Rapptr Labs

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a company that builds B2B software.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

We partnered with Rapptr Labs to both design the software and also build the first version of the software. We needed to build a prototype of the software so that we could get early feedback from customers and ensure we were moving in the right direction before investing in further development. The ultimate goal was delivering a fully-functional software product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by designing the software. We used Proto.io to create a product demo that we could put in front of potential customers to get early feedback and validate that, eventually, those customers would buy the software once it was ready. Now, Rapptr Labs is actually developing the software.

What is the team composition?

We work with 5–6 people, including a project manager, designers, and engineers.

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

A close friend who is an engineer by background and one of the best entrepreneurs I know was working with Rapptr and introduced me. After I was introduced, I found out that another close friend and another one of the best entrepreneurs I know was also working with them. The fact that those two people were already working with Rapptr speaks volumes about Rapptr’s work.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in March 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

I have referred several people to Rapptr — that’s how strongly I feel about working with them. I can’t remember a partner that I’ve more enthusiastically endorsed and proactively referred to people. I don’t just refer them when people ask for recommendations, I proactively refer them. I’ve referred them to several close friends. Rapptr is 10/10 on all aspects, and I don’t say that lightly.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. Their project management skills are really strong. We use standard tools like Slack and Google Docs. They’re very organized, and I think that’s so important, especially when you’re working with an external partner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

A few things come to mind. If we look at the results of where we are, we have worked very effectively and efficiently to get to a really good outcome, and that’s phenomenal. We’ve moved very quickly and on a reasonable budget, and Rapptr has really helped us do that.

Secondly, their partnership is really strong in a variety of ways. I see our team and theirs as one team, and they really facilitate that. There are a bunch of instances of them coming up with great ideas and making suggestions, whether it’s process-oriented or very specific product details. They’ve added real value at every corner.

They’ve flexed in different ways, as needed, to get us to the right answer. They’ve been there to make sure we get the right results and get things across the finish line.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve done these types of calls with several people that I’ve referred to Rapptr, and I cannot think of anything that they can improve upon. On every basis, they have exceeded expectations. There is nothing that I can say that I wish they did better or differently. They have really nailed everything.

Any advice for potential customers?

Consider them a partner because you’ll get a lot of value out of them that way. Broaden the conversation so that you can learn from their experience and product process. They might be able to build on the idea and provide suggestions. Invest in a partnership and consider them a partner, as opposed to a “vendor.”

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager for an event services company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

We were trying to create an iOS app that would let us communicate with guests during a destination weekend.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app is eight years old. We worked with Rapptr Labs to refresh it for this year. 

They created a map of the event location that can toggle multiple views. It connects to a scheduling feature that includes a master schedule and an individualized guest schedule. Each event is connected to a location on the map. 

There’s also an RSVP feature, a playlist section, a weather component, and multiple communication methods, such as a message board and direct messaging between guests. Lastly, we updated the graphics for the event’s new location.

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact, Drew (Founder & President) who stayed the same throughout the process.      

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

We’d worked with Drew and his team four years ago when we first developed the app. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $25,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from August 2019 until February 2020.

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

The app is just for one weekend’s event, so we have limited data. However, we did get positive feedback about how user-friendly the app was. Our guests did encounter some hiccups that caused the app to restart, but overall, it was well-received.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Drew was responsive, but we often needed to follow-up for progress updates. We communicated via email and phone.

For our contract, we paid on an hourly basis. However, we weren’t given estimates about how many hours a task would take. That meant that we didn’t fully understand where the costs were coming from. Knowing the time that certain projects would take might have stopped us from doing them. That made it hard to manage our expectations. Once we talked to Drew, though, we resolved that going forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re pretty easy to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Rapptr Labs needs to be super upfront with their clients. We’re not a tech-driven company. We need terms simplified down to a basic level so that we can make an educated decision. 

In addition, Drew hired outside vendors to do specific tasks. I’d encourage more quality control in the future: I’d have to make edits to certain parts that would then have to get redone.    

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing coordinator for a telecommunications company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

We needed to build a website to announce our new fiber-optic line.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rapptr Labs built the website using React, designing and developing the whole thing. The initial work agreement was to build two apps — one to support the sales side and one to support customer relations — and a website to act as the frontend. Unfortunately, due to issues on our end, the apps were never executed. I only worked with Rapptr Labs on the website as a result.

