KOUNTERATTACK

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

The company is Collaborizm. We’re a startup venture. Right now we just have a Web platform, and it’s a match making and social network for different industries and people to come together, talk about topics of mutual interest, and have the ability to collaborate with each other. There are three of us right now.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with KOUNTERATTACK?

I showed their founder some sketches on paper about what I wanted to build, my initial vision and concept. I was only 20 at the time and had a pretty underdeveloped business plan. What I brought to them was just the idea of building this type of a network, and we took it from there.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They’ve done so much for us during the past few years. All of our branding and design has come from them. Everything that’s design came from KOUNTERATTACK and still does. We’re working with them on the development front, so we’re using their programmers.

Project management, as well as mentorship is a big part of it. It’s probably not something that’s ever even been charged for, but the close relationship I have with Mark [Clapham, managing director at KOUNTERATTACK] and their team is amazing. They’re kind of like part of my family.

We have contracted them for business development and marketing. I’ve worked with them on a retainer for the past year or so to do business consulting work, setting up our sales funnels, and our marketing language. They’ve really done everything for us in terms of services.

What was your process for selecting KOUNTERATTACK with which to work?

My grandfather used one of Mark’s friends, who runs more of an illustration studio in Brooklyn,[N.Y.] I showed her the idea, and she recommended them. We had reached out to a bunch of studios and it wasn’t that personal, there wasn’t much care, it was all business with them. Mark really took us under his wing. We spent six months before we ever paid them a dollar, but there was a ton of work that went into it from research to figuring out what our name was, understanding the scope of starting a company. He even set us up on his project management software before we ever had written any checks to him.

Once we did decide to move forward, we set up a structured schedule of developing personas, branding, wireframes, and that took a long time. That was a big part of the process, then the actual design and the art direction of our platform. Alongside that was all the business development and marketing preparation. Today, it kind of exists as product enhancements because the main platform has been developed.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

To get all the work up to a fully designed platform, not coded yet, was $28,000, which is probably ridiculously cheap if you count how many hours they put into it, and how many interfaces were designed. It probably should have cost three times that, if they were charging us an hourly rate. Currently, we’re paying the rate of $150 an hour, and $45 an hour for business consulting.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

We started working with them in 2011, and the relationship is ongoing.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

We just launched the platform a few days ago. I think some of the best results I can tell you is that, out of a thousand startups that applied, we’re one of 40 to present in front of the New York Angel Investor Panel next Wednesday. Those are the companies that those guys actually invest in. We’re the real deal from an investor’s viewpoint, and we can prove that now.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

Their design and their ability to listen to us. They don’t seem to be to monetarily driven. They have a passion for making things work, and that’s what makes their lives ideal. I think Mark is an amazing person in terms of what he did for us, and what he continues to do for us, and how much he genuinely cares for us.

It would be impossible to have built Collaborizm on our budget without him. He holds such an extraordinary critique to the design work.  He’s a true perfectionist down to the micro-pixel. He scrutinizes every possible design principle, he doesn’t let anything come through his chamber unless it’s really professional and it really looks good.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

The only thing I would critique is on the business development front. I think there needs to be more structure on how you coach startups from a true grass roots business development standpoint. It’s extremely difficult in the early stages and I think they’re learning that they’ve got to be a little more execution focused versus purely guidance focused. Consulting doesn’t really work that well for startup, no matter who the consultant is.