Gennovacap Technology

Please describe your company and your position there.

I manage the development of internal product tools that assist our prototyping teams in producing advanced supply chain applications using blockchain, AI, and robotics. 

For what projects/services did your company hire Gennovacap Technology?

We worked with them to create a project management dashboard tool to manage all of our venture projects. 

What were your goals for this project?

By iterating each week, we wanted to create a lean initial version of the tool with multiple components to facilitate easy future development. 

How did you select this vendor?

I had heard the founder and CEO speak many times at tech events and was impressed by his thinking and product development approach.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

We designed the app’s UX and UI while Gennovacap completed all necessary development for a functioning web platform. They were excellent technical partners for bringing a design to fruition within a rapid build cycle.  

What was the team composition?

One project manager and two engineers made up the refreshingly lean group of specialists.

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

Thanks to this tool, we will now be able to handle three times our previous project volume. Moreover, its design allows us to evolve and scale over time.  

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Using our preferred tools, we felt constantly connected. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Because they understand both business and technology, they go beyond the technical specifications to actually help you think through the UX and business implications of design changes or upgrade.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I wish we could have started the project sooner!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a startup developing a platform for the do-it-yourself youth coach. We provide curriculums, workouts, and education for parents, teachers, and coaches. I’m the founder of the company. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Gennovacap Technology?

We needed to get to an MVP. Gennovacap Technology got us off the ground and gave us suggestions on what stack to use and how to implement features and prioritize them, creating an initial MVP through which we could start validating concepts. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

I didn’t provide them with a lot of detail. I only wanted for the platform to be scalable and start off with a good stack. Gennovacap Technology suggested using Ruby on Rails, which was the right choice. We’re continuing to build on the work started by Gennovacap Technology, and things like React Native allow us to use the same backend for a mobile version.

The platform was not very complicated, but it was a cumbersome concept. We needed to nest information with curriculums inside of curriculums, arranged into weeks and days. This made it a bit complicated to come up with a flexible solution. We had to be able to build a full workout curriculum, take requests for custom ones, and either match existing curriculums or create new ones based on the requests. On top of that, we needed to implement and load video content without slowing down the app.

In one sense we were building a product to meet a particular business model—or at least a hypothesis of what that model should be. We built some features in order to match some initial objectives. I was looking to charge for the MVP version and determine what people would be willing to pay. Gennovacap Technology had a good business background and was able to help build our tech from a bottom-line standpoint.

How did you come to work with Gennovacap Technology?

We met Gennovacap Technology at a WeWork co-working space. We worked on a couple of unrelated projects with them on behalf of a client and built a good, trusting relationship. We went from there.

How much have you invested with Gennovacap Technology?

The cost of Gennovacap’s work was between $15,000 and $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Gennovacap Technology in November of 2015. The project ended in January of 2016. I have since moved to another city and switched my strategy, going more bootstrapped. As a startup, I can only invest so much into a full-scale agency. 

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

Since we started building the project internally, we’ve reached around 2,000 users from over 70 countries. It’s hard to say how much of this is attributable to Gennovacap Technology. We have some paying customers, but we’re still pre-revenue, as there are some freemium functionalities and pricing models that we’re sampling.

The MVP built by Gennovacap Technology helped us validate a few things. We were able to test some pricing models and attract people who actually paid for our functionalities. We then changed our pricing plan based on what we thought would be more scalable. We learned a lot from this process.

As a bootstrap startup founder, I need to stretch the dollar. I’ve learned a lot of Rails myself, and Reza [Piri, Founder] has actually helped me code. I was able to be more proactive this way, in terms of design and code, and have saved a lot of money. Gennovacap is expensive because the company works with more established clients, but they have helped me get a return through education.

How did Gennovacap Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

I only worked with Reza, so I don’t know what the backend team composition was. The project management style was a sort of hybrid and pretty agile, but we definitely needed to know what we were building. As someone building a startup product, I saw rapid changes, and it was difficult for me not to know what people would be latching on to in order to give detailed requirements. Gennovacap’s style is a mix between an agile startup and a more enterprise-level small business, almost waterfall. They were flexible in the sense of trying to maintain quality code while dealing with my changing requirements.