The backend was coded very specifically to work specifically to integrate certain third-party apps. It wasn’t a template. Our events, press releases, and blog posting are powered by ButterCMS. That way, we can make updates ourselves without having to create a new work order with Rapptr Labs.

What is the team composition?

I’ve been working with Drew (Founder & President), who’s my main point of contact. Cory (Director of Engineering) is our main developer.

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

Previous folks at our company had been working with Rapptr Labs before I joined the company. Our previous CEO found them initially. I’m not sure what their connection was, but the reason he specifically sought out Rapptr Labs was because of the multi-faceted skill set that would allow them to create the integrated solution we initially sought. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $30,000. That included the backend work that we unfortunately weren’t able to use. Our monthly retainer is $500.

What is the status of this engagement?

My part of the project took place in May 2019. The website took 3–4 weeks to develop and launch. I’m not sure how long we’d been working with Rapptr Labs before that.

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

We’re still a startup company. On our website, we’ve seen a handful of leads come in for our sales side, so there’s definitely been feedback that’s come in with potential customers and leads. Internally, we feel that the site serves its purpose, but there are updates that we plan to do moving forward. However, the launch was super smooth for the site we have now; Rapptr Labs had done backend testing well before the release.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

What I like about the team is that they’re easy to work with. Depending on their project load, we can get in there and have the work done fairly quickly when we need to. In the beginning, they used Basecamp to project manage the major changes when we first loaded the new website redesign. I could log in and work with Cory directly. He’d make updates, send me screenshots and links, and make sure that their work was on the right track. It didn’t take that long bouncing back and forth to get everything done really, really quickly.
    
What did you find most impressive about them?

Rapptr Labs is really innovative when it comes to application design. It’s also a very easy workflow: they have a simple process to submit changes and then execute it. Drew is also super easy to talk to and really available whenever I need him. They’re a great team to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a little expensive for monthly updates, especially since the site doesn’t need much maintenance. However, we do take into consideration the type of product and service we’re getting. It’s not a template-style website; Rapptr Labs does higher-end applications that are modern, innovative, and attractive to people. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for and what your processes and procedures are. That will cut out that in-between time and save you time. If you have a really good project manager to execute the project, Rapptr Labs can work efficiently. But it’s on you to provide that guidance.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is CTM Ventures Inc, and I’m an entrepreneur and programmer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

I partnered with Rapptr Labs to create an app called JoinMe. JoinMe is an app that connects college students that have mutual tasks they’d like to take on together. It could be anything like finding someone to study with, to split a pizza with, or to play Fortnite with. Any college-life activity that comes to find, you can find someone to do it with through JoinMe.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They began the process from ground zero. I gave Rapptr Labs my prospectus documents for the app. We had long conversations to ensure that we were on the same page about the app’s goals. They defined consumer personas before launching into the development phase. We developed full blueprints and prototypes based off of the first ideation phase.

The final MVP, an iOS version, features a discovery page­—where users can create posts—and conversations that are launched once posts are “joined” by other users. There are social timelines, settings, and profile pictures to manage events and users.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 5 Rapptr teammates over the course of the engagement. My main point of contact was Drew (Founder & President, Rapptr Labs).

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

My mother actually came across Rapptr Labs and recommended them to me.

What is the status of this engagement?

The development lasted from October 2018–September 2019.

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

The product that they helped create is user-friendly and intuitive. We secured 300 users at our on-campus launch and over 500 downloads. We saw a high amount of engagement and retention with the app.

Drew listened to all of my ideas and was extremely professional throughout the engagement. He’s able to take your ideas and conjoin them with data-driven solutions. He’s also able to work with a set budget while delivering a solution that pleases all parties.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We utilized Basecamp for project management. Everything was very organized because they leveraged the tool very skillfully. At any time of day, I’d be able to submit a request or question, and I’d quickly get a response. Drew goes above and beyond to make sure that his client achieves their goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The actual app is excellent, and I always felt that I was treated with the utmost respect. I felt especially comfortable discussing money and budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really, no. I really enjoyed my experience with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The process is really easy; it doesn’t take much effort on your side apart from being prepared and knowledgeable.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of BodyMind Sessions, which is a white label meditation platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

We wanted to build an app that would be easily customizable for multiple white label implementations.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team started out with a strategic phase that consisted of multiple meetings with different team members of different specializations in order to design the UI/UX. I also had a series of meetings with the people doing the backend development and then worked with my direct contact to coordinate everything through the various iterations of the development project.

