Lotus Labs, Inc

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Lead 180. We work with K–12 schools, providing support for curriculum and structural alignment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lotus Labs?

We were looking to innovate the teacher planning space. In 2017, I created a downloadable PDF that guided teachers when to teach at the right level at the right time. We were looking to take all of the 2,000 pages of content from that product and turn it into an easily usable app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lotus Labs developed a web app. They started by creating the prototype over a 3-month period, and then went on to build the full version of the platform. The Lotus Labs team also helped transition teacher’s existing lesson plans into our system to help early uses transition to the platform.

Their team went on to build out the website that hosts the app as well as creating an explainer video. They continue to conduct maintenance for the platform.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 6–8 members of the Lotus Labs team. We worked with one team for the prototype and then transitioned to a new project manager and a different team of developers on the full version. 

How did you come to work with Lotus Labs?

I met Lotus Labs through my business coach at the type.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested about $300,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Lotus Labs began in May 2019. The prototype was completed around August 2019 and around January 2020 we began working on the full version. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with Lotus Labs has been a blessing. They help steer me on the right path, beginning with a pilot program as opposed to a national launch. We started with 10 schools and are integrating three more while we continue testing the system.

Thanks to their idea of getting established clients to prepay, I was able to raise thousands of dollars in pre-sales to help offset the cost of development. Their mentorship has really helped me get to the next level. 

How did Lotus Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Lotus Labs was always responsive and would seek clarification when necessary. Their team was almost always ahead of schedule. Our teams communicate via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lotus Labs is incredibly responsive, anytime there’s an issue they jump right on it. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it the best product available. I was amazed by their prototype, they captured my vision perfectly. They were happy to weave my templates and input into the app, which resulted in a product I’m truly happy with. 

Early on, one of their developers told me to never think of there being a limitation to the technology. They instructed me to go for a home run every time I talk to them and know that they will figure it out. I loved that they didn’t put any limitations on me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything has been really great. We’ve been working together so long, they feel like part of my company.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about your expectations and about what you’re looking to build. Give them as many visuals as possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an insurance tech company. We’re a SaaS company that provides software to small-to-medium-sized insurance businesses, and I’m the CTO. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lotus Labs Inc?

Our company does a lot of custom software development, but we were having a hard time scaling our team in the way that we wanted to. Lotus Labs provided two engineers for a little bit over a year ago in a staff augmentation type of engagement. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lotus Labs worked on a number of things. They worked on various modules within our policy administration system, which was written in .NET, and then they helped us introduce React to our frontend technology stack. 

We also rolled out a new website that allowed insurance agents to quote and book businesses within our system. The Lotus Labs engineers were instrumental parts of that project. The website has a brand new React frontend as well as microservices written in .NET. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with two people who were both senior engineers. One of them was a very good senior React engineer, and the second one was a senior architect-level .NET engineer. Then, there was the owner of the company, who acted as the account manager. 

How did you come to work with Lotus Labs Inc?

The decision to work with them was made for me. I joined our company 6–7 months ago, and they were already engaged with Lotus Labs. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested somewhere between $150,000–$200,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Lotus Labs from March 2019–October 2020. We stopped working with them only because we’ve been able to hire full-time employees. That was the plan all along when I took over running the engineering department. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We couldn’t have been happier with Lotus Labs’ contributions. They were very sharp and easy to work with. All of the projects were deadline-driven since we worked for clients who needed them by a certain date. We managed to accomplish them. 

How did Lotus Labs Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was excellent. Both of the employees were not in our time zone, but they were very accommodating. They would work odd hours just to ensure that our team was successful. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were good engineers and flexible. They produce quality codes and dovetail very nicely with our existing engineering team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I didn’t set up the initial engagement. I just adopted it, and the project went very well. I’m happy with their contribution, so there’s really nothing that comes to mind in terms of any advice for other clients. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is a fast-paced provider of insurance enterprise software. We build web applications that manage worker’s comp and other lines of insurance carriers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lotus Labs Inc?

We were trying to convert from a monolith ASP.NET web forms app to get a headstart on implementing a microservices React-based web app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They converted our web app into a modern and scalable framework. We were trying to upmarket and add new features faster. Basically, we wanted a proof of concept (POC) for rolling out a new set of features which was a product line that allows our customer salespeople, also called brokers, to have a portal that’s modern and scalable. We also wanted the brokers to log into the portal.

The platform also quotes insurance and then ultimately sells insurance for our customers which are insurance carriers. They utilized React, C# .NET Core, Microsft SQL, PowerShell, Azure, and TypeScript.

We had Lotus Labs Inc work in cooperation with our internal team as we were staffing up. At the same time that we were hiring internal developers to have a permanent in-house team of engineers, we worked with them to meet a customer deadline in July.

