Kairos

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a startup handbag company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kairos?

I hired Kairos to develop my e-commerce platform. I also was running into issues with AWS that I needed help with resolving.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My website at the time was a WordPress site hosted on AWS. I kept getting daily emails from Amazon about unfounded abuse reports, and it was a very stressful time. Kairos migrated my site off of AWS and made backups. They then redeveloped my platform using a different template and the features I wanted that I previously was missing. They also provide me with ongoing IT support and marketing training.

What is the team composition?

We work with two people.

How did you come to work with Kairos?

We’re both based in Seoul and part of a startup incubation center. We met each other through our shared office space.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $4,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in late September 2019 and is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Kairos is almost done developing my platform. They’ve added a lot of different plugins and features that I wanted, and they have the expertise to advise me on better templates with integrated services like SSL certification. That means that I—a non-technical person—don’t have to manage a lot of custom pieces to run my site. I also don’t have to deal with AWS anymore, which has been a relief.

How did Kairos perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide really detailed documents on what needs to get done and the steps we need to take to get there. They also did a thorough job testing the different parts of the website to make sure it’s working. With e-commerce, there are so many little things to consider, and Kairos has done a good job of keeping track of that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge has stood out to me. I don’t rely on them for just design and development; they’re familiar with topics like technical security and can advise me appropriately. I also appreciate their documentation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I come from the world of corporate design. In that environment, when a client requests a change or asks for extra services, we would do it regardless of the original scope. With this project, I’m not a technical person, so I didn’t know all the things my website needed at first. I’ve had to ask for them later, but I experience a lot of pushback from Kairos whenever I request something beyond our initial agreement. That’s been difficult to deal with.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very specific about what you request. Think through all the features you want and build in room for things that you don’t think of. It would have been helpful to have Kairos advise me more thoroughly on what my website would ultimately need.