I never had an issue with communication. Gennovacap Technology is very responsive, on-task, and proactive.

What did you find most impressive about Gennovacap Technology?

They’re good at taking an idea from a non-technical person (which I was at the time), running with it, and building fast. I was happy with the result. Whatever I assigned to Gennovacap, they built.

Are there any areas Gennovacap Technology could improve?

Because I was bootstrapping the startup and didn’t have prototypes or a lot of validation, my requirements were changing often. Gennovacap is better at working with established clients or people who know exactly what they want and don’t have changing requirements. As far as building an MVP goes, their team is better suited for larger clients than me, which is probably a good thing on their end.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Gennovacap Technology?

Before starting the work, focus on the design and have something down in terms of UX and UI. Conceptualize with some basic prototyping tools like InVision or Adobe XD and get the initial kinks out before writing any code. This is standard advice. Because Gennovacap Technology is very efficient, clients shouldn’t waste time building solutions they don’t actually want. If I’d been more organized and tested my idea ahead of time, we would have probably been a bit more efficient and could have maximized our time. We were making it up as we went, which goes with trying to move very fast. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have two skin care locations in the Texas area, as well as a product line consisting of 45 SKUs, which are sold directly to consumers through our website. I’m the CEO of the company. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Gennovacap Technology?

Our website was originally built by a New York developer. We had relocated our corporate office to Austin and were looking for a local partner who could maintain our website and blog. This eventually led to Gennovacap building a new website for us, more recently. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our old website was built on the Spree platform. It wasn’t supported anymore, so we had challenges whenever we needed to make a new enhancement. It was proving to be more aggravation than it was worth, so Gennovacap suggested we get on the Shopify platform. I hesitated at first since it was a big investment, and we could have gotten one or two years out of the existing website. I’m glad that we ended up switching over, though, because the new platform ended up being a great fit.

We have a decent amount of traffic on the site and have been running the e-commerce store for a long time. Unlike a website for a startup, we had 18 years’ worth of URLs which needed to be accounted for. Gennovacap did a great job of providing a seamless move to the new platform.

How did you come to work with Gennovacap Technology?

I found Gennovacap through a Google search while looking for someone who had experience with the technology used by our previous website so that there would be less of a learning curve. Many decisions are made on a gut feeling, and Gennovacap seemed to have a lot of experience. They had their finger on the pulse of all things digital.

How much have you invested with Gennovacap Technology?

The cost of Gennovacap’s work for our new site was $118,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Gennovacap in February 2016. They continue to maintain our website and blog. We've launched the new page, but it still requires some tweaks and enhancements. 

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

I would say that since the new website launched, we’ve been looking at a 20% increase in sales. We are quite pleased with that.

The main thing is that our new platform offers a better mobile experience. This was a result of Gennovacap’s suggestions. They also helped with heatmapping and other tactics for understanding our customers’ behavior better.

How did Gennovacap Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

We never know what a relationship will be like until we get into the nitty-gritty. On the initial meeting, everyone will be on their best behavior; but, once we get down to it and there are deadlines put in place, organized project management will really come into place, as well as working with a team of people who can handle the pressure. Gennovacap’s project management was great, and there was a lot of communication. We couldn’t have been happier with them. We’ve had a successful launch, and there were only a few minor glitches at the end of the day—significantly fewer than with our previous relaunch using the New York company.

The collaboration was mostly virtual. Our main contact from Gennovacap is local, and he came to our office on a number of occasions. We had meetings and whiteboarded things, but much of the work was also done via FaceTime, phone, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about Gennovacap Technology?

The most important things were Gennovacap’s communication and availability. Whenever we reached out to them, there was a sense of urgency and promptness on Gennovacap’s side. My main lead was a very good communicator, which is important. He was reachable on weekends and evenings, especially leading up to the launch when we were working around the clock. We were never left hanging or waiting on a response. If we hadn’t communicated well, things would have fallen through the cracks; if the developer was not taking the project seriously, that would also have been a problem.