The app itself is on iOS and contains a library of brandable guided meditations with a searchable interface. It’s a freemium app, so we manage on our side what is free and what gets included with the subscription, and we put in CMS-driven banners and messaging to reach people outside the app.

What is the team composition?

Early on we had a project manager coordinating everything and a designer who was crucial in developing the final interface.

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

I interviewed 5–6 development companies originally, and Rapptr Labs had the right scale to provide us with enough expertise while still being small enough to pay attention to our relatively small project.

How much have you invested with them?

The app development project cost about $45,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from January 2018–May 2019.

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

As a result of the application, we were able to secure a big custom implementation with a large health care organization. They have been incredibly pleased with the functionality and usability of the app, which obviously makes us very satisfied as well. Our plan is to continue development on an Android version of the app with them soon.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very responsive, and I am able to deal directly with one of their founders which makes the experience much easier to manage. I always get replies via email very quickly, no matter how big the issue is, and they are very open to meeting in person if we ever need to do that as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The operation that they conduct is very grounded in data, which helps to ensure that you are getting a pretty optimized result. They run tests along the way and really try to drive their progress with a careful analysis of what’s actually happening.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any serious complaints, it’s been a very trouble-free relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would always suggest very careful planning upfront to make sure that everybody is always on the same page, no matter who you’re working with.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a design agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

We needed to build a number of complex apps on a variety of different platforms, including iOS, Android and did work in React.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have sent them many apps to build over the past few years. We give them requirements and send them assets, and then they hold design sprints and start assembling. In the end, we get our project built.

The most recent app needed an enormous amount of connections with API and needed to be extremely scalable and usable. They’re very good at solving very complex problems.

What is the team composition?

There’s a lot of people on their team that we work with, but consistently our main point of contact is Drew (Owner, Rapptr Labs).

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

We were referred to them and tested them with some small projects. They have proved to be reliable and consistently deliver high-quality work, so we stick with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Our investment in the most recent project is somewhere north of $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started a project with them in October 2018, but they’ve done a lot of projects with us going back 6–7 years.

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

Every project we’ve done with them has been successful—all have launched. I’ll keep working with them in the future.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re extremely responsive. We communicate over email or Skype, it changes depending on the project. I’ve never had a challenge getting answers from them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Rapptr Labs consistently impresses. Drew is very good and has good people working for him. They do the job at the right price, and they’re good coders. They’re very transparent and reliable, and they take responsibility for their work. It has been a very successful relationship, and we’ll continue to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they can really do better. There are always individual challenges, but that’s the nature of building things. The reason I keep working with them is that they always do the best they can do, and respond well to challenges and disagreements. Drew always has been very fair to us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Always have a project manager on both sides—they have someone on their side managing the project, and you need someone on your side. That’s just general advice. You always need someone to help answer questions from your business.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of product development for Occasion Brands LLC.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

Initially, we were looking to upgrade a couple of our apps. For that, we sought to update our in-store kiosk, which includes a front of house queueing system for our brick and mortar stores, a registration portal, and a back of house stats page that records all of the customer data.

We also needed help with the upkeep of our iOS and Android apps for two of our e-commerce brands. That included ensuring Apple Pay certificates were up to date, UI audits of home screens and filters, and post-launch support.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with weekly calls with CEO that involved brainstorming ideas and providing useful & creative feedback based on mockups they created. Once approved, they provided the JSON:API guidelines for each of the different modules within the application.

As for the in-store kiosks, we expanded our store locations with the addition of four pop-up stores. We needed to replicate the success of the existing front of house & back of house pages. This also involved weekly brainstorming calls. They also worked with us to fix any issues we had and altered them for every one of the four locations, along with QA testing.

What is the team composition?

A majority of the time, we work directly with Drew (CEO, Rapptr Labs). He interacts with the developers. We can reach out to the developers through email for technical questions, but we mainly interact with Drew.

