Metastudio

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Several years ago, I founded Epistles. We wanted to provide a video portal that allowed users to ask and answer questions.

What challenge were you trying to address with Metastudio?

Because I’m not a web developer, I needed a company to build the portal for me.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Based on some mock-ups, Metastudio developed a web-based portal using Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and HTML. Their team was responsible for all of the technical work on the platform.

What is the team composition?

I only spoke with a project manager, but I believe there was a team of two developers and one tester in the background.

How did you come to work with Metastudio?

After viewing their portfolios, I emailed over 50 agencies I was interested in working with. Ultimately, I chose Metastudio. We were both located in Russia, so there wouldn’t be a language barrier.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little over $20,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from December 2013–April 2014.

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

They helped us better understand and conceptualize the goals of our project. The developed useful and accessible features that aligned with our requirements. Unfortunately, the project didn’t take off, but it wasn’t because of them.

How did Metastudio perform from a project management standpoint?

We spoke with the project manager once a week to discuss our progress and plan our next steps. Through consistent collaboration, we were able to determine the necessary features for the portal. They were always responsive when we reached out using Skype and email and we tracked the project using Basecamp. On occasion, I flew to their office to meet with the developers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very energetic. Before speaking with us for the first time, they had already thought about our project. They came to our first interaction prepared with ideas and suggestions. It was very easy to speak with them. With other companies I initially considered, I had to repeat project details and requirements, which showed me they didn’t read my email.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am one of the co-founders of a dating website.

What challenge were you trying to address with Metastudio?

We originally hired a web development company who then subcontracted parts of the work to Metastudio. Our goal was to build our website from the ground up.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Metastudio helped to build the website from the ground up using Ruby. We discussed the design and functions we wanted to include in addition to new ideas that would stand out in the market. For instance, one of our key features is the ability to find matches based on your alma mater.

What is the team composition?

The Metastudio team was two to three people, including Alexander, the CEO and Founder. 

How did you come to work with Metastudio?

The developers we hired for the project subcontracted the work to Metastudio. Our original developers since disbanded, but they trusted the team at Metastudio to maintain the project, and so, with total confidence, I did, too.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Metastudio in May 2014 and they finished the original development work in September 2014. Currently, we work with them to maintain the website.

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

Since the launch of the website, we have received positive feedback from our clientele. Although numerical growth is relatively slow, people love the idea and are excited to see the site grow.

How did Metadtudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Throughout the project and beyond, they have been great. Our project manager was patient with us and personally assisted us in some important backend organization. In one instance, after the project was completed, Alexander was monitoring the website and noticed that someone hacked us., which was immensely important since we ourselves might not have detected the breach. If the site ever malfunctions, his team addresses the problem in a timely manner. To this day, we primarily communicated through email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Alexander was open and friendly with us. He is clearly knowledgeable and solves problems quickly. The hacker incident is a great example.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is honestly nothing that I can think of for them to improve. They’ve been great and incredibly helpful.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Not for Metastudio specifically, but for development projects, in general, of course, always review a company’s portfolio and talk to previous clients about their experiences.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Firefield. We’re a technology consultancy that provides strategy, design, and development of technology initiatives for a variety of customers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Metastudio?

We go about business by bringing in clients and designing new technologies for them. The initial process includes making decisions regarding how we staff our team to execute development projects. The scope of a particular project required additional resources, so we hired Metastudio to augment our existing development team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

To ensure we deliver excellent products in a timely manner, Metastudio provides developers and engineers that we manage directly. They’ve worked with us to complete both web and app development projects. We mostly rely on them for work in Ruby on Rails as well as JavaScript frameworks like React. Alexander (Developer, Metastudio) fulfills a project management role as he communicates our requirements, wireframes, and mock-ups across the Metastudio team.

What is the team composition?

Alex is our primary point of contact, but we interact with everyone on their team that works on our projects. We’ve worked with five individuals in total.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t know the exact number, but it’s certainly over $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2014 and our relationship is ongoing.

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

We have a collection of products where our clients have all been extremely happy with the speed with which we deliver and the quality of the work. That segment of deliverables directly translates to the projects Metastudio helped us develop.

How did Metastudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Alexander leads his team effectively and is a strong project manager. He’s communicative, responsive, and does a job of staffing our team in relation to the complexity of our needs. Metastudio provides engineers at various price points and levels of seniority to best serve the needs of our customers. We share documents on Google Drive but communicate almost exclusively through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve contracted many different firms and our experience has definitely varied across them. The biggest challenge is making the team we work with feel assimilated with us. We want our outsourced developers to personify the values we have as a company and work towards our long-term goals rather than just complete the task at hand. Metastudio is invested in what we’re trying to accomplish as a company. That’s a rare quality among other teams that we’ve contracted and that doesn't show up in their codebase or case studies. It only really comes through after having worked with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Most consulting firms are expected to deliver the work as outlined and not ask questions or engage creatively. That’s how Metastudio approached our agreement until we asked otherwise. The moment we asked them to be invested partners, they rose to the occasion immediately. Therefore, I don’t hold that against them as a misstep. We should’ve done more to promote engagement initially.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Challenge your expectations of what you’re looking for in a contractor. A lot of firms can build to precise specifications and do good work. However, I’d recommend customers leverage Metastudio for their ability to act as a partner through their project management prowess. Make sure you can extract from them all the things that they offer.