GeekyAnts

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Sprive, a mobile fintech application that we’re looking to launch in the UK to help homeowners pay off their mortgages.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GeekyAnts?

We needed someone to develop the MVP of our mobile app in React Native and a mobile backend in Node.js.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We partnered with them from a development perspective. We engage a different company to do our branding and another company to design our wireframes. We came to GeekyAnts with a bunch of wireframes. GeekyAnts took those and designed the backend and frontend interactions. They built the app based on those wireframes.

What is the team composition?

There’s an engineering manager/architect, a React Native frontend developer, and a Node.js backend developer.

How did you come to work with GeekyAnts?

We knew we wanted to develop a full JavaScript tech stack of React Native and Node.js. We were looking for an agency to help build this. Our COO is in India, so part of our strategy was looking for someone in that time zone if not in India directly. We also looked at a couple of agencies in Ukraine. 

After weighing the initial proposals, we settled on GeekyAnts because they looked as if they were thought leaders in this space, especially around React Native. They have a bunch of open-source contributions in this space. They seemed to have a very good public profile, and they fit into our budget. It also helped that they were in the same city as our COO.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the product has been excellent. Since we’re new to the fintech space in the UK, quality is of the utmost importance to us. We were essentially looking to launch alongside some very high-profile apps that are getting a lot of publicity. It was critical that the quality of the build felt really good. We’ve gotten some feedback from early testers saying that it feels like a quality application. I’m very pleased with the quality of their work.

How did GeekyAnts perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, project management has been excellent. We defined a fixed scope of work, and my team put together a bunch of user stories alongside some wireframes that we did in Adobe XD. The engineering manager took those and broke down the requirements into more technical specifications. 

We collaborated using Google Drive, Draw.io, and architecture diagrams. We had daily standups using Google Meet, and we worked in 2–3-week sprints. They’d get us a build each week. We adopted the principle of the demo as frequently as possible.

Communication was excellent, and even the junior developers were forthcoming with their communication. Most of our communication was over Slack. Everyone felt comfortable sending messages in the channel directly to my colleagues or me. I’m very pleased with the way the project was managed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team went the extra mile to make sure that they really understood the problem we’re trying to solve. They got up to speed really quickly with the industry. They understood what we were trying to achieve from the ground up, which is helping users pay off their mortgages and become mortgage-free. They took our vision and showed a lot of enthusiasm. They went very far to ensure that they delivered on time. If there were any bugs, they fixed them. They understood the requirements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The way that we worked evolved over time. It was really important to us that the communication was always flowing; that was always a high standard from day one. I wouldn’t say there’s much to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try and get as much detail down on paper as you can about your requirement. Have a good idea of what you’re asking them to build. This ultimately helps them to estimate out, and it will help you ensure that what they’re building is to spec. 

They’re trying to become thought leaders in the whole mobile engineering space; they’ve been at the forefront of React Native development, but they’re also starting to look at Flutter, an emerging technology. They’ve got some really enthusiastic and bright individuals at their company. Any company approaching them should go there with an open mind and be willing to hear their ideas. They have lots of experience and projects under their belt. Don’t shy away from having really deep technical discussions; I’ve enjoyed doing that with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Chief Business Officer at I.AM+ responsible for commercial delivery of AI-enabled products and services. Founded by innovator and global music artist will.i.am, i.am+ is a Hollywood-based technology company whose mission is to create technology hits that create a ripple effect across pop culture. Our vision is to create a community of creatives and coders and believe that through music and technology as the first step, we can usher in a powerful new era built on AI.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

We hired Flutter developers from GeekyAnts to augment our existing team. Given there is a growing demand for Flutter and limited experienced resources, we were looking for candidates that could be productive from the onset, which GeekyAnts were able to provide.

What were your goals for this project?