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

When our last app development partner was acquired, Drew, who was their Co-CEO, created D&A Technologies, which is now Rapptr Labs. We renegotiated our service agreement, honoring the previous terms of our older deal.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Rapptr Labs started in October 2018.

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

We recently launched the in-store kiosk, so it’s early for results. In regards to the iOS and Android app for our e-commerce sites, we’ve been able to upkeep any certificates and make sure those applications are staying live. On the performance side, it’s been great for our customers as well.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, we have weekly calls with Drew. He is always available. The developers are also still reachable through email. They’re timely in their responses. There hasn’t been a circumstance where they haven’t responded to me by the end of the day if I sent them a request during that day. Otherwise, they get back to me the next day. We use Slack as well, which has been helpful since we use that internally. They also integrate into our project management software, which is Asana.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been flexible. Since their strategic pivot within the company, the team has been very helpful. In the past, we’ve had experience with remote developers. It’s nice to work with someone in the same timezone. They also usually have senior people working on our project, which has been helpful in regards to gearing the services to our strategy, design, and engineering. Overall, the working relationship has been of high-quality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, the working relationship has been great. We’ve continued working with them through their transition with the other company. We’ve trusted Rapptr Labs with the work they’ve done in the past. Overall, I think the one thing we’ve seen is that the cost has increased, but other than that, the quality and scheduling have been excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s helpful for clients to have someone on their side assist with project management. It’s easy to create timelines and projects in-house, but that being said, Rapptr Labs is helpful in trying to keep to those deadlines. It’s nice to have someone in-house responsible for maintaining and pushing work along.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a company that developers CRM solutions for direct sellers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapprt Labs?

We were creating a new mobile app. I didn’t have enough experience to do it alone, so we needed to outsource for increased internal confidence.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us build iOS and Android apps in React Native and were built from the ground-up to be quickly deployable white-label solutions, meaning that all of the assets and content in the apps are dynamically loaded via API and can be quickly configured for individual corporate customers.

The app provides users with access to all of their customer and prospect information, hosts marketing and training content which can be easily shared with those contacts, and includes additional functionality such as syncing contacts from the device to the cloud, calendar integration, video playback, and social share options. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a project manager and several of their developers and verticle specialists in different technologies. 

How did you come to work with Rapprt Labs?

When we were looking for developers, they came highly recommended as a firm that was extremely competent in doing the kind of work we wanted to do. With those recommendations, we retained them for a small trial project with the opportunity for them to stand out. We were happy with what they did, so we kept them on the team. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in June 2018, and the work is ongoing. 

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

The code has been stable and updated on the schedule that we wanted. Their developers are extremely competent and responsive. When we’ve run into urgent needs from our team and users, they’ve made sure to address them, enhancing our reputation with our users and clients. While the project isn’t completed, it’s been successful as well. 

How did Rapprt Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We used a variety of communication methods with them but rely mainly on Slack and phone calls. Through Slack, we can have ongoing and instant conversations with them. In addition, we have scheduled project planning and reporting calls on a biweekly basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very customer-responsive while being willing to lend their opinions to everything they do. The team takes pride not only in the quality of their code but the success of the product as a whole. 

I find their willingness to provide big-picture suggestions for improvement to be refreshing. They’re not looking to simply execute a spec. Throughout the process, they take criticism very well to make the relationship and project better. I’ll definitely be back to work with them on future projects. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been times that I wish they had more engineers with React Native expertise. That seems to be expanding organically over time. Otherwise, I’ve been very happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Express your preferences in communication channels to their team. They can provide everything for you if you like, but they can also seamlessly adjust to a cadence that is the right fit for you. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company offers a swimming tracker and software that takes the form of a mobile and web app. It allows swimmers and coaches to view their analytics, share information, and interact with their data.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

For our startup, having the capacity to develop our app was important. With an outsourced team like Rapptr Labs, we had access to front- and backend developers, designers, and UI/UX designers. On top of that, we’re able to scale up and down as we see fit. Not all employees have to take on full-time roles. We only pay for the resources that we truly need, which took some weight off of our shoulders.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team is acting as our development branch, developing the apps for both mobile and web. We created our own hardware in-house, but all the machine algorithms were developed by them from the ground up. They were key in interfacing our data to the world. We handled the designs, but they took it over from there. They compiled all the code to make the final apps what they are today.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with six of their developers right now. That includes iOS and Android developers, a project manager, and a UI/UX designer. 

