Quillok

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a software provider that helps other SaaS companies with their DNS configuration. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quillok?

We needed help with frontend development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Quillok has brought someone from their team to provide us with frontend development support. The key technologies being used are JavaScript and React.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with the co-founders and a senior frontend developer.

How did you come to work with Quillok?

They were recommended to us by a few agencies that we had worked with before.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $75,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in Augusto 2021, and our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, they’ve been easy to work with. Their team really understands the project requirements, which helps them ensure the quality of their work.

How did Quillok perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great in terms of adhering to deadlines and our budget. We use Trello and Linear as our project management tools. For communication, we interact through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve been most impressed with the quality and speed of their support — especially when answering our questions and clarifying certain things. They’re also very friendly.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly set the budget and timeline of your project before engaging with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of facefwd, a video-sharing app that records the reactions of users to the content on the platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quillok?

Our company didn’t have the capacity to build the app itself. I didn’t have any technical background either. Given that, we contacted development teams to outsource the work.

Quillok was the latest company we used for the most recent iteration of the app. We wanted to make the app easier for users to access. Our team also needed to give it more credibility — people didn’t feel safe interacting with it with the way it initially looked. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Quillok works on our existing app by improving its design, adding features to it, and similar things. The mobile app is currently only available on iOS, and it’s built on Ruby on Rails. The colors of the app are the same, but the team has made changes to the look and feel of the product. 

In terms of features, our social media app allows users to record their reactions to the content they watch. Other users on the platform can also see their reactions. Essentially, it’s a social media app that allows for more genuine and authentic interactions among the individuals using it.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with nearly everyone on their team who’s worked on the app. My primary contacts are Pablo and Marcos (Co-Founders), but I also collaborate with other people who work on the front- and backend sides of the app. 

How did you come to work with Quillok?

I worked with Pablo before he started Quillok. He was one of the primary developers for a different company we were working with during an earlier phase of the project. When we were ready to move on to another phase, I reached out to him and asked for his availability. He said that the timing was perfect because he had just started his development shop. That was when we started working together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $10,000–$12,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To measure success, we check whether or not Quillok meets deliverables and works in a timely manner. We check the results we get from the creation of the features we want. So far, we work well with the team, and their communication is always good. I’m not a technical person, but over the time I’ve worked with them on the app, I’ve developed a vocabulary that allows me to talk to them about specific things. With that in mind, the team has been patient in helping me turn my plan into something tangible. 

Moreover, Quillok is also good at offering suggestions in terms of how we can save money. Budgetary constraints have been an issue for us, so the team is always looking for the most effective solutions while keeping in mind our budget and time constraints. They do a great job of balancing those things and working on our company’s priorities. 

Bugs have appeared, but they get fixed eventually. We haven’t seen issues that seem permanent because of their work. We’ve had a bug that required us to pay them for additional work, but they aren’t responsible for that. 

Further, the team is highly accessible in terms of resolving issues. From the beginning, they’ve been clear about their capacity and turnaround times — they’ve done a great job sticking to these. As long as we have conversations about our expectations, they can meet whatever our requirements are. 

How did Quillok perform from a project management standpoint?

Quillok’s project management is great. I haven’t been proactive in terms of finding people to work with because it’s hard to find trustworthy people that we can communicate with and be on the same page together. However, we’ve built a good relationship with Quillok where it’s easy for me to trust their recommendations.

To manage the project, we’ve used Trello and Asana. To communicate, we use emails, Zoom calls, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communication is their strongest point, and we trust them — these things stand out to me. They’re honest, and they communicate whenever an issue arises; they work collaboratively to figure out problems. On top of that, I truly appreciate their patience and willingness to work with me even though I’m not technically savvy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Quillok is a pretty small dev shop, so a part of me wonders whether or not they can continue to accommodate us if and when we scale. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with Quillok, and be clear about your expectations. On top of that, be receptive when the team communicates their availability and capabilities. If you feel that what they’ve laid out doesn’t meet your needs, continue negotiating with them until you get exactly what you need. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an Austin-based software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quillok?

We needed help with custom software development for our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve engaged with Quillok on various projects; the majority of them are frontend software development, where they use technologies such as React, Python, Java, Ruby on Rails, and Node.js. They mostly work on the backend development of our core product, which is primarily done by us.

What is the team composition?

We've been working with a designer and a developer from their team.

How did you come to work with Quillok?

They were referred to me by my go-to design agency.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent $60,000–$100,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done a great job — the quality of their work is amazing, and I enjoy working with their team.