Goal of the projects was to develop multiple apps using Flutter on top of I.AM+ AI technology/platform. Meeting quality and time dead-lines have been the key objectives so far which GeekyAnts has been performing well against

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Reviewed the rating here in Clutch which led to us interviewing candidates from their pool.

Describe the project in detail.

We are building multiple Flutter apps that take benefit of I.AM+ AI and voice technology. Details are confidential at present - but hopefully you will hear about I.AM+ and the service we are launching from June 2020 onwards.

What was the team composition?

Started with 1.5 developers, extended to 2.5 developers and we now have 3.5 developers sourced from GeekyAnts. The lead developer is spending half of their time managing the deliverables of the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project is still ongoing but so far, the team at GeekyAnts is performing well. They have been open to offering improved rates as we grow the team which allows us to continue using their services on a long term basis.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In comparison to other agencies, GeekyAnts provided half time of their team lead resource which made the onboarding and ongoing work more seamless. Having a team lead at the agency is key and this has been instrumental in the work so far.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were quick to highlight issues which showed they were interested to help the project succeed which is rare in most agencies you hire

Are there any areas for improvement?

Reduction in rate is always an area of improvement since we are also a startup but GeekyAnts has already take some steps with recent hire we brought on board. The other area could have been more availability of their team lead resource which so far has only been available 50% of time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a helicopter company with operations across Canada. My role in this initiative is project director and I am entirely responsible for the development and implementation of the project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

With over 60 aircraft, we were using purely paper-based operations systems to manage the entire company. With $10s of millions in annual sales, it was expensive, labour-intensive, riddled with errors, and couldn't scale.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was a complete digital transformation whereby every employee would use AirOps on a daily basis, regardless of location, for most business operations.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were specifically looking for a vendor that had significant experience in Flutter and React (or VueJS). In particular, what was attractive about this vendor was their community involvement in Flutter, their deep experience, and their history of contributing to the Flutter project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We build an iOS and Android app using Flutter, A web app using React, a backend system using Aqueduct (Dart) and Postgres, and a BI/Reporting system using JSReport.

What was the team composition?

Although we initially started with 1, and then 2 mobile developers, we eventually scaled up to a stable team of 6 people. That team consisted of 1 technical lead, 2 mobile Flutter developers, 1 backend (Aqueduct, Dart, Postgres) developer, 1 Web React developer and 1 BI/Reporting developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The entire platform (all 4 systems) was completed in 4 short months. The result is a beautiful and highly effective digital solution that is used by every employee. The company is now able to run their entire operations through a single digital solution, greatly reducing errors, significantly reducing costs and labour, and allowing the company to grow more efficiently. This solution has completely transformed their operations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Working with Slack, Trello, GitHub and other tools, the project flowed very well. Ongoing communication was clear, concise and constructive and the team worked very well together. We used Agile processes including a daily standup and weekly sprints. Sprints were completed on time and every epic and feature was delivered exactly to spec (or so close that only minor changes were needed). Additionally, features were delivered bug-free and error-free.

The team maintained a high standard and consistently delivered quality results. As project director, this was the most complex project I have managed, yet it has been the best and most trouble-free project I have been involved in. This is due to the quality of the team, the quality of their work, and the personal ownership that they took in the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team is intelligent and responsive. They anticipated potential problems and recommended solutions. This a rare skill. Furthermore, aviation is a complicated domain, but the team took little time in understanding it and becoming proficient in this domain. Also impressive was their personal commitment to the project's quality and success.

Additionally, and in a more general sense, GeekyAnts provided support outside of the project itself with such things are scaling the team and resource flexibility, legal documents and engagement commitments and other similar things. They made my life easier and I was well taken care of; GeekAnts cared and wanted to make sure I was happy and the project would be a success.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No areas to improve. I want to work with GeekyAnts forever, on all sorts of projects!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The group is a nonprofit that specializes in educating the public on the real contents of the consumable goods they purchase every day.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

Website development of a new version of the website.

What were your goals for this project?