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

We did a general search online for partner companies. Based on their pricing and communication skills, they seemed like a good match for us. They ensured that they would support us regardless of the situation. That gave us confidence in them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $150,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the summer of 2017, and our work together is ongoing.

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

We just started shipping our product three months ago, so it’s still early. So far, though, the app has been downloaded 1,000 times. Bugs happen here and there, but they’ve been able to fix them quickly. Within a few hours of contacting them about an issue, they can create a fix for it.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re available to us around the clock. They may be a young team without loads of experience, but they will work through any issue to support our team. We use Slack to communicate. The project manager has been the most available out of the entire team. So, their project management skills are a big plus. We used Basecamp to track progress throughout the development.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and responsiveness to our problems have impressed me the most. They’re on to of all issues, addressing them in hours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a fairly new company, but they make up for it with effort. The experience will come with time, and then they can be a major player in the industry. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We have some technical people on our team and found that it was best when they interacted with Rapptr Labs on technical aspects of the project. It’s good to have someone on your staff that understands everything that they’re doing. That way, there aren’t any miscommunications.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an online personal development company. We’ve been around for over 10 years, mostly as a web-based business.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rapptr Labs?

We decided to launch a mobile app and started working on that with Rapptr Labs around 2018.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rapptr Labs was involved in every stage of this project. They have delivered everything we wanted and offered helpful suggestions and direction along the way. The app is a library of “tapping meditations.” Tapping is a self-help tool and stress-relief technique, similar to meditation but also different.

We started with just an iOS app as an MVP, at their recommendation. It was actually pretty robust. We rolled right into Android development after that.

Nobody within our organization had mobile app experience. I led the project on our team, but my background isn’t in technology. Rapptr Labs was a great partner in terms of explaining things as we went along, making sure we understood and letting us make the decisions we needed to make.

What is the team composition?

We met with their project manager for the most part, and we had conversations with the developers as needed. That was good for us, given that none of us spoke the technology language.

How did you come to work with Rapptr Labs?

We found them through an internet search (it might have even been Clutch since I’ve definitely found some resources on the site). We chose Rapptr Labs because they made us feel very comfortable. We felt a true partnership and a positive working relationship. They did a really good job of giving us technical explanations and following those up with explanations in our own terms.

We also liked that they were local. In fact, we had them come to our office one time for the kick-off meeting, but we never took advantage of that ability after that. Rapptr Labs seemed competent and capable.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2018, and it’s ongoing. We launched the iOS app in October 2018 and the Android one in January 2019. We’re continually updating the app with new features.

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

The app and how it’s been received have exceeded our expectations. Rapptr Labs helped us build a user-friendly, beautiful, and high-quality product. It’s not bug-free—since nothing is—but it’s a really well-functioning mobile app. One year from the day we launched, we crossed the one million sessions threshold, meaning that a tapping meditation was completed one million times to lower someone’s stress or anxiety. In addition to how pleased we are with the product performance, we’re very passionate about spreading the knowledge of Tapping and super excited about how many people Rapptr Labs helped us reach. We only expect it to take off from here.

How did Rapptr Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Basecamp, and we’ve used Jira when working in a more dedicated capacity when there was more going on. I’d say that their style is very customer-friendly and flexible. They were always willing to take the time to explain issues. They’re a patient, communicative, responsive and smart team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I felt comfortable with them. They had good morals, and I never felt concerned that they were going to do the wrong thing to save a little money. Rapptr Labs is a team of good people who want to be as helpful as possible, and that stood out to me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve never built a mobile app before, so that’s hard for me to answer. We have run into some bugs, but I don’t think it is reasonable to expect otherwise. Rapptr Labs did the best they could to knock those out as fast as they could. I wish those never happened, of course, but it seems par for the course. I wouldn’t say there’s something I wish they did differently. Compared to other apps, I feel we didn’t have nearly as many bugs.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It’s important to know as much as you can about what you think you want. Go into the project with an open mind, listen to Rapptr Labs’ experience with building apps, and consider the routes they suggest. Sometimes, we absolutely wanted something different from their suggestion, and they implemented it like we asked. Then, there were times when we were glad they gave us another suggestion and adopted it.