Goldfish Code

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of brentabl

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

We hired Goldfish code to take over application development for our brentabl mobile app once it was launched in the Apple App Store. We needed a team who could quickly understand the tech stack of the application and assume technical ownership very quickly as well as be able to make some necessary changes and modifications as needed.

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

We selected Goldfish code primarily because they were very responsive in communicating with us, had the necessary expertise available immediately, and were willing to accommodate a small start-up working on a very limited budget.

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

The mobile app itself is entirely serverless, built on AWS, using React Native. The Goldfish Code team needed to assume ownership of the existing CI/CD deployment pipelines (GitLab), make small modifications to the app, deploy the app to the app store, and also make some small back end changes in response to customer requests.

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

We interacted with a small, close-knit team of 3 primary individuals that included a PM/Delivery Manager, a business analyst, and at times the CEO of the company.

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

The team delivered a new version of the app to the app store that included the required fixes over the course of several weeks. The code quality was excellent and we've not encountered any issues post-deployment.

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

The team is very communicative and proactive. We did most of our communication via Slack, where they were willing to join our existing Slack channel to facilitate rapid communication amongst the teams.

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

The company's flexibility and willingness to work with a small-scale start-up on a limited budget. The quality of their work was excellent and as it was clear they did a good deal of testing before marking things complete as a part of their standard delivery approach.

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

None

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a SaaS provider that automates the operations of routine service providers (e.g. pool cleaning, lawnmowing, etc) to manage their technicians, communicate with customers and do billing via a web portal and mobile applications.

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

We hired Goldfish Code to take over pre-existing code and take it to the next level. Our goal was to complete the product for initial launch.

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

We researched a number of firms and independent contractors, and with a requirement to engage a full stack firm, we circled back to Goldfish given their excellent communication, experience with our dev stack, their defined process, and pricing.

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

The team built a Super Admin portal, a web portal, and two Android + iOS apps in React Native. Everything was deployed on production. The scope of work included subscriptions & payment processing, route scheduling, email notifications, customer reviews & much more.

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

We worked primarily with two member's of Goldfish Code and they in-turn managed the developers and QC team on the project. I believe there were 5-6 people working on our project.

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

Goldfish Code came in and addressed problems in our existing code. After that we continued to evolve the product with new scope and features based on customer feedback. Goldfish advised us on how to approach each feature and provided us with clear timelines and expectations. When we were close to launch, the team was willing to turn around new builds quickly for release.

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

Goldfish Code follows agile software development process with two week sprints and they organize all of their tasks for us to see in Asana. Communication & responsiveness was great & we met on a regular basis.

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

What makes Goldfish Code standout is their ability to advise us on strategic implications of choices (large or small), as well as their dedication to being a fair & honest values-based organization. We felt like we had a partner who was part of our team, rather than a contractor.

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

With anyone you work with, it is not always perfect. There were times when Goldfish's deliverables had bugs in them, but they took responsibility and fixed them. Overall, there weren't major issues.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a music streaming service.

What challenge were you trying to address with Goldfish Code?

We wanted them to do all the coding for our app, our website, and our platform. It’s a music streaming service.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re our backend developers. We had a preexisting application and we set the UX/UI to a point. They did basic development and created the app for iOS and Android. We kept adding things, it has been an ongoing process.

What is the team composition?

Brian (CEO) was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Goldfish Code?

We found them on Upwork. We were looking for a bunch of different developers, had a meeting with Brian, so we built a relationship and worked with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $20,000 and $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in March 2020 and continue to work together.

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

We measured functionality by seeing if the entire functionality we requested was present. It always was. The product keeps getting better and better, as we keep getting faster and faster results.

How did Goldfish Code perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. We talk to them with Asana and email. We’ve had multiple calls throughout the year too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

If we need to get something done quickly, they’re available.  They’re open for communication if something doesn’t make sense. They’re responsive and communicative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything has been great so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You’ll definitely get what you need. Ryan is easy to talk to, so hop on a call if you need to figure things out.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and EVP of a social impact technology startup.

