JSGuru

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is an online marketplace + fundraising platform. We are a start up and I a co founder.

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

As a start up, we partnered with JSGuru as our CTO to help us develop and bring to market our product. Our goal is employ technology to innovate and disrupt a traditional market sector. We looked to JSGuru to create a market-ready technical solution. We have engaged them as a full-service provider/partner.

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

We placed a lot of significance on selecting the "right" tech. partner. Initially we looked to partner with a local company (we're in Toronto). Toronto is a tech start up hub and we were able to do extensive research. We came to learn that greater value could indeed be found off-shore without compromising quality (most local firms outsource development anyhow).

The determining factor is whether you can communicate effectively, whether they understand your business goals and the market you wish to operate in. I was referred to JSGuru and after interviewing them, I actually flew out to meet them. I spent a couple of days discussing the project, meeting the team and learning more about their operations. After my trip, I was able to make my decision with confidence.

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

As a partner, JSGuru has been engaged from the ideation stage, through to product development and mvp launch. The were instrumental is creating mvp scope. They built wireframes and then we moved to product development. We've taken an agile approach, allowing us to pivot, enhance and optimize along they way. We have also engaged them for Brand development (brand standards, guidelines and graphic and motion graphic design).

Technology: We are relying on microservices technology powered by AWS infrastructure that gives us flexibility and scalability as well as continuous integration and deployment. Our platform is developed with NodeJS (NestJS) framework for creating fast and scalable network applications. This gives us the power of non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

For storage, we are combining on RDB (PostgresSQL), NoSQL (MongoDB), and S3 as file storage and CDN. This combination allows us to take everything for all three worlds and create a reliable, scalable, and fast platform. We have just completed the mvp and are preparing for launch in the Fall.

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

Although we have been dealing directly with different team members at different stages - our primary and consistent contact is the CTO. We meet regularly to sync and determine next steps - he in turn engages with the team of developers and designers.

As we engaged with JSGuru as a full service firm, we dealt with different team members on different aspects of the project. For example, for initial product strategy, we worked with the CEO, for the banding work they did, we worked with their Head of Marketing.

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

We are pleased not only with the progress of the project, but the actual product itself. From a project perspective, we have met the deadlines for all key milestones and are on track to launch. From a product perspective - we're proud of the unique product we've built. It's a net new consumer process. We've made enhancements throughout the build, as all sides took any opportunity to embrace good ideas and pivot as required.

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

We meet virtually through Google Meet and communicate primarily through email. We use Trello for project tracking. What I valued in there project management style is that they were eager to accommodate and use the tools I preferred. We assign tasks at the end of every meeting - and connect if there are questions that arise in between. Timelines are all met.

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

They take a partnership approach to everything. They have positive and professional energy and are highly supportive. They took the time to understand our business goals and challenges. This has been profoundly important in the product development process - as they are able to add value through tech solutions. They are a full-service provider and have a team of professionals to assist on all aspects of the project - from Branding to Strategy.

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

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of BoobFairy. We are an independent marketplace for connecting parents with maternal and child healthcare services.

What challenge were you trying to address with JSGuru?

We're a new startup, and we were looking to go to market. We didn't have a great tech presence, so we hired JSGuru to help us with our mobile app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

JSGuru is working on the Android and iOS apps for us. We signed up for a three-phase project: alpha, beta, and gamma. We’ve been working with them on building our marketplace application, and I’ve been coming up with basic wireframes.

From there, the team works on building the project. One of their UX designers take my basic wireframes and makes them look better. We then pass that on to their engineering team, which has been implementing the designs and doing the coding.

JSGuru has also been helping with our DevOps environment and giving us feedback on the overall hierarchy and structure of the app. We use them as a thought partner to make sure that we’re building our technology the best way possible. Soon enough, they will also be doing a web-based version for us as well. 

What is the team composition?

It varies depending on the task, but we typically work with about five teammates. Usually, it’s the UX designer, two junior engineers, and a senior engineer. The CTO or VP of engineering has also been stepping in with a lot of strategic advice.

How did you come to work with JSGuru?

I was an entrepreneur in residence for the Swiss government. They had a program in several countries that partnered entrepreneurs with local technology companies. I was actually placed with JSGuru to help them grow their business.

I worked side by side with them for three months, and they treated me like family. I got a good feel for working with them, so when I started my own startup, I decided that I wanted to work with them. I trusted that they had my best interests at heart. 

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we’ve spent around $60,000. My guess is that by the time we’re done, the total will be around $220,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with JSGuru in October 2020, and we’ll probably go on until the end of September 2021. We just concluded the alpha and have started on the beta version.

