and when working with Fueled I actually did national retail operations.

What is your position?

I’m the Associate Director within the National Operations Department.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Fueled?

At the time, we were working towards creating an instore mobile experience for customers that would be unique to the store, utilizing Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology. We were able to create what I'd say was the initial shell of an instore experience. For example, we already have a parent app “My Verizon Mobile”. When we initially rolled out with our beta, we put some beacons in the store; we rarely use the Wi-Fi access points in the store.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

What we wanted Fueled to do was take it to the next level in terms of not just triggering things you can do like checking in and scanning products, but to create more of an experience of going to the store. At the same time, letting customers feel more engaged with the store and the products available.

How did you come to work with Fueled?

I actually was the person that selected Fueled. We looked at a host of different companies. The challenge we found at the time was finding someone that had experience with Bluetooth Beacons and having an understanding of how that would work.

While seeing other companies, some were really good doing video; some were really good with creating a holistic on-the-go app. What it really came down to, in terms of not just styling choices, but the knowledge, Fueled really fit the bill for what we were looking for when building apps. Seeing some of the innovation and creative ways that they approached different apps for different companies is really what helped make the decision to move forward with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

When it initially started we were in the low range, and based on the work and liking what we were seeing, we went above $50,000.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I wanted to make sure our original IT team helped build it so they could help manage it in the future. The partnership with Fueled was a real collaborative effort. They were patient in terms of working with us and understanding we had some strong ideas about the vision in terms of what we wanted. They were very creative in terms of giving different options. Fueled was really instrumental in helping us tailor the experience that we were looking for. They were a really strong partner in terms of helping us go back and forth on the drawing board, and boiling down what we were trying to do and then making sure it was the simplest, easiest way a customer could go about doing it.

What distinguishes Fueled from other providers?

When we were doing this, we had an extremely aggressive timeline with very limited resources to get it done. We literally ended up having daily calls every morning to make sure to drive it forward. They were great in terms of not just coordinating our project leader, but the design team members as well, from different areas throughout the business. They did a great job.

Is there anything Fueled could have improved or done differently?

We had some passionate discussions in terms of trying find the right approach. That was actually a really good thing. Everybody had strong ideas on what the best approach would be and how to do it. Fueled did a good job of letting us know if they thought we might be steering in the wrong direction, giving pushback when needed, but bringing that pushback and explaining the theory behind why the approach we might be going for might not be the best approach.

Please describe your organization.

Our app is a merger of a commission-free trading platform with a social platform.

What is your position?

I'm the CEO.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Fueled?

We outsourced our app development to Fueled. They handled the entirety of the development process.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Currently, it's just on iOS. It's in the alpha testing period right now. We're planning to release it for Android also.

How did you come to work with Fueled?

We looked at a few agencies. We partnered with Fueled. Their venture wing made an investment in us and that was part of the reason we partnered with them. We also got a great feel from going to their office. We met with the team, and it seemed like the right fit for us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our project with Fueled was $200,000-plus.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

This is a finance product and it was a complicated build. You're obviously dealing with people's money, so you can't make many mistakes. The front end was not intensive, but the back-end was. We were bringing together a bunch of different partners, and it was a complex build from that perspective. Fueled handled it well.

What distinguishes Fueled from other providers?

Fueled's creativity is probably the biggest thing that stands out to me in terms of branding and the product itself.

Is there anything Fueled could have improved or done differently?

We're not completely done, but from what's gone on so far, not really. I think the process went well.

Please describe your company.

We’re a mobile application for discovering upscale nightlife events in international destinations from Las Vegas and New York to London, Paris, and Dubai. It allows members to book reservations, so we have a concierge team that handles those reservations. I’m a tech guy. I’ve been dealing with software for 10 or 12 years and I’ve partnered with somebody who’s been in nightlife for 25 years, so it’s a unique combination, and I think we have a real winner here with the app.

What is your role and responsibilities?

Co-founder.

What was your goal for working with Fueled?

Given that it’s a luxury lifestyle type of industry and market, we needed to be seen as a luxury brand and a leader in the field. We’re dealing with very discerning demographics. The people that go out and book $10,000 tables, they don’t want to look at a cheaply designed app. For those people, their most precious commodity is their time, it’s not their money. So, we designed a very simple and easy to use app that looks opulent from the very beginning. So, that’s why I partnered with Fueled.