For what projects/services did your company hire Goldfish Code?

We hired Goldfish Code to take on the front-end development for our mobile app, working with our back-end team to get the platform ready for our beta testing period.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to work with Goldfish to develop a sleek, intuitive and easy to use mobile app to beta test our product concept with our target user demographics.

How did you select Goldfish Code?

We selected Goldfish Code using UpWork. We saw that Bryan, Goldfish’s Founder and CEO, had incredibly high reviews on UpWork, and that Goldfish offered very affordable and reasonable prices for early stage startups. When our tech team interviewed Bryan, we were all highly impressed with the approach he outlined for our project, and the natural passion that Bryan and team have for their work (which really came through in our conversations with them).

Describe the project in detail.

With our back-end architecture development already underway, and with some early stage UI designs for our app, we set out to work with Goldfish to bring our early stage social impact tech product to life. Goldfish was hired to enhance and complete our app’s UI designs, as well as to take on the full front-end development, integrating with our back-end team, to bring our product into beta testing.

What was the team composition?

The team was comprised of multiple developers working under Bryan and Pat, the two co-founders of Goldfish, who are both highly experienced full stack software engineers, with significant expertise in mobile app development. It was always very easy to reach Bryan and Pat, and they were highly involved in every aspect of the process—with their senior leadership and expertise benefitting our product development trajectory tremendously.

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

The Goldfish team delivered us an excellent platform ready for beta testing. The results of our beta testing process to date have been extremely positive, with tester reception to our app being very favorable across the board. This is a true testament to the excellent UI and front-end development work of the Goldfish team. They were there every step of the way to make sure we were effectively bringing our vision for our product to reality.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Goldfish was extremely flexible to our team’s needs, and was always reachable. It was easy for us to communicate with them in real time, and we always felt totally in the loop about what they were working on each week.

They made every effort to make the communication and workflow integration as collaborative and seamless as possible between our two teams, which resulted in a great final product.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found their flexibility to our team’s needs most impressive. As an early stage startup, we too were figuring out many processes on our side as we were working with them. They were always flexible, and kept the quality of our product at the core of all of their communication with us.

I also think they are genuinely passionate about what they do, and it comes through on a regular basis—which makes the whole experience that much more exciting and refreshing. They are truly there to bring your technology to life, and will always go the extra mile to make it happen.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are no real areas of improvement that I can think of. This is a fantastic team, and if anything, I would encourage them to share their product expertise and recommendations for feature enhancements even more so!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of an app for the hair salon industry. It’s a job posting board in an app form.

What challenge were you trying to address with Goldfish Code?

I needed help with app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took my ideas, my notes, and my storyboard and made it into an app. The team built the app on iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Nancy (Project Manager), Bryan (Founder & Full Stack Developer), and one other person from their team.

How did you come to work with Goldfish Code?

I reached out to a separate company and they referred me to Goldfish Code.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020, and our work is ongoing.

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

The feedback has been all positive. At first, there were a few glitches, but they fixed them as soon as we found them. The users think it’s a great idea and within the first four weeks, I had over 100 people using it. Now I have over 130, so it’s been pretty great overall.

How did Goldfish Code perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been excellent. They’re genuine, professional, ethical, and kind. We communicate via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were happy to communicate in a way I could understand their process and helped me understand how they work. In my eyes, it helped me trust them more, and when we ran into glitches, I could even help them troubleshoot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In a perfect world, I would’ve like to know that there would be some glitches when we first launched. I had no idea there would be a few hiccups at first since this is my first app. Now, things are great since I know what to expect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Whether you want to be hands-on in the process, or hands-off, they’re a great partner. Be honest with what you want, your budget, and what you’re looking for; they'll give you the same honesty in return.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I’m the creator and owner of the Talking Points app. It’s a mobile application where users earn points for reading and rating news articles based on the perceived level of bias. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Goldfish Code?