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

We were able to get the alpha done on time, and JSGuru made sure to get it up and running without any errors. We haven’t launched the product yet; we’re going through the testing phase right now.

How did JSGuru perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve been using Trello for the project management, and we communicated via Slack. They’re a very responsive, knowledgeable, and helpful team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I enjoy about the relationship is that JSGuru is very willing to be honest and straightforward about what tools are best and what methodology or database we should be using. I don’t like “yes men;” I prefer to know their suggestions. 

They act more like a strategic partner than just doing whatever I tell them. I've received a lot of great feedback from them because they're looking out for me. Many companies out there offer services that are not necessary or that could take twice as long. 

Since we're a new startup trying to get to market with an MVP, we're looking for the quickest, simplest solution. If I'm coming up with an approach that will take too long or isn't the best way for us to save money, JSGuru will let me know about it. 

They're not just billing hours so that they can make money; they want to see me succeed. I feel like I have a partner that's looking out for my wallet and making sure that we get things done in the best and fastest way possible. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Put all your cards on the table. JSGuru wants long-term relationships and people they can work well with. They will give you good advice as long as they know all the information that you care about. Be open and honest about the goals of the project, and the team will adapt to your needs.

Please describe your company and your position there.

My position is the sales director for one of the largest computer parts shop in Bosnia and Herzegovina. My role is to organize and overlook everything regarding parts purchasing and B2B, B2C sales.

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

We hired them to change our existing website and make a new one with a better and modern design. They had the task to create everything from scratch, meaning UX design, coding and choosing the best possible way for us to do so. Our inventory is quite large and we wanted something clean and reliable that our buyers can use.

How did you select JSGuru and what were the deciding factors?

We noticed them when they got a reward for one of the fastest-growing IT companies in our country at the beginning of this year. We approached them and chose them because of their friendliness, ability to understand our needs and ability to draft very good designs even before the project started.

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

After the first meeting, we waited for a couple of days to receive some design examples. In that phase, there were small changes and they suggested that we use third-party solutions for payments and CMS. We were able to create something market-ready very quickly.

This was hugely important for us! Our project manager communicated with them and JSGuru was crucial in defining everything technical because we don't have experience in this field. Technologies we used were JavaScript and WordPress.

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

One software architect briefly, one UI/UX designer, project manager and two developers.

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

The outcome of the project was a completely new e-commerce website with all of our inventory. The deliverables are pretty simple and clear in our case.

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

We had a project manager from our side that dedicated a couple of hours weekly to this project. JSGuru also had a project manager on their side and she was communicating daily with us through Slack and emails. Everything was tracked on Trello.

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

The best value of JSGuru was that they were able to understand us quickly and find the best possible solution for that. We really have a feeling that everything done on the project had an excellent price to quality ratio.

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

At first, they thought we had a good web development understanding, but we are only slightly familiar with it, so we lost a day or two in explaining that our background in it is not so deep.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Telemax LLC is a privately owned company from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The core business of the company is electrical installations (high and low power), smart grid solutions, and selling and later installation of the smart LED light systems.

As the crown of eighteen years of successful work, using the gained experience and the desire to use new technologies, we have created a brand of smart urban furniture – City Gecko. I'm the director of sales at Telemax.

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

We started manufacturing smart solar benches that converted solar energy into electricity. This energy is used to charge various devices (smartphones, laptops, etc.). Our goal was to be more competitive in the market. To achieve this goal, we needed to upgrade our products with sensors and an app that will present the data collected from the sensors.

We needed a company that could program Raspberry Pi and sensors, could develop a web and mobile app that will graphically represent collected data. JSGuru was the partner that we chose for this task.

How did you select JSGuru and what were the deciding factors?

Because the project was funded by the Swedish government in the Challange to Change project we need a trustful and reliable partner. JSGuru was one of the three companies that we considered but we chose them because they had previous experience in similar projects. The reason that we choose them was their approach towards us. They showed the highest interest in the project and future cooperation.

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

The project had three phases. The first phase was the programming of the Raspberry Pi 4 and sensors that are attached to it (humidity, temperature, air pressure, air quality, electric consumption). They developed a web app in the second phase and the third phase was reserved for the mobile app.

Technologies that have been used:

• Angular or React application for user display.
• Amazon Serverless architecture for client-server communication.
• Postgres relational storage database.
• DB document for storing source data or report documents.
• Node JS as the programming platform.
• Responsive user interface for neat loading on devices of all sizes.

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

There were 10 people involved in the project from JSGuru. Project manager, Raspberry Pi developer, two backend developers (junior and senior), AWS server administrator, Node.js developer, UI/UX senior designer.

