Linkup Studio

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a commercial mortgage brokerage firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We engaged LinkUp Studio for the purpose of further progressing our internal and external technology. As a result, we tasked them to build our software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did a discovery phase where we talked extensively about our objectives and about what we were trying to build. On top of that, we shared our problems and we talked about the possible solutions that could address our issues. During that time, they were able to gain a pretty good understanding of what we wanted to do. We didn’t really provide any documentation, LinkUp Studio just asked us about our project’s details. We then went into the architectural phase where we made blueprints of the websites we wanted to do.

The team also provided us with wireframes and sketches. LinkUp Studio is now developing our websites.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with eight people, including front- and backend developers, designers, project managers, and product managers.

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio?

A friend of mine recommended LinkUp Studio. He said that they were very professional. When I met them, they asked all the right questions, and they easily understood what we wanted to complete.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People have mentioned that they love LinkUp Studio’s design work. Some of those people who have given their compliments are from multibillion-dollar organizations. Overall, I’d definitely recommend them to anybody because they’re a great firm.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d give them a 9 out of 10 rating for their project management process. We use Jira, Slack,  GitHub, and more. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could move a little bit faster. In addition, they’ve changed a few developers along the way, which has been a little bit of a nuisance. However, it’s not that big of a deal.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be diligent in monitoring your project’s deliverables.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Dexfolio, a cryptocurrency app that allows users to track their crypto investments. It hooks into the blockchain and pulls the user’s data from the provide wallet address. Specifically, users can view the tokens in their account, what they paid to purchase those tokens, and what change in value has happened. We’ve also created our own cryptocurrency while providing other cryptocurrency services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio

We’re slowly building more features for the app, such as a detailed overview and transaction history. That’s where LinkUp works; they’re developing our mobile app.   

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The execution started with a lot of planning. We retained the deadlines that we committed to our user community, so we still needed to release a beta app quickly.

From there, we’ve been doing weekly sprints. We’ve spent two months getting our data ready. Having prepared the data, we’ve been releasing new updates every week.

What is the team composition?

We started working with 1–2 people from LinkUp; it wasn’t a big team. However, due to the aggressive timelines we had to meet, we built the team up.

Now, we have 2–3 designers and two full stack developers. We also work with one frontend developer, a backend developer, and a QA engineer. Moreover, LinkUp’s CTO is also working with us, providing guidance as we hit a few bumps on the road of backend development. We have an account manager who handles the communication amongst the team, such as the requirements of the features they want to implement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2021, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

LinkUp has done the app correctly — I can’t say the same for the other agency we’ve used. Simply put, while LinkUp isn’t the best agency out there, they’re also not the worst. Moreover, the team is highly accommodating; they’ve agreed to do most of the things I’ve asked them to do. They let me take an active role in the project, which is necessary to avoid mistakes in the process.

With LinkUp, I can communicate with the developers as needed. I can check their progress and set or join standups.

Overall, LinkUp lets me dictate how things should run, which is extremely valuable for me. I want to develop a team-oriented engagement instead of one with more agency bias. They recognize that and have accommodated it, and I appreciate it.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

LinkUp makes it easy to change things on the fly. They do move slowly, but at least they get things done. What they create works — at the end of the day, that’s what matters most.

What did you find most impressive about them?

LinkUp does three things well. First, they’re respectful of what I want and willing to adapt and change what I ask. LinkUp doesn’t have any issues with what I request. I truly appreciate that. Secondly, they have good-quality developers that know what they’re doing. Lastly, the CEO is especially a pleasure to work with. He aims to resolve any issue or constructive feedback I provide. I've never seen someone take feedback as well as him. This is the main reason I've been sticking with LinkUp.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not impressed with their project management. We’re not pushing things out as fast as we can because they’re strict with their time. For instance, they never work overtime. Apart from that, they charge hourly, which isn’t great when working with an agency. The cost can balloon if they make a bad choice. Even when they bill hourly, they still refuse to work overtime.

Moreover, the team doesn’t have great communication. For example, I’ve seen highly detailed tickets before, and I don’t see that with LinkUp. Likewise, if we’ve had better communication from the start, we would immediately know how to improve the app instead of restarting the development. It doesn’t feel like LinkUp has done this type of development before. That’s weird because I know they have tons of clients. Most likely, they’re unsure about the best approach to this project.