Once we met that deadline, we started scaling back their involvement and started handing off the project. They documented and tested everything. Recently, they wrapped up the last few support tickets that were from the previous release, and that’s how we wrapped up the engagement.

What is the team composition?

The team was composed of three people. Alex (.NET Software Architect), a senior React developer and an intermediate React developer worked with us, but our main point of contact was Alex.

How did you come to work with Lotus Labs Inc?

They were referred by a recruiter we normally worked with. We trusted our relationship with our recruiter, so we followed their recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested a little bit over $360,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership ran from April 2019–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We delivered the product to our key customers on time and they were impressed by it. The project was a success and their deliverables were good. They met our third-party customer's expectations.

How did Lotus Labs Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

They matched everything that we used and utilized all of our tools — that applies to both their internal developers and project managers. They were really flexible at matching the tools that we wanted. They didn’t complain and they just switched and used it. However, there were also a couple of times where we asked their opinions as we were including new tools.

They used Slack, Visual Studio, Azure DevOps, and Jira. They acted like they were just members of the team. Overall, it was pretty seamless working with them, the same as any other developer. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really pushed to get better solutions rather than just accepting bad requirements. They really asked good questions and gave their professional feedback on what has worked for them at other companies. It helped us get better solutions faster. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could've done a better job of highlighting one of their intermediate developer's contributions. I know that he was doing a good job, but because the team's two English speakers were basically translating for him, they didn’t really do an excellent job of allowing the rest of my team to understand the positive contributions he was making. That seemed unfair to him since they didn't highlight him enough by letting the two senior developers take the spotlight.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give clear expectations and treat the team as if they’re your employees.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and the CTO of a product services company. We do product work for large tech companies. We’re not a staffing company, we take on entire products and build them on behalf of clients. Our team works on a lot of innovation projects involving both hardware and software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lotus Labs Inc?

We needed a team of developers with a lot of experience in product development, especially machine learning and full-stack web applications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked in an agile manner, and Lotus Labs was an extension of our team. They participated in our daily standups, and we had separate sprints. The project wasn’t staff augmentation per se because they owned the delivery of an entire product that was part of a suite.

We did the design in-house, and Lotus Labs built the whole thing from there. They used React.js and Vue.js on the frontend and Node.js on the backend.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of 8–10 people. That included a project manager, one lead developer for the web side and one for the machine learning side; the rest were developers.

How did you come to work with Lotus Labs Inc?

I had worked with their founder in the past, so I went back to them when we needed help with this product.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost was around $700,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Lotus Labs in October 2018, and the project wrapped up in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Lotus Labs was very responsive after they delivered the product, and we put it out for beta testing. They integrated that feedback pretty quickly. There were no major technical problems. The developers were very experienced and knew what they were doing. Everything went well.

How did Lotus Labs Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

They worked closely with us, and everything was seamless. We used Slack quite a bit, and everything was integrated there. We had constant updates on what they were working on and the changes being made.

We’re a remote team, and we’ve been doing this for 10 years. Lotus Labs also being a remote team helped. The process was pretty smooth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s the quality of their team. They’re very passionate and don’t treat this like a nine-to-five job. That’s what we look for in our own company. Lotus Labs keeps up with the industry, and they have their own pet projects. Exploring new things is eventually helpful when it comes to paid projects because they gain knowledge and apply it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This project went pretty smoothly. There’s always something to improve in hindsight, but that’s standard with projects of this size. I wouldn’t change anything if we had to do it again.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Letting them be a bit autonomous will help in the long run. We don’t want to micromanage them or step on their toes. Lotus Labs is pretty good at what they do, and they have a proactive team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Vice President Operations of an insurance company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Wholesale disability insurance products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Lotus Labs, Inc to accomplish?

• Design and develop products that can make us an AI-driven enterprise.
• Provide an overall AI strategy for the company.

SOLUTION

How did you find Lotus Labs, Inc?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Lotus Labs, Inc over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Lotus Labs, Inc were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We had a propriatory software build by other deveopment teams. the system never worked fully, but once Lotus Labs got their hands on it, it drastically improved. They are building out our software to add a section for each department:

• Sales
• Underwriting
• Accounting
• Marketing
• Contracting

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

On the first project they worked on, we were able to capture 50% more business with the automation they built for us.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, they surpassed our expectation every step of the way. On time with each meeting and great communication if anything needs discussion.

What was your primary form of communication with Lotus Labs, Inc?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The most impressive aspect of them is that they are able to pick up on our business so quickly. Which allowed them to give thoughtful and insightful recommendations. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Lotus Labs, Inc could have done differently?

None.