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

We were able to launch the project on time. Our demand for smart benches is raised by 30% since we got the app. We are currently working on the fourth stage where we are adding sensors to the app.

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

Project management was great and fully customized to us since this was the first time my company is working on the app development project. We used email correspondence, Google Hangouts, Trello, phone calls, and direct meetings.

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

They are truly a client-based company, devoting their time and resources to the client and its project. Their professional approach in all stages of the project was really impressive. We truly found not the vendor but the partner for our future projects.

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

Reporting should be more frequent, they already know this and are improving it as I'm writing this.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're building a construction document management system to serve several industries, including real estate. I’m the CEO and co-founder. The app will revolutionize documentation management for houses and apartments. We're aiming to make it so intuitive that people will feel like they always have their home in their pocket wherever they go.

What challenge were you trying to address with JSGuru?

We needed to develop a proof of concept and realize the vision we were developing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled just about everything in terms of development, creating the base architecture for the MVP. Their work involved everything from the front- and backend development, implementing cloud solutions, and assisting with UX/UI work. They’re our main development partners and are responsible for making our product usable. After providing them with initial mockups, wireframes, and concepts, they got to work. We’re using React, Node.js, MongoDB, and AWS cloud architecture.  

What is the team composition?

We’re working with four people, one of which is a project manager. The others are developers. 

How did you come to work with JSGuru?

One of our co-founders has Balkin heritage, so we started searching there for quality developers on Google. We found a ranking list of top developers and choose them out of five options.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about €50,000 (approximately $58,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since March 2020. Ideally, we’ll have a product completed by January 2021.

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

We’ve been pleased with the UI/UX and the technical infrastructure behind the product so far. They have a very solid understanding of what our end users want out of the product, which has helped us move forward. 

How did JSGuru perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great with deadlines and their pricing has matched their estimates. We use Trello and another platform to communicate and review their work. The communication aspect of our partnership has been outstanding because of their responsiveness.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to share our vision and enthusiasm for the project. It helps the relationship a lot when they display their eagerness to make the product great. Through the engagement, we’ve developed a true partnership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve run into small language barriers with the developers, but we’ve been able to work through that easily with the help of our project manager. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent with your mission to help them understand what they need from the development.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Cognism. Cognism is a B2B lead generation, outbound automation and data processing service. We maintain a database of 5.6 billion data points, including 400 million business profiles and 10 million companies. This unique data asset provides B2B organisations with a GDPR compliant way of prospecting leads and enriching data.

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

We hired JSGuru for a number of custom software projects to experiment with new ideas or build new modules we did not have technology capacity for.

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

We worked with JSGuru on multiple projects in the past, and thus we have a strong connection with them. Obviously, we completed our work together successfully on those past occasions and kept coming back to them for new work. Their ability to adjust fast sets them apart, which is essential because we build marketing products that require a particular dynamic.

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

We primarily worked with their UI/UX design team. We scoped out the project and used AngularJS for implementation.

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

1 project manager, 1 UI/UX designer and 1 developer.

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

After a couple of weeks spent in the ideation phase, JSGuru designers implemented all of our ideas into one intuitive interface that we will be able to test with our users very soon.

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

Used Zoom and Slack for communication. Everything was done efficiently and on time.

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

We're impressed by their flexibility and domain knowledge for our industry. Deadlines are always tricky for us and JSGuru has delivered on all occasions. The management also understands business in general and how to build a good relationship.

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

We have been familiar with one another for a long time and had a couple of projects to learn how both sides operate. So, we don't have anything special to add or ask for a different outcome.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Head of Product at a software company that provides email signature management solutions for SMB + Enterprise customers

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

We launched a free version of our main product and wanted to provide a stand alone html signature editor to drive attention to our free service.

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

Our mother company works together with JSGuru since years - they recommended JSGuru as a reliable and professional partner and so we went with JSGuru.

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

JSGuru got a design draft + a briefing + app specs from us and created a beautiful Angular Frontend. JSGuru developed a html signature generator where users can completely individualize ready made signatures - add own infos and change the whole look etc.

JusGuru also developed a script that optimized the html signatures to be used in common email clients, so that the users can use the signatures in their own mail clients.

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

I was in contact with the CEO, two project managers and the technical lead of this project. In addition, a team of developers worked on the implementation of the actual application.

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

The web app is highly frequented and currently acts as the main source of new leads.

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

After a briefing with all involved people I always had a PM as contact person. PM frequently reported Status + next Steps to me and we had 1 - 2 weekly calls to review progress. JSGuru have directly shared a Slack Channel with us to keep communication as effective as possible.

