Rocket Farm Studios

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Respondent 1: I run all executive operations at a management company. The website was built for our partner, a pallet manufacturer. 

Respondent 2: I’m a marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

Respondent 1: We were assisting our partnership with a new website. They wanted a higher quality website, to reach more of the market and get the story out about their products.

Respondent 2: We needed them to rebuild our website and provide branding services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Respondent 2: Rocket Farm Studios delivered a custom WordPress website. First, we sat down with a project manager, copywriter, and UX designer to look at our existing site and discuss our needs. We decided the new website should be product-focused rather than informational. Then, they wrote the copy, designed the UX/UI, and added custom colors and content blocks to the homepage. They also built a contact page and additional pages corresponding to each product. 

We provided the photos, but they edited them before including them on the site. They also did a 3D rendering of our product and provided minimal SEO and backend services. They continue to provide hosting services. 

They’ve completed the project, but we plan to work with them on building the second version of the site. We may also utilize their branding services down the line. 

What is the team composition?

Respondent 2: We worked with Emma (Project Manager), Dan (CEO & Founder), and a UI designer. 

Respondent 1: We also worked with a social media team member and a content team member. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $16,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from September 2022–February 2023. We plan to continue working together. 

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

We found them through a referral from a business partner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their professionalism was a leading contributor to the project’s success. We’ve received positive feedback regarding how polished and refined the website looks. It’s much more custom and professional.

How did the company perform from a project management standpoint?

Respondent 2: The project was slightly delayed due to some team members being out sick. We had a fluid deadline, and they were really on point with regard to task management. They kept the project moving and provided weekly updates, which was good. Working with a team that was local to us, who we could go and see when we needed to, brought a lot of continuity to the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Respondent 2: They did a good job getting our whole team involved, which minimized the back-and-forth via email. 

Respondent 1: We had a professional experience working with them overall. They were punctual with delivery and met all our expectations. They heard the wants and needs of our partner's team to deliver what was required. We’re pleased with all their work and look forward to working with them in the future

Are there any areas they could improve?

Respondent 2: I have no suggestions for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive for a leadership training company specializing in DE&I architecture and strategy. We also focus on inclusive leadership development. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

We engaged Rocket Farm Studios to develop an app for us. We’d used a proprietary assessment tool that we built using our leadership evaluation system, but we had to do things manually. We’d spend hours trying to compute and score the results and create reports. We wanted to enhance the process by developing an app to offer our evaluation online via desktop, laptop, or mobile.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the project by going through a discovery phase, where Rocket