At the end of the day, every person has strengths and weaknesses, and no one can be an expert at everything. I appreciated the fact that Gennovacap has a number of experts on the team, all with expertise in different areas. For example, for our WordPress blog, we could work with an expert in the platform. I felt like we didn’t have one person trying to do everything but rather worked with several go-to people.

Are there any areas Gennovacap Technology could improve?

Our finance person kept trying to estimate how much we were spending on development since Gennovacap worked on an hourly basis. It’s difficult for a developer to provide a quote on how long something will take, as they often don’t know this until they’re working on it. If there’s a glitch, they will have to fix that as well. We’ve had to bring in the main contact from Gennovacap, sit down with the finance person on our end, and get on the same page as to what the costs were. More initial transparency about the expectations of cost and how the world of development works would be an improvement. We would have wanted more upfront communication about our invoices, what we could expect, and how that could tie with our ROI. 

Please describe your organization.

Team Austin is a nonprofit providing educational and networking events for the city of Austin.

What is your position?

I founded the company with one other person and currently serve as the vice president.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Gennovacap Technology?

As our organization grew, the WordPress website that we had became harder to manage. We needed custom-built portions on the site, such as a membership portal for managing auto-renewing and one-time memberships, so we wouldn't have to do those processes manually. The entire back-end portal for registered members also needed development in different areas. We had pieced together a solution within the WordPress platform, but it wasn't delivering a good user experience, and it was hard to identify all the benefits that customers could have.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We approached Gennovacap with our problem, namely that we were using seven or eight services in order to provide just one service and needed a complete solution.

We were using a blend of plug-ins on our WordPress site, including one called Paid Memberships Pro. We also used content restriction and forum plug-ins. We needed to protect and encode pages and pull in information from other sources like events websites.

Gennovacap custom-built our new site using Ruby on Rails, incorporating all our solutions into one and developing scripts for pulling information from external sources and automatically placing them into the page. Before, we needed to apply 10 hours of manual work per week for the same tasks.

Gennovacap wrapped our membership fees into one tool, which was huge for us. We used to run into issues with upgraded accounts. Permissions wouldn't be applied correctly, so we'd have to intervene manually. Gennovacap bundled the system together, making it work as a unified platform and allowing users to manage their own accounts.

How did you come to work with Gennovacap Technology?

I'd known of Gennovacap for a while. I met them through various business networking events in Austin, and I had actually referred several people to Gennovacap before I used them myself. When the time came to pull the trigger, I had a chat with Gennovacap's principal [CEO Reza Piri]. Since we were a nonprofit, he helped us quite a bit in terms of cost.

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

The total cost of our development with Gennovacap was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the brainstorming process with Gennovacap in October 2015. The work was started in March 2016, and our product went live in June.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I haven't gathered much feedback from users, but the work done by Gennovacap has saved our internal staff 10 to 15 hours of additional work per week. This alone has been worth the effort for us. Our team is mostly comprised of people running side businesses, so they don't have much time.

The user flow has a unique feel, which is great for our organization's branding. Being able to offer a product that doesn't feel like it was pieced together has added a lot of value for us.

How did Gennovacap Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

Gennovacap performed great in this respect. I didn't have to manage anything, and everything was delivered on time with no setbacks. As long as I don't have to be bogged-down with day-to-day things, I am happy.

What distinguishes Gennovacap Technology from other providers?

Not being a technical person, it's always been hard for me to communicate issues with developers. Gennovacap's principal is a developer, but he also speaks business very well. It was easy to convey what our goal was, without being bogged down in technical details. Gennovacap was able to craft a solution around our needs, compared to other developers, which required writing everything down exactly as it was going to be created. Gennovacap has been able to adapt to our organization very well.

Is there anything Gennovacap Technology could have improved or done differently?

No. It was great working with Gennovacap. They delivered exactly what we wanted quickly and the price was right.

Please provide a description of your company. 

We operate residential care facilities for seniors.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the director of Internet marketing.

What was your goal for working with Gennovacap?

We were trying to find a new WordPress developer to help with our blog.

Please describe the scope of their work.

The scope of the work was pretty much just WordPress development. Tasks included working on our geo-mapping, new Web forms, implementation with some of our analytics platforms, basic template design, and implementation.

