Kelsus

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CEO of WazooApps Inc. We had an app that was a social network for pet owners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kelsus?

We had the idea for the app, but we needed an engineering team to build it and manage the project. We also needed some product ability to design it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started working with Kelsus to define the product and goals. They helped us think through the main features we needed. We had many ideas, so we went back and forth. Once we had a good alignment on what we needed to build, they handed it off to their engineering team to develop the initial version of the product. It took about nine months to build, and we launched in early 2018.

From there, Kelsus has assisted us with app maintenance and development. They maintain the app's availability and do any updates required by Apple or Google. If there are any bugs or crashes, they also investigate and fix them. Additionally, we work with Kelsus to refine features or develop any ideas for new ones.

We use various technologies. In the beginning, we used a combination of JavaScript for Android and Objective-C for iOS. Then, we switched over to React Native to build for both Android and iOS. In the last year, we’ve changed again to Swift on iOS and JavaScript on Android.

What is the team composition?

Initially, Jon (Founder & President) was full-time on the project, serving as the project manager. We also had four people on the team a senior backend engineer, a junior backend engineer, an iOS developer, and an Android developer.

Over time, Jon stepped back into an advisory role and placed a full-time project manager. In the last year, we’ve doubled the team size, so we now have four backend engineers, two iOS developers, and two Android developers.

How did you come to work with Kelsus?

An investor referred them. He hadn't worked with Kelsus personally, but he heard of them through his network. We talked to Jon, and he understood what we were trying to do, so we started working together.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $50,000 a month up until the end of 2021. After the acquisition, we doubled the size of the team, so our rate is about $100,000 a month now. In total, we’ve invested around $3.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had over 300,000 users downloading the app and creating accounts. We have a community of dedicated, loyal users who come back every day and spend hours on our social network. However, our most significant indicator of success is that a major company acquired us at the beginning of this year due to the app’s quality and performance. It was a big success for the investors and people at the company, and Kelsus was crucial to that effort.

How did Kelsus perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve been satisfied with Kelsus. They do a good job setting estimates and ensuring they understand the full scope of what they’ll do. There are always hiccups or unexpected issues in software development, but they communicate well and work with us to meet the timelines and get things out as quickly as possible.

We have a shared Slack workspace to get daily updates. Whenever there are questions, we just communicate directly through Slack messages. We also have a weekly Scrum meeting on Google Meet. Everyone on the team gets together to discuss the project status and ask questions. Additionally, we use Jira to create tickets and manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been great. Kelsus is a hands-on partner from a business and technical perspective. It’s been great having them thinking about business opportunities or where we could take the product from a strategy perspective. Even during potential acquisition discussions, we valued having them as our partner and confidant. We weren’t expecting to get that from an engineering team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Jon is spanned across many projects; he tries to give all of them the same kind of leadership and partnership they deserve. However, it’d be awesome if he could work on them full-time. Other than that, there’s not much else they could do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of outsourced development for a cloud services company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kelsus?

We integrate with multiple cloud vendors and needed help with building those integrations via APIs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kelsus is an extension of our technology team specifically tasked with bringing on more vendors quickly. We have a standard set of functions for every vendor integration using the vendor API. In the beginning, Kelsus sits in our meetings with vendors, learning how they work, what their business model is, and what product we’re going to sell. They then dig deep into the APIs available from the vendor and implement that knowledge in a JavaScript framework to perform the action.

A common use case was a customer creating a partner and provisioning an order. Kelsus would write the code to build all of that out. Their team then wraps up with a comprehensive testing review of work done in integration testing as well as a documentation review of what they’ve learned. This is done over and over again with multiple vendors. 

What is the team composition?

We work with five people on our current project, and we’re looking to expand.

How did you come to work with Kelsus?

I have followed the progress of Kelsus over the years. I know one of the founders and have worked with people who worked there, so I had trust in their ability to deliver. They also have a very strong agile culture that would integrate well with our agile culture. When I had the opportunity to source, I reached out to Kelsus and some other firms. I let our internal team decide on the vendor, and Kelsus came out on top. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in January 2020 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Kelsus delivered our first vendor integration — which was also the hardest integration — faster than our team was able to accept it. They get work done fast with high-quality, which is exactly what we wanted. We haven’t had any major issues. 

How did Kelsus perform from a project management standpoint?

Their resources are based in Argentina, so they had to flex their schedules slightly to align with the Mountain time zone. Their team has excellent written and spoken English skills: I can put them on a call with vendors with no risks or concerns. Our source repository is GitHub, and Kelsus also leverages productivity tools like Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We provided Kelsus with a framework to build each integration, but it has some limitations that we acknowledge. Kelsus actually built tools and utilities outside of what we delivered to make their process more scalable and of higher quality. They didn’t just take orders; instead built a process that will be sustainable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The Kelsus team is agile, small, and nimble. However, when they integrate with our larger project management process, there seems to be a divide between the developers and project managers. We can bridge that gap for, but as we scale, it may get harder and harder. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Partner with Kelsus. Don’t dictate to them exactly what you want the process to look like; invite them into your decision-making process. They have smart people, and if you partner with them, you’ll get a much better result. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of ZooPix, a social network for animal lovers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kelsus?

