July Rapid

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company name is Baadl Technologies but Dekkoo is the video streaming service. I’m the co-founder of Dekkoo.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with July Rapid?

What we are trying to do is be the first aggregate premium video streaming service in India. It’s very similar to what Vevo and Hulu did - disrupt YouTube or any other non-premium video websites. That’s the same thing we’re trying to do with Indian content. We’ve acquired over 10,000 hours of content from premium players like Sony Music and most of the top Indian creators you can think of. We’ve been doing about 1,000 hours of content through them as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

What they’re doing is helping us build the first version of our product which is very detailed, unlike most versions. So they’re helping us build our website and iOS, phone, and tablet app as well as an Android phone and tablet app.

How did you come to work with July Rapid?

We spoke to about 15 providers. The main thing that set July Rapid apart was their experience in video. That was important to me, especially with scale. They had worked previously with Disney and the NFL, especially in the video category. Secondly, the general reviews narrowed it down to two major companies. One was July and one was Sourcebits. The thing that tipped it over for me was the fact that July was so much more responsive, especially Vivek Menon. He’s the head of sales. Not only did he help with some mockups and other stuff right from the start, but he also went a step ahead and made sure that everything that we wanted and needed to be done was incorporated very early on.

How much have you invested with July Rapid?

We have invested $200,000 plus.

What is the status of this engagement?

We reached out to July Rapid around January and we’ve been working with them since March/April [2016]. We’re still working with them. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The best part of what I dealt with was the fact that the design team is amazing. I think that really wowed us. The design has always been above and beyond what we expected. They have a great creative director there. He’s a great guy with an amazing design sense. If we took a feature and sent it to him, the look and feel of how it came across would always be better than what we sent across. Having worked with previous products, this is not our first rodeo. What these guys have done has been really helpful.

How did July Rapid perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty responsive. They felt like an extension of our company. When we felt like picking up the phone and talking to them directly, it’s always been OK. I haven’t been billed separately for a phone call or anything of that nature. I haven’t seen excessive service contracts. The entire contract is a pretty large one, but having said that, I haven’t felt like there’s been an extra number of support calls. It’s been a very smooth, positive experience.

What did you find most impressive about July Rapid?

From a general standpoint, the two things that have impressed me are the design and the sales team. They’ve been really good. I’ve had direct information feedback taken from the chief executive officer to senior management. They’ve made the effort to come meet us whenever they’re in the city and make sure that we feel like they’re an extension of what we do.

Are there any areas July Rapid could improve?

It would be nice if they were in Bombay. We’re both in different cities, but that’s not really on them. We knew that before joining. Most of India’s IT is based out of Bangalore, and in the US it’s California. Just for speed, it would be nicer if it was faster but I don’t blame them. It’s the nature of what we’re building. We’re building a humongous product. We’re basically trying to build Hulu, so think about that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re part of a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate based in India . We are developing a food delivery platform on the lines of Munchery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with July Rapid?

We used July Rapid as a technology partner to bring the concept to fruition. July Rapid was involved with the conceptualizing stage, designing the product and systems, and building the whole technology.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have developed an iOS, Android, and website platform. Our case was peculiar because the concept had never been tried in India before. We intend to provide an on-demand food ordering experience for users, where the food is picked up from home chefs and delivered to the users directly. When we proposed this idea to the July team, they were very clear about how to approach the market in a quick and easy way. We wanted to go live in three months. Their turnaround response was great. They’ve been very cooperative in terms of meeting our business need from a technology perspective, even though they did not come from a food technology background.

How did you come to work with July Rapid?

We were looking for quality players in India and specifically in Mumbai or Bangalore. There were several other companies we considered. None had as deep experience with technology as July has. Their focus on design was great and they have a strong technology backing.

How much have you invested with July Rapid?

We have spent upwards of $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s been almost one year now that we’ve been with them. We’ve only gone live in India. We are looking keep the engagement active with July Rapid on a monthly retainer basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are not even four months old and we’ve already had 100,000 downloads on the Android store. The iOS platform is picking up and we plan to launch the website soon.

How did July Rapid perform from a project management standpoint?

The July Rapid team is extremely cooperative and it’s been very easy to work with them. We don’t treat them as a vendor and they don’t treat us as a client. We have a very understanding relationship which has enabled us to move fast. The tech team itself is very adept at changing how they function depending on the need. The way they’ve come up with solutions is liberating for us, as to not have to worry about not having an in-house team.

What did you find most impressive about July Rapid?

July Rapid is distinct because of their team and how they built our platforms.

Are there any areas July Rapid could improve?

They could streamline their processes and be a bit more flexible. They could also improve their documentation.