Further, they lack any project owner or manager, while their account manager simply gets their requirements. Projects nowadays have such complex requirements that they need to have someone who’s experienced with project management or being a product owner — LinkUp doesn’t have that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate a clear timeline with LinkUp. They won’t give you a timeline until they’re done researching their estimation. When they give you an estimate, you’ll work from there. With that in mind, you can always simplify or make things better. Tell them when you want to get into the market. Ask them to tell you whether you’re ballooning past your requirements so that you can figure things out before they’re done with their planning and research.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of BuzzAr, an AR solutions marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We needed to implement cloud storage for our customers; it’s for management repositories, accessing restrictions, and administration. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created the OneCloud repository management system for working with tenants to access restrictions and other management tools for our customers. They used Ruby on Rails, C#, and .NET.

On the frontend side, they used jQuery and React. They used GitLab as the engine for repository storage. They did the UI/UX and all the back-and frontend development. They continue to do some improvements and the development is still in progress.

What is the team composition?

There were two backend developers, one designer, and a frontend developer.

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio

We spent €200,000 ($243,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2018, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality is excellent. The project is in production, and our customers are happy to use it. We had a few bugs, but we’ve received good support. They’re a really responsible team.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We managed the project on our side. We communicate on Skype and Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They care about the results and all aspects of the project. They take responsibility for the whole project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with them. Create detailed specifications before starting the work. Discuss all the points before starting development.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a startup marketplace to present and promote Ukrainian IT companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We’re not technically inclined and needed help building our marketplace.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, LinkUp Studio did a business analysis and design discovery where they helped us build the visual aspects of our platform. From there, they designed sketches and we selected several.

We showed them similar systems that we wanted our site to look like.  The site we chose has a WordPress backend and a custom frontend. The team also took care of development and QA.

What is the team composition?

We worked with their CEO, business analysts, and developers. In total we interacted with six people.

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio?

We found them on the internet and chose them based on several references. In our initial meeting, the team was friendly, nice, and professional.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $140,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2019, and our work is ongoing. The main part of the platform is developed. Now, we’re working on testing and adding features.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Without this marketplace, we wouldn’t have a business. It’s working as expected, and we’ve already made traction with Ukrainian companies. As with any project, there were small aspects that needed to be fixed along the way; that being said, it’s been an overall success. We definitely hope to work with them again on any other projects once this one is wrapped up.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management and communication are great. We have direct communication with their developers. Once every two weeks, they also give us presentations on what they’ve developed. The team is very flexible and willing to incorporate my ideas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They take care of the project full-cycle. The team has good business analysis and consulting. I appreciate their professional insights. It’s great that they do more than just execution. They really invest excellent ideas and thoughts. Additionally, their designers are professional and they offer great feedback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to take advantage of their consulting skills. Not every company provides a formal discovery phase. It was really valuable in helping us form our ideas. It’s also important to be proactive with communication.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cyfluencer is a spin-off from WadiDigital’s growing client-base of cybersecurity companies looking for a way to scale share of voice via influencer marketing and distribution. I'm responsible for product management for the platform, as well as product marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our challenge was to provide a platform where client content could be easily accessed and shared by cybersecurity influencers and track the clicks to our clients sites via these shares. PPC meets Influencer marketing.

Our goal was to create and MVP platform that would create a simple and clear user experience for two different types of client users.

SOLUTION

How did you select LinkUp Studio and what were the deciding factors?

LinkUp was referred by a satisfied client and was then compared to three other proposals.

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

Discovery and design took place, helping define feature priority and arrive at an agreed MVP.

We were given access to Jira to monitor the sprints and progress. Working on a tight deadline we redefined some parameters towards the end and reprioritized and were able to pull off a successful product launch.

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

At the height of the project, there were maybe 10 people involved. A designer, business analyst, maximum 3 front end and 3 back end developers and 2 QA's.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch on time and smoothly with no major hiccups or disruptions of service. The transition from the third party platform we used to our own created no down time.

We also saw a dramatic improvement in the quality of traffic our clients were receiving from our platform, with their metrics in analytics confirming substantial positive upticks.

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

The project management style was pretty classic, tracked in jira and discussed in weekly meetings.

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

They understood the needs of a specific niche of influencer marketing and translated it into the software. For those outside of marketing, the vision sometimes wasn't clear, but they seemed to understand the user stories very well.

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

There were a few minor miscommunications throughout the process, but that is as much on us as the company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a boutique firm for economic development and technology solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We needed help with web development. The idea was to give business communities a platform to connect with one another. We needed help with the framework, specifically.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LinkUp Studio helped us develop a web platform for entrepreneur connections. Their team was responsible for UI/UX, architecture, code implementation, and QA. They worked in Ruby on Rail and React.js on AWS.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Nazar (Ruby on Rail Developer), André (Lead Generation Specialist), and three other resources.