We hired Kelsus to develop our software and handle the programing for our mobile social networking platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Kelsus developed our pet-owner social platform from scratch, setting up the database on AWS and building out our mobile apps. Originally, they used React Native to build a hybrid solution, but we later opted to create specific apps for iOS and Android.

One of the key challenges was creating an algorithm for our weekly pet show competition. It’s a nationwide event where North American users can post photos and videos of their pets. Users then comment and vote on the pets to rank them in real time.

People take it quite seriously. The event draws in at least a thousand participants per week, and the atmosphere can be extremely competitive. Kelsus had to engineer a high-quality solution that could handle a huge influx of users and then refine the algorithm over time. 

Currently, they’re in the process of introducing direct messaging along with several little unique features. For example, the app will send out different sound notifications based on your pet type. So, if you have a dog, your phone will bark when you get notifications. Cat owners will hear meows.

What is the team composition? 

John (President & Founder, Kelsus) and Federico (Principal, Kelsus) are my main points of contact. Both have been extremely valuable to building our business. John is heavily involved, ensuring that we’re making intelligent, wise decisions for our product. We’ve also worked with a UX designer and about five developers.

How did you come to work with Kelsus?

We found them through a personal connection in the tech industry who had heard good things about them. They’re pretty selective about whom they partner with, so we knew we had to come prepared. In our first call, we went over what we wanted to build and provided them with a detailed 50-page write up. The project started about a month later.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since July 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Despite the fact that we’ve only allocated a minimal amount of money to marketing, we’ve gained over 20,000 users and more than 30,000 pets. We’re at the point where we’re actually looking to secure big funding to take our numbers to the millions. I believe we can do that because they’ve built a great, scalable platform.

How did Kelsus perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, it’s very good. As with anything, it’s definitely been a learning process for both sides. We’ve never made an app of this caliber before, and our app is one of their first social networking projects.

The team manages everything on Trello and Slack, from guiding us through the development process to keeping everything organized. Anytime there is an error, they treat it as a learning experience so that we can move forward. They’re professional about revising work, suggest cost-effective practices, and are conscientious of our budget and time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can’t say enough positive things about them. Rather than just building whatever we ask of them, Kelsus has been very helpful about leading us through the development process. As a self-funded startup, we don’t always know what we’re building, so they advise us on the most efficient ways to proceed. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing that sticks out to me. Not all software development firms are created equal; Kelsus is a team that you can trust.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Maintaining a consistent dialogue is key to building a good working relationship. They’re good at managing everything that they do, but it’s still important for you to stay involved in all of the product decisions. Be aware of what’s going on, and you’ll be successful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP and CTO of CityPASS, a hospitality and leisure company. We offer discounted bundled tickets to top attractions in major North American cities, helping travelers save money and time while visiting popular destinations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kelsus?

We needed to augment our software development teams' capacity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kelsus was brought in to enhance an existing system to handle a major project to streamline price record handling for a major customer on a tight timeframe. The team implemented a sophisticated workflow that included API communication between disparate systems and UX changes to allow employees to initiate and track the workflow progress.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 resources from Kelsus.

How did you come to work with Kelsus?

We found Kelsus through a personal recommendation. The team’s culture and flexibility seemed to match well with ours.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from December 2024–February 2025. This project has been completed, but we’ve retained Kelsus for additional software development work and they continue to provide valuable software development resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our system was able to handle updates that came in twice a year and took 10 business days to process. Now, changes are handled daily and reflected within minutes with minimal human intevention. The feature saved roughly 40 hours of labor per event and events now occur daily or multiple times per day. Had we not implemented this feature, we would’ve had to invest 5–10 hours per day of labor. The primary KPIs were hours saved per price change and time to completion for a price change, both of which have exceeded our targets.

How did Kelsus perform from a project management standpoint?

Kelsus’ project management and communication were excellent. The team adapted to our agile cadence and was very good at communicating stories that were in process and any blockers. Kelsus met all delivery timelines. We primarily communicated via Microsoft Teams and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everyone on the team was intelligent, skilled, and curious. However, what I found most impressive was Kelsus’ flexibility. The team was eager to learn existing patterns and technologies and willing to adapt to our cadence and style. Kelsus was able to handle anything and everything we threw at them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, Kelsus has been an incredible partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

TheDropp was an app that helped connect buyers with expiring inventory.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Kelsus?

Kelsus inherited the original codebase and continued the development of the product.

What were your goals for this project?

To build a two sided marketplace that worked seamlessly on all devices

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Jon, the owner of Kelsus, worked with me on an experimental project a few year prior.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Kelsus built and maintained a web application as well as an iPhone application. The product was quite complex, and required very keen attention to detail.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of Jon, a PM, and about 5-7 developers, depending on the current sprint.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to build the product quickly, as to validate the business model. Moving fast, while maintaining a high level of quality is a challenge, and Kelsus was able to deliver.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was managed by a SCRUM master.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There are a lot of good software developers. Their ability to invest themselves in the project as if they founded it really distinguishes them. Their guidance was more about the success of the project than their profit margins.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everyone has areas for improvement, but I can't think of anything specifically at the moment.