Originally, a year and a half ago, the project [had a different name], and we’ve gone through a couple phases already, and this is the latest iteration. The scope of the project has changed a bit with that shift as well. The original concept was a little broader, and we really narrowed down the scope of what the app does. So, it’s really about discovering two to three events per night now, and then being able to book a table. Before it was a little broader, but it’s gone through a few iterations, and now we’re doing really well. Two weeks ago, we had an event with Lenny Kravitz and Katie Holmes. 

Please describe the scope of their work.

They designed and developed the iOS application. They also designed the Android version. Due to time constraints, I had my own guys develop the Android app. They have not done a Web version, but we’re looking to have Fueled do the design of our Web platform, and we’re sitting down this week to discuss what the scope of the website will be, whether that’s a full booking platform, or just a company biography.

They’re involved in the strategy phase as well, and they’re quite good at that. They didn’t understand everything about the nightlife industry, but they had a pretty good handle on it the first time I sat down with them. They understood quite a bit about what the app would need to be. I think Fueled is really good at that strategy phase, in helping startups determine what exactly the product market fit should be. It’ll need a little more work afterwards, once you get feedback from users, but I think they get it off a good start.

What was your process for selecting Fueled with which to work?

I was referred by Matt Murphy, he’s the co-founder of lemon.com as well as several other companies. He’s a really good friend of mine. I had a few things I was working on a couple years ago, and he referred me to Fueled about a year and a half ago. He sent me a couple firm names, but he said Fueled was his favorite.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

Given that it’s lasted a couple of years, it’s definitely more than $200,000. Included in that amount is several iterations of the app, plus they’ve done other branding work for us. 

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

The response for the design is phenomenal, extremely sleek, and opulent. People love the design, functionality, and simplicity. So I think we got what we were looking for.

User feedback from the app has been great, we had a few glitches but nothing major. We’re growing. Just yesterday, we got more than a thousand new users, so we’re growing quite quickly.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I think that Fueled does a good job at development, design, and strategy. They understand a lot of different markets, and they’re able to help you find a good product market fit.

Their design talent was great, I think they’re good at finding the right approach. They understand that it’s more about finding a minimum viable product than giving the user a thousand different features that they get frustrated by and eventually stop using it. I think they’re great for startups. They’ll make sure the money you are spending isn’t going towards features or functionality that’s never going to be used.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

That’s a tough one because everybody plays a part. Our project was not typical because we lost more than two years, and we changed the scope of the work, and other problems popped up. It may have made more sense for us to have extra developers working on our side that could turn around little patches quicker, but that’s not a criticism of Fueled, it’s just the way the project turned out.

What was the goal going into the project?

We had a well-planned out idea that just needed a group of top-notch developers to implement. 

How did you discover Fueled?

We were referred to Fueled by a friend of the owner of the company.

What was the scope of the project?

We approached Fueled with an initial set of wireframes and concepts. Fueled created a more detailed set of wireframes, completed the visual design, and coded the entire backend of the application. Finally, Fueled also developed a website frontend that mimics the mobile app's functionality. The entire process took about nine weeks. 

What were the results of the project?

The application has been received great reviews from media outlets and consumers alike. Since there hasn't been an app like this created before, many people were amazed that something like this was possible to create. 

What is unique about Fueled?

Fueled provided us with a single point of contact for communication and to deal with any issues. This made communication very consistent during the entire project. Fueled produced everything in-house, and can offer a full suite of understanding, giving the application a consistent look and feel.

Is there anything that Fueled could improve?

Since they have a very high workload, they are sometimes a bit stretched, and projects can take a little extra time.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Product Manager overseeing the internal side of the SDLC.

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

We contracted Fueled to build our organization's first mobile app. It is a considerably complex undertaking. The application is a multi-platform series of gamified lessons, complete with CMS, and a parent portal.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Fueled for their demonstrated expertise, customer service level, and assurance that we would receive expert guidance through release and post-release.

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

We built the app using Flutter. We had one design/discovery sprint, then several development sprints, and concluded with testing/release sprints. The key deliverables were a software architecture document, designs in Figma (Games, global elements, and non-playable content) test builds, and weekly progress updates.

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

Project Manager, Product Manager, Solutions Architect, (2) Product Designers, (2)Back End and (3)Front End Developers, QA Tester

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

N/A

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

Agile style, used Slack for comms, and shared resourcing plans and timelines via Google Slides

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

The level of expertise. The Fueled team was very flexile and creative. It was apparent that they understood our goal, and helped us find ways (some of which we had not considered) to achieve it.

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

Overall, our engagement with Fueled has been very positive. There aren't any areas where the glaringly need improvement, in my experience with them thus far.