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

I’ve known Reza [Piri, CEO of Gennovacap] for several years through other colleagues and friends that have done work with him. He has a great reputation.

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

I can tell you that their rate is around $110 an hour, which is really competitive in their market.

What were the results of the project?

The results have been positive. Gennovacap has very good developers. If something comes up that they haven’t done before, they're quick to dig in and figure things out. It’s been great for us. 

The new site was launched within three months, and our relationship is ongoing as they continue to provide support.

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

Not that we can share at this time.

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

I think communication is what sets Reza and his team apart. He’s quick to hop on Skype or Google Circle Chat, and talk us through anything and everything. When you talk to him, it’s not just emails or phone calls; it’s screen sharing, and walking us through things, and really teaching us and explaining things to us. He’s very detailed and methodical about how he collects and relays information. It can be hard to find that with other developers.

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?

I guess the size of his shop. We get a great hourly rate, and they do great work. However, occasionally we had problems with his workflow. 

He’s always accessible, but if he doesn’t have anybody to hop on a project immediately, then you’re put in a queue. So, there have been some growing pains in terms of manpower, but you have to expect that with a small business. 

I would say, overall, it has not been a major detriment to our partnership.

What advice would you give to a future client of theirs?

This is the advice I would give to anyone looking to work with a new developer. Be very detailed in your communication and what you’re requirements are. The more detailed you are, the better the chance that they’re going to get it right the first time. 

He’s great for development, but most developers aren’t necessarily the best at design and aesthetics. So, be very specific about the work that you’re looking for.

Please provide a description of your company. 

We’re a healthcare IT [information technology] services company.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m a co-founder and CEO.

What was your goal for working with Gennovacap Technology?

We needed help designing an IT platform that assists in managing the care of patients with chronic illnesses. These patients are often seeing multiple doctors and specialists across many different practices. Our software helps to organize all their records on one platform.

Please describe the scope of their work.

Everything was from scratch. Gennovacap did a road map and designed everything prior to development. They helped us bridge the gap between what we’re trying to do from a health care and clinical standpoint into development of a product. They served in multiple capacities, including marketing and branding.

What was your process for selecting Gennovacap Technology with which to work?

We were referred by a friend.

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

It was $100,000 to $200,000.

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

We can’t share metrics at this time. But, they did a fantastic job, and were a great resource. They were flexible, and easily navigated changes in the project as it developed. 

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

I really enjoyed working with Reza [Piri, CEO of Gennovacap Technology]. He has a lot of common sense, which can be hard to find in this industry. I was most impressed with his interpersonal skills. He’s flexible and if something’s not working out, he will hop on a call immediately, and design things according to our needs. He’s also innovative, which is important. He’s willing to adapt to the client as needed for the project. When he doesn’t know something, he makes it a point to figure out.

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?

I had no problems worth mentioning.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Seismos is an oil and gas technology company. I'm Director of Software and Systems at Seismos.

For what projects/services did your company hire Gennovacap Technology?

A REACT-based dashboard to allow our clients to view their data in 2D and 3D

What were your goals for this project?

Develop a cloud-based REACT dashboard that makes it convenient for our clients to view their measurements along the wellbore in 3D and in various 2D plots to compare stages.

How did you select this vendor?

They were competitive on price and timeline, and Reza, the CEO was easy to work with.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We provided requirements, basic design mock-ups and handled the back end work (API, database, etc.) Gennovacap managed the front end JS and REACT portions.

What was the team composition?

On our side, I had a few developers working on the back end. Gennovacap contracted a team from Columbia (Celerik) to develop the front end for us. I believe they had 5 developers on the project.

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

The dashboard is still in development on our end. We had to scale back due to the industry downturn and Covid19. Once launched, it will be our standard to deliver results to a client and the cornerstone of our business.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Reza managed things very well. We had weekly demos and calls to discuss progress, and followed rough Agile methodology. For day to day needs we used Slack to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Reza was easy to work with, responsive, and managed the project very well under tight timelines and budget.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Some comments in the code would have been nice, but this was more on Celerik's end.