We needed help navigating the technical aspects of developing an app, including coding. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had wireframes and mockups of what we wanted as far as design. They were able to take that information and make it come alive for us. They weren’t part of the design process, but they were able to execute based on our vision. 

Currently, the app is only available for iOS. 

What is the team composition?

Bryan (Founder & Full Stack Developer) and Nancy (Project Manager) were our main points of contact. There were also a few members of the development team that we interacted with over email. 

How did you come to work with Goldfish Code?

We posted our project on UpWork for different developers to bid on. We conducted interviews with a couple of different companies, but we found that Goldfish Code’s pitch was the most compelling. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $17,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2019. We’ve completed our initial development and have launched the application. However, we plan to work with them in the future for updates and further development. 

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

We just launched the app about two weeks ago, so it’s a little early to see the full impact. However, they helped us create an MVP that we can use to get feedback and continue to grow. 

How did Goldfish Code perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly communicated via email and over the phone. We didn’t have a lot of hard deadlines which sometimes made the process move more slowly. That is partially on us because we didn’t set specific due dates with them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were able to have candid conversations. They’re down-to-earth people who understood what it’s like to work on a self-funded project. They were willing to work with what we had and were honest. Their team set realistic expectations and helped tailor things to fit our budget. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes there was a lag in communication with the development team since they’re not based in the US. We’re satisfied with the collaboration, but we wish there could have been more immediate results delivered. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just be open with them and let them know what your realities are. They’re great people, so as long as you’re open and build a good rapport with them, the project will run smoothly. That will help them help you. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of Tech for America, a nonprofit political organization dedicated to using technology to boost voter participation.

For what projects/services did your company hire Goldfish Code?

Goldfish Code built a mobile app for iOS and Android that assists users with the voting process.

What were your goals for this project?

My goal was to get an app live on the App Store and Google Play Store before the 2018 midterm election. I wanted to learn how well such an app would work to boost voter participation. Goldfish accomplished my desired objectives, meeting the target deadlines on time.

How did you select this vendor?

I requested bids from about 5 vendors from UpWork, all of whom had stellar ratings. Goldfish Code was head and shoulders above the rest because:

1. it offered a fixed price for the project that was lower than all of the other bids and
2. the conversation I had with Bryan showed me how strategically he thinks about the business problem, not just the technical implementation. None of the other vendors offered the same level of strategic problem-solving capability.

Describe the project in detail.

The project was to build from scratch a mobile app that tracks a user's progress from registering to vote, requesting a mail-in ballot, and submitting the ballot. At each step, the app provides resources to complete the step and sends reminders to the user with increasing frequency as each deadline approaches.

What was the team composition?

My main point of contact was Bryan Farris, who served as project manager. We also worked with a designer early on to design the logo and some other graphics for the app.

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

We got a 4.4-star rating on the app store and generated significant interest from civic organizations working on voter registration.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a very effective workflow - Bryan would reply to emails or phone calls very promptly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The strategic guidance I got from Goldfish was outstanding. I felt like they were co-founders - helping to shape my vision of what my company could become and thinking through the tactics of how to achieve those goals. I never expected to get that level of deep strategic advice from a development shop.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No need for improvement. I just hope they are able to keep up with the demand for their services, since I expect many others like me will be lining up to use them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run a brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina called Protagonist, and I’ve got two co-founders along with me.

What challenge were you trying to address with Goldfish Code?

We wanted to build an app to serve our members that would allow people to track the beers that they like and engage with the community in terms of reviews, tasting notes, levels, and things like that.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goldfish was our development partner for the entirety of the project, helping us to wireframe the initial design as well as developing the app from there. They built it on React to be available cross-platform with both iOS and Android, and they used Python for the backend.

What is the team composition?

We interacted directly with Brian (Founder, Goldfish Code), Nancy (Project Manager, Goldfish Code), and Pat (Lead Developer, Goldfish Code), and they had an outsourced team of developers working under them as well.

How did you come to work with Goldfish Code?