Launch a user-friendly updated website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

a previous employee set up this contract.

Describe the project in detail.

I inherited this project in the last 3 months of the project. Once we were able to establish a clear cadence of communication the project was completed quickly.

What was the team composition?

I think many of the team members rotated in and out of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully launched a new website at the beginning of April.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Once we understood that they needed specific and detailed instructions, it was easy to communicate the needs for the website.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I did appreciate that they adjusted their hours to make sure we could have live conversations at least once per business day.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are finding that the back-end programming of the website does not allow for easy changes. One of the reasons our contract ended with them is because we hired an in-house web developer, and his ability to update and modify this website has been a challenge. Also, the embedded search engine (I'm not sure how picked it) is quite expensive for a nonprofit, and the way the website was built causes much more than necessary "search" requests - driving up the cost of the resource.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Twirl was an idea I conceived of and I funded its development for 2020.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

Twirl is a mobile, social app. A small group of us began development on Flutter in the last half of 2019, but we were not as productive as we would have liked. After a thorough search for vendors, I found Geeky Ants, a Flutter specialist. We hired GA to essentially re-build and finish Twirl.

What were your goals for this project?

We had hoped to build the entire app for deployment in both iOS and Android stores.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our primary focus was to find Flutter developers. There, GA seemed to have good credentials. Next, we spoke with key team leaders to understand how their team works and what communication we could expect. We also gauged their ability to understand high level concepts and key build choices in Twirl. We found their understanding and communication to be excellent.

Describe the project in detail.

Decline to describe the project aside from a social, mobile application.

What was the team composition?

The team composition at GeekyAnts included a primary developer and a primary client manager. On occasion, GA added specialized resources for design or back-end architecture.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is 95% complete and GeekyAnts also did a good job through Q&A and communication with Trello.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was good. we leveraged Slack and Trello well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team really did not fail to understand or deliver a feature.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Q&A really improved during the back half of our relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Free Press Journal is one of the oldest English Daily newspapers from Mumbai with a heritage of more than 90 years. Also, one of the leading media house in the digital world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

We were in need of a Corporate Corner, where our partner firms can see their press releases and different corporate events under one roof.

What were your goals for this project?

To have a single window option for the Corporates to have a look at their PR and different events.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were referred to us by our backend support team.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Service included development of our page on desktop and different responsive, testing, deploying on our current website, taking care of the all the integration between newly created frontend and already available backend, and also making design minimalistic for end user.

What was the team composition?

Team consisted of 1 senior and 1 junior developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Yes, we can have all our corporate articles, press releases and media events in the single page. This has help us to get confidence of our previous Corporate partners and get us some new as well.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Daily meeting and checks were carried out, Day-to-day reports were sent to us, new ideas were pitched to make our webpage more attractive and user friendly. Weekly UI/UX meeting along with seniors were conducted.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Professionalism, they take their deadline seriously. Unlike other IT companies where deadline is always issue, GeekyAnts were always ahead of the deadline and this has helped us to carry testing on our end as well. Delivered project was exactly what we have asked.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing as such.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a real estate tech startup based in Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

GeekyAnts provides full-time engineers to work with us on ongoing initiatives across our tech stack.

What were your goals for this project?

We are consistently building new features, and we hired GeekyAnts to help us rapidly accelerate our pace.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had long used the NativeBase UI library, which GeekyAnts built internally. We felt they’d be a great option, considering that they had built such a popular framework.

Describe the project in detail.

Providing engineers to work alongside us on an ongoing basis.

What was the team composition?