How did Quillok perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very responsive. In terms of tools and communication, we use Jira and Figma.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Quillok's expertise in custom software development is impressive; their team has worked on many of our projects, and our overall experience has been positive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on — they've been a great partner to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're a responsive team, so you only have to match that energy to make the most of your engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a founder of a startup called ShelfSet. We make software for distributors and retailers to track and manage their inventory or store shelf space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quillok?

We were looking to accelerate and improve our mobile app development. I had built the server-side and hadn’t gotten anywhere with the app development. An early prototype was built on React, but I wanted native apps for both Android and iOS.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Quillok built our mobile app from scratch. They developed native versions; the Android app is in Kotlin, and they used Swift for the iOS version. The app runs machine learning models for recognizing objects. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people from Quillok’s management, plus an Android developer and an iOS developer. 

How did you come to work with Quillok?

I originally found Marcos (Co-Founder) on Fiverr. We had a good rapport, and he seemed really smart and had a great network of engineers in Uruguay. After working with him for a while, we decided to hire Quillok.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2020–July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Quillok successfully launched the app in the Google Play Store and the App Store. The Android app has been 99.9% crash-free, and the iOS app has been completely crash-free.

How did Quillok perform from a project management standpoint?

They were good at giving us weekly updates and ensuring that everything went according to the spec. They also excelled at testing and iterating with us. As for communication, we messaged back and forth through Slack a lot. Every week or two, we had a 30-minutes to an hour phone call to review the work. Overall, the team was very transparent and easy to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Quillok offered a really good network of experienced, high-quality engineers at an affordable price.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although I was super happy overall, the Android app development went quicker and better than the iOS app. However, I needed to be more available for meetings; I pushed most of the work onto them, and our engagement probably worked better as a partnership. All in all, I didn’t have any significant complaints or concerns. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I suggest viewing your engagement as a partnership. The more you can make yourself available to match their time, the more you’ll get out of a relationship with Quillok. Additionally, it always helps to know what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a software company. We focus on connecting various hardware devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Quillok?

We were trying to develop a mobile application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Quillok has been providing full-stack engineering outsourcing development for our team. They work collaboratively with our CTO to integrate themselves, which is very helpful. We keep on using them — they’re an extension of our team.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three members of their team, including a full-stack engineer.

How did you come to work with Quillok?

We found them going through random outsourcing groups, and we chose them based on our communication with them. I liked that they were flexible, responsive, and real people.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent $20,000–$30,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re delighted with the results. Also, we couldn’t rate them higher in their ability to keep us updated — they really get the project.

How did Quillok perform from a project management standpoint?

The process has been great; they’re communicative and have good English. In terms of tools, we use Slack and Trello to manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication, responsiveness, and agility are outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with your needs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Team Lead of a freelance services marketplace.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Digital freelancing services

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Quillok to accomplish?

Develop design system component

SOLUTION

How did you find Quillok?

Fiverr

Why did you select Quillok over others?

• High ratings
• Fits project needs

How many teammates from Quillok were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.
Development of design system components: 

• Select
• Dropdown
• Modal
• Image Crop

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Delivery of the relevant component or milestones in the delivery

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

A bit late on delivery, but it was understandable due to the project's complexity. They were open to new needs during the project, for some of them were asked for extra budget, which makes sense.

What was your primary form of communication with Quillok?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their communication and updates were very good.

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

Timezone differences make communication harder; maybe can try to allocate engineers from similar timezone.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO of a landscape construction company as well as CEO of Artisan App Studio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to develop an app that would allow our own employees to have access to on site calculations for our construction projects and realized other companies would also find the app useful.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched online, we had some online meetings and found the Quillok senior team to be very professional, they had an excellent understanding of what we were looking to create for our users, and so decided to proceed with them.

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

We had several zoom discovery meetings to go over details and expectations. The quillok team then went to work on the layout for the app and finally when that was decided, they started to program the app for both iOS and Android.

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

Both owners of the company worked with me at the beginning until the plan for the app was in place, then a sr. programmer took over the project and I was shown progress of the app regularly until final completion.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app was completed and has been fairly succesful to date. We definitely have ideas for several other apps and will look to Quillok again to help us create more useful apps.

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

The project managers were very easy to communicate with. They were always an email away and got back to me quickly when I had questions about functionality or progress of the app development.

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

The company is very professional, well organized, and able to deliver all the commitments they make at the start of the project.

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

Everything on this project was done to our satisfaction.