I believe we found them on an online job board through a bid to our project posting. Their team and project history seemed like a good fit, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we’ve spent about $50,000 in total so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve approached the development process in a few discrete stages, including launching and testing an MVP, but the process first started around April 2019 and is still ongoing.

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

Since the app is very much still in the testing stages, most of the user feedback has been regarding features our customers would like to see added, but we’ve had virtually no negative input whatsoever.

The app has no bugs or usability problems, and it’s fully instrumented in terms of the cloud integration, account management, and exception handling. We also have a good level of visibility into the analytics of the app and backend, so I don’t anticipate finding any problems there.

How did Goldfish Code perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job with project management. I always feel up to date on the work and can reach them anytime I have questions or issues that need to be dealt with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do a really good job of sticking within scope, budget, and deadlines, which are three qualities that are remarkably rare among development companies. Just having that kind of consistency in expectations with a vendor is incredibly beneficial to our relationship as a whole.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really don’t think there’s anything they should do better, I’ve been completely satisfied with their work so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think our project benefited from the fact that we came in with a really well defined scope for the project. Their team is definitely good with workshopping ideas as well, but in terms of efficiency, having discrete goals in place to work towards will go a long way to help keep the project on track.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm one of the co-founders of an innovation lab that builds products and provides strategic services to clients. These can involve building products like iOS apps or hardware or even just providing design, UX, or business strategy advice. We also internally develop our own products and things of that nature.

What challenge were you trying to address with Goldfish Code?

We hired them to do some software engineering. We work with a number of partners for different projects and Goldfish was one of the ones we hired to help us in building an iOS application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did some of the engineering, actually building out the app and helping us test it and deploy it. They also did some infrastructure work like helping us set up the cloud backend.

We do all the design in-house, including the screens, assets, and graphics, as well as the product behind it. We handle defining how the product's features work. Goldfish just did the execution and engineering part of it. They were given all the assets and asked to do the development.

After they helped us with the initial app, they helped us build our website. It was a WordPress website but the development probably is almost all custom JavaScript. It's your typical JavaScript, CSS, HTML world. They're also going to be helping us with our internal product development.

What is the team composition?

I understand their team is actually a lot larger, but I interacted with four people on a consistent basis. Nancy is their project manager, and Brian (Founder & CEO, Goldfish Code) is their salesperson. Pat (Founder & CTO, Goldfish Code) is their lead technical resource and my main point of contact. He and I worked very closely to make sure everything was being built in accordance with what we wanted and that the infrastructure was working. Nancy would help sometimes in project management-oriented work.

How did you come to work with Goldfish Code?

We found them through our network and I scoped out their LinkedIn profile. I also noticed that they were listed on Upwork. They work with a number of labs at MIT, my alma mater, and I was able to look at the projects they worked on. That helped me decide they had the skill set necessary for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $70,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2019.

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

We think of success in broad terms. The way it's worked so far is we ask ourselves: "Are we happy with the output?" We tend to work pretty well together in the sense that we clearly define what we're looking for in the beginning so there are no real surprises at the end.

Sometimes there are bugs or breakages in software, but Goldfish does a pretty good job of fixing those. If we use metrics like satisfaction score or getting the product done on time, I would say it's been pretty successful so far.

How did Goldfish Code perform from a project management standpoint?

It's hard to say how they do across the board. We’re a startup so we're fairly hands-on, and when we hire a partner, they don't work in a black box. We think of all our partners as team members. There hasn't been too much needed from their side in terms of project management because we like to do it ourselves, assigning work when we can and figuring out who should be doing what. But, in the cases where their project manager has been involved, they’ve been helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very dedicated to doing good work and they're very smart and easy to work with. You get someone very eager to do the job right. For all those reasons, we've been working together for just over six months, so there's a lot of trust on both sides. When they come back to us with an estimate, there's almost never a negotiation because we trust them to be fair and to get the job done right. If there's a bug or something, we know they'll fix it.