We always did video calls with zoom, teams or another software. The development team of JSGuru implemented the application very quickly according to our wishes. They were available 24/7.

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

JSGuru have been very fast in implementing the whole application. I had a dedicated contact person at all times.

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

Where challenges have arisen, they have been resolved quickly and without discussion.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO & Founder.

For what projects/services did your company hire JSGuru?

We had tried previously hiring an independent contractor to do about 5-10 screens for a software solution. We had/have several competitors that we drew inspiration from and needed to improve on what was already good UI/UX. We pulled in JSguru to make the 10x better version.

How did you select this vendor?

We had them as a referral from a previous employer.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Their team scoped out and interviewed us with a very thorough and detailed run-through of requirements. Once agreed, we shared resources with their team and they did extensive research on everything we provided. They went out of scope too to find resources we had initially missed.

We let them access our internal comms via Slack so they could bounce back and forth with our team. We communicated once every 2-3 days so that we had a close eye on the project. Across 4 weeks we had 8-10 meetings where we discussed changes. Once satisfied, we ran through the designs with a number of our persona, had a string of feedback & then gave final comments before completing the project.

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

We had one UI/UX designer named Stefan who was professional, creative, and a delight to work with.

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

All the designs exceeded expectations. Our team now has a workable prototype to work from which has received glowing reviews from interviews we've conducted since.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Stefan was excellent, he resolved feedback very quickly whilst remaining positive and professional throughout the process.

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

Their UI/UX skills were outstanding, everything went smoothly and exceeded our expectations.

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

No, couldn't recommend it more. Such a great experience!

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a start up that aim to disrupt the party industry. I am one of the 2 founders of the company.

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

Development of a mobile app (whole app, incl. front-end and back end, UX/UI design), in both iOS and Android. Goal was a market launch in Europe in June 2021. The app goal is to disrupt the party business by solving the main pain points of a party-goer: be able to see the parties around him and her and ask to be invited to the party, alone or with others (eg friends), and split payments automatically among all participants. The party goer can also request a reservation with in-app venue partners. The venue and/or promoter can receive the request, approve or reject based on availability and receive payments already split among all party goers

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

selection criteria was based on:

• capabilities: JS Guru showed great capabilities from the very beginning, in particular with a detailed architecture study and a great UI/UX design. The onboarding phase was quick and smooth
• flexibility: JS Guru was very flexible in ramping up quickly resources to meet our challenging timeline. They were able to select the best technologies for our purpose to optimize CAPEX and OPEX costs
• trust and willingness to partner long term

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

Scope of work: whole app, incl. front-end and back end, UX/UI design), in both iOS and Android. Project steps: RFP, contract signature, onboarding (architecture design), UI/UX design, design of sprints, development, release to stores, market launch Deliverables: app and related documentation Technology: flutter for front end, AWS and Firebase as back end

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

CTO, Project manager, COO, payments expert, senior full stack developer, UI/UX designer

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

App is up and running, we were able to develop it in only 2 months

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

simple and easy to use tools, like google drive spreadsheet, made the work easy and traceable - Daily touchpoints with PM and weekly steercos. Timeline were respected.

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

Flexibility in fullfilling challenging requests. They've almost never said no to our challenging requests.

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

no

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cintellicon is a StartUp which helps mechanical engineers who struggle to find reliable manufacturers. We do that by providing credible industy intelligence and connection. Please take a look at our webpage: www.cintellicon.com I am a CEO and Co-Founder.

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

As a StartUp we hired jsGuru as our CTO to develop a product and help us with creating technical solution ready for market. Our goal is to validate our idea and we needed someone who can develop mvp.

How did you select JSGuru and what were the deciding factors?

I got in touch with the team from jsGuru through a previous recommendation coming from a mutual business partner. They acted in a very professional manner and approached the problem seriously. I really liked their experience with building solutions in a StartUp world and also their enthusiasm to support with their knowledge Entrepeneurs like me. 

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

Well, they worked with me from the idea stage and helped us create the actual mvp scope. We had a big idea and many features in our head. They helped us structure it and define the best way of pivoting.

After that they created mockups and moved into phase of developing actual product. Durring that phase we were communicating together and adjusted it to the actual needs of our clients. The repond to the changes were very quick and efficient. 

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

We communicated directly with their CTO. He was gathering the information and translated it to their team of developers and designers. We had a full team available there who would cover all segments of our product. 

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

Well, they delivered all set KPIs on time. 

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

Very agile with open conversation about next steps. They act as partners and advisors while they deliver. They show big interest in helping our team to succeed in the long run. 

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

Their company's culture impresses us.

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

Nothing that comes to my mind at the moment.