Initially 2 full-time full stack engineers, and 1 part-time team lead. The team lead no longer works directly with us, as the 2 engineers integrated well on their own, and we work directly with them on code reviews and prioritization.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten a substantial amount of positive feedback about all of the work we’ve done with the GeekyAnts team.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We work very well with the team. It took very little time for them to contribute significantly, and despite a significant time difference, our output and pace with them is quite high.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were very impressed with the professionalism of the entire team. It took them just a short amount of time to get up to speed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It took us a bit of time to make sure we were writing tasks in a detailed-enough way to be effective, but I think that was really an internal issue. Before that, we would have more back and forth about specific features, but that is going quite well at this point.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder of Chant, an app for soccer supporters groups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

MVP app development to launch the business

What were your goals for this project?

Build and launch the MVP and find a partner for ongoing app development

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After selecting the tech stack (Flutter + Firebase) I interviewed 8 off-shore partners with each completing a proposal, a questionnaire (to confirm skillset, billable experience of the team, development approach, etc) and an interview with the team members.

Describe the project in detail.

The project began with my delivery of a very detailed requirements document and the graphic design elements. The Geekyants team digested the requirements and asked a wide range of questions to ensure alignment. After daily check-ins to build a rapport and validate the requirements, we used a combination of Slack and video chat to communicate as needed. Private test builds were delivered, and together we explored solutions for navigating the many refinements associated with building any application. Geekyants was always eager to build the best possible product, kept the end customer in mind, was conscious of budget and timeline, and quickly turned into trusted partners.

What was the team composition?

A senior technical architect, Flutter/Firebase app developers, React developers and quality assurance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is now in the hands of the leadership of Chant's first customers and has received a great response for hitting the mark.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The combination of Hangouts, Slack, Trello and Google Docs was an effective combination. The team checked in each morning when I came online with a status update, insightful questions, and thoughtful recommendations. The distance and time difference had minimal impact on the project efficiency and quality.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Having run delivery for a US digital consultancy, I was confident from my first encounter that Geekyants had a quality culture and a quality team that takes pride in their work. Their dedication to the project and always doing the right thing was exceptional.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing beyond the normal, daily idiosyncrasies that every project team encounters and works through (learning each others style, communications preferences, establishing priorities, etc). The company culture appears solid so my belief is that each project team would be very consistent.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Geekee Company Limited has over 10 years of experience in developing and maintaining dating related websites and mobile applications. I am the Chief Executive Officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

We hired GeekyAnts to build our dating application from scratch.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to offer a platform for our members that prefer mobile applications over our mobile websites.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have searched for the best Flutter Developers and therefore ended up with GeekyAnts.

Describe the project in detail.

We needed a mobile application besides our web application. The mobile application consists of features such as browsing through members, searching using filters, tinder-like swiping and instant messaging.

What was the team composition?

I have been in contact with the project manager(s), UI and several developers. They have been great in communication with me as well as my own team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within a few days we had over 1000 downloads, without advertising our application. Soon we will market the application to the masses. Stress tests were successful and the application is ready.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was easy. Usually via Skype by text or phone call, other times by e-mail.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

GeekyAnts is well organized and very patient. A lot of requirements changed in the process and they have been very understanding.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The initial estimation of the cost of development was significantly lower than what we ended up with, however, this was partly due new requirements. Still, the initial quotation could have been a little more realistic.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of PopSmartKids Inc, an edtech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GeekyAnts?

I needed to hire an external resource to lead mobile app development. 

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted to develop a prototype of my digital storytelling app, and get it ready for a subscription price model.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Geeky Ants through a Google search for experts in the React Native development space. I liked that their CEO and other members of the team have some cool content out there on React Native, including videos.

Describe the project in detail.

GeekyAnts first created a prototype of my mobile app. Subsequently, they added additional features and are currently implementing a subscription pricing model.

What was the team composition?

We work with a program manager and a software engineer on a daily basis. We were also assigned an account manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team at GeekyAnts is highly responsive and collaborative. The quality of their work is superb. They work closely with us to make sure that the product adheres to our requirements. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have a wonderful understanding and flow of information between our teams. GeekyAnts always does a good job of communicating with us, and their estimates are always on point.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their quality of work is most impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, there are no areas for improvement that jump out.