We've worked with other development agencies before who haven't worked out so well. We had a different company do our website last year, and they did really badly. Everything was late, and they didn't seem knowledgeable about how to do things to the point where we had to find solutions for them. It seemed like we were putting more time in it than they were. In this situation with Goldfish, they know what they're doing. We've worked together to figure out some of the problems but I don't worry that they're not going to get their work done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This is a hard question because we knew they had the skillset to do the things we hired them to do and they are really good partners. If I had to pick something, the only thing I can think of is being more transparent about the tools they use to do PM work, so we can integrate better their workflow.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a camera-based group messaging app. It helps people organize plans with their friends.

What challenge were you trying to address with Goldfish Code?

I had been working with a few engineers that I’d recruited to the project and wanted to accelerate the process, so I hired Goldfish Code to support the full-stack development. We needed some help getting us across the finish line and I wanted to have one company responsible for piecing all the different parts of the project together.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team helped with various programming and development tasks to get us up to speed with the Android platform. Everything was architected, but I needed help connecting the APIs on the front- and backend. 

The frontend was written in React Native with Segment SDK to plug-in different analytics. Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) and Branch Metrics were used to power the initial user acquisition strategy to share with friends that didn’t have the app yet. 

We used Microservices Architecture on the backend, which is hosted on AWS. The entire platform runs on Javascript, so everything is in Docker containers and our social graph database runs with Neo4j. We also use Hydra as a lightweight, open-sourced library.  

Their team put all of these different pieces together, ensured they communicated correctly, tested and performed QA on it, and published it.

What is the team composition?

Bryan (Founder & CEO, Goldfish Code) was our point person and around four people supported him. Depending on the task, different people worked on the project. Between 1–2 engineers worked on the backend and 2–3 had worked on the frontend. 

How did you come to work with Goldfish Code?

Initially, I was never looking to spend money and was networking with engineers who wanted to work on the project as a side job. Someone I recruited for the project mentioned having worked with Goldfish Code in the past and introduced them to me. After meeting with them, I realized I was ready to spend money and use their services to get us across the finish line with the product. 

How much have you invested with them?

I spent between $30,000–$35,000 on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July–October 2018. 

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

Overall, they were incredible to work with. So far, I’ve been able to use the product to interview design schools and gather user feedback. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting on a patent for the platform, so we haven’t reached those next steps of selling or going further with the product. 

How did Goldfish Code perform from a project management standpoint?

Working with them was exactly what I wanted because I was able to embed them into our team and my CTO was able to interact with them a lot. This connection was really important because of how involved my CTO was in the entire process of setting up the APIs and servers. Whenever something didn’t go according to plan, like an issue with an animation, there was always someone enthusiastic to help free of charge. 

Everything ran seamlessly. It only took a few weeks to handle the back and forth about operational needs, but then Goldfish Code was off to the races. There was a list dedicated to the tasks we had scoped out for them and they got feedback from the CTO on the different needs of the project. We communicated through Slack every day and they had a clear understanding of our needs. They chipped away at the work week after week and welcomed our feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with them to turn this idea into a reality was really refreshing. I’d been trying to get this product across the finish line, so it was amazing to interact with them and get the project done. They were very startup-friendly, helping us build a product from an idea. They might work with bigger companies, but they were easy to work with at our size. 

Unlike other companies looking to make money, this team was different and actually listened to our challenges. I appreciated that they advised us and help prioritize different stages of the project, strategizing the best way to get the work completed. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing they could have done better. Although I fell short on achieving the true potential of the product and am stuck at a crossroads, they still went above and beyond for the project. If I couldn’t hire a full-time team in the future, I would definitely use Goldfish Code again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I supplied them with a very specific set of tasks, so I’m not sure if it’d be the same experience going into it blindly. Giving them task-based assignments made them easy to work with and they delivered within the timeframe. 

Go in knowing what you’re looking for, agree on the rate and hours, and determine what the buffer for your project is. If you run into a bump, they’ll know what to do in that situation if you have good communication upfront and you won’t be disappointed.