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio?

We got in touch with them from another operation that we were involved in.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2015, and we wrapped up in December 2016. They also did a few adjustments for us in 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We brought them our ideas and they addressed them with a “can-do” spirit. We were thrilled with the look and feel. Their reaction time and quick pace really blew us away. We had a complete symbiosis with one another. The quality was really fantastic. We threw them all kinds of wrenches and they made it work.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Once we got the framework decided, they took off like lightning rods. We had regular meetings where the team was always constructive. There was never a lag on their part. We used Flash.pm for project management.

André is an amazing business person. His personality is amazing. He’s customer-oriented and goes the extra mile to get the job done. He keeps his team on track to meet all deadlines. We couldn’t ask for a better situation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their sincerity really stands out. They went above and beyond the call of duty. The team is so transparent and upfront. We always knew what we were getting. Their positive attitude and diligence really contributed to the project’s success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re always improving. We were really happy with the outcome.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

A project always needs to start with an idea. Start with a preliminary question and feedback session. Let ideas develop slowly but also have a concrete goal.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO, founder, and president of an app-building platform. Destinations use our drag and drop app builder to share their stories with visitors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We needed help with development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LinkUp Studio is an extension of our software team. We have engineers around the world and they’re a team we can scale up and down based on what we’re doing.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3.5–6 people from their team.

How did you come to work with LinkUp Studio?

We acquired a company that used them in the past and they came highly recommended in the acquisition. They had a really good team that fit well with what we’re doing.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $130,000–$140,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have software engineers all over the world and we’ve used engineers in other places. LinkUp Studio does as good a job with anyone we’ve ever worked with. They’re not the most affordable resource on the planet, but they’re much cheaper than a team in Boston. They do really good work.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I meet with their CEO once a month and we chat about how things are going. They’re equipped with all the tools we need to track everything. The team provides a really detailed list of everything they’re working on. They offer a project management infrastructure so we don’t have to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their work and the knowledge that they bring to the table differentiates them from others that we’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s helpful to visit them and meet the team in person. Take the time to interview multiple people in the organization.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co-Founder

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired LinkUp Studio to develop our entire web-based platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select LinkUp Studio and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for not only a team who know what they were doing, but actually took initiative. It was our first time developing something like this and we weren't just looking for a team to follow our instructions, but actually add valuable input and guide us through the entire process. From the initial interview, it was clear that Andiry and the team were not like the other developers we spoke to.

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

They developed our entire web-based platform from design, front-end and back-end development. I'm not a tech guy, so I'm not sure what technology they used to do so, but all I know is they always over delivered and before the deadline.

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

I would say about 5 or 6. Not sure as to the exact roles.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Always over-delivered and did so before the scheduled completion date of each sprint.

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

Each week we would have a team meeting to keep up to date on the progress. Outside of that, they shared a screen where we could view progress in real time.

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

Their ability to guide us through the entire process and over deliver on each section. We would ask for something specifically, and not only would they deliver that, but also add in something that we never thought about which improved the platform substantially. This was not a one-off thing, this would happen a lot.

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

No, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

MumMeFit is getting back in shape when and where you want; but always professional.

The MumMeFit app can be carried out in addition to the current workout routine or even before you start your local work out course. It includes exercises for the period immediately after birth as well as more demanding ones for a later start. The goal is to fill the first 12 months after birth effectively, motivated and above all sustainably, with sports and exercise, in order to increase your well-being.

We want to make professional post-natal workouts available to EVERY mom – no more annoying waiting lists, no more traffic jams with crying children in the back seat, and no more using the excuse not to get back in shape because of the lack of a local postpartum exercise course.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire LinkUp Studio?

LinkUp Studio is doing all application related work - from the very begining on.

What were your goals for this project?

The development of the app without having to hire permanent staff and offer a permanent workplace.

SOLUTION

How did you select LinkUp Studio?

The recommendation by Zenturion GmbH.

Describe the project in detail.

First we had a big project, which wasn´t easy to develope like I original wanted to have it. We split the project in many little ones. Step by Step we focused on different parts, published it and improved the app in the background for the next release.

Everyone know developing an App isn´t an straight forward project. You need the feedback of user and you need to solve user problems and wishes, to make it more userfriendly. We always had to go some steps back and often change our mind, to make the app better and better.

What was the team composition?

In the beginning I had an projectmanagerm who was my first contact. After a couple of month I got a main developer who takes care about the whole project and also develope mainly the app. I work and communicate with him since (I guess) 1,5 year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We still work together to improve the app and develope more features. More user are downloading the app. That is a sign, that more user like it. The main developer recommanded software and tools to see crashes more detailed. This helped us to react even faster and to stabilize the app.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

To be honest, the beginning was very bumpy. I was new to the business and had to come in first. The developers were very rigid in their way of working and required a lot of expertise that I didn't bring. This was very unsatisfactory for me personally. Because in the end everything became more expensive. Many costs could have been avoided due to better communication.

Some of the problems when you work with someone remotely and externally. And if everyone has different expectations of the other. BUT they were open to change: We had a long call and afterwards it worked much better. We discussed how we can improve communication , how we will work with estimations and approvals and since than working with LinkUp Studo changed a lot.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How they changed their mind, to make me - as their costumer - more happy. They are really interested in a long term cooperation and not only finish a project and don´t care about it anymore.

The Main Developer knows me in the meanwhile and know how I think about communication and estimations. He always has in mind, that I am not one of teh big companys with endless budget. He always offers packages and support to me, that I am able to implement.

And on the other hand he is endeavors to improve things inside the app without having to tell him. He suggest technical improvements (and I do not have any clue about that) which make the app faster and better. I particularly appreciate this!

Really great work with him and the whole team behinde. They are always on time. We usually do not have a straight schedule to get things done. But when we had some issues, whether it was a bug or a major problem, they attended to it - very quickly Something that is not self-evident in Germany. They could also be contacted late at night or at weekends and they helped where they could. I also appreciate that very much.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There can always be some improvement. Sometimes we still discuss timeline, estimates and communication. But in the end, I'm more than satisfied and absolutely happy with this company and look forward to further improving the MumMeFit app and creating and developing user-friendly features.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of Nutty Putty. We build mobile party game apps. We’ve released five Android apps so far, and are releasing a sixth in the next couple of months.

Our most popular game is Party Mafia, a multiplayer game for 5–50 people. Everybody plays from their own phone and connects to the host. Everyone is assigned a secret identity and, over multiple rounds, tries to figure out who the mafia members are. There are a bunch of additional roles, including citizens, detectives, and bodyguards

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LinkUp Studio?

We were looking for mobile app development help for Party Mafia.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LinkUp Studio developed an Android mobile app for us. Their team also designed the project from start to finish, creating several animations to bring the game to life. 

Once storyboarding was complete, their team created wireframes and then moved into the development phase. They built both the front- and backend of the platform and an API using Ruby on Rails, Mongo, and Flutter. LinkUp Studio also handles QA for us. Additionally, they recruited students to help test the game on a large scale to make sure all of the real-time communication worked. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with six members of the LinkUp Studio team. I worked with Nataliya (Co-Founder), who oversaw most of the design work. I also worked with Paul (User Experience Designer) and Alex (UI/UX Designer) on designs. We worked with Roman (Front-End Developer) on the front-end and Vitalii (Ruby on Rails Developer) on the backend. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $80,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement began in February 2019. The app has been released, but we’re working on improvements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a regular user base, even a few groups of 30–40 that play multiple times a week. We’ve seen interests from professional power players and chess grandmasters. 

Most of the reviews in the App Store are phenomenal and ranges from 4–5 stars. I even got an email from a user who played seven times in one night with a huge group of people. He even plans to bring it to his next company retreat. 

We’ve also seen some success in streaming the app on Twitch. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been a great way for people to connect with their friends, family, and coworkers remotely. As with any app, there were growing pains and redesigns, btu overall, it’s been a success.

How did LinkUp Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

LinkUp Studio has been great. We have weekly meetings with their whole dev team where they’d provide us with updates. Our teams manage the project through Trello and use a ticketing system to keep track. We also communicate via Slack. 

We do have a time difference, but there were several hours of overlap in the morning where we could collaborate, hang out on Slack, and ask them questions. They manage the project well and their communication is great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

LinkUp Studio has a real passion for the work. Now, I don’t know if that’s because they love to play Mafia or because they love designing apps. I could tell they were investing in getting the app to work properly and be fun to play. They would even have late night mafia session to make sure it was perfect. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. If anything, we pushed a technology stack on them that they had never used before. That did make the first year pretty difficult, which would be true for anyone learning new technology. Now they have two years’ experience and it’s smooth sailing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communication is the key to success. Make sure you have a good system in place so you communicate daily, whether that’s through video calls or slack. It’s important to touch base daily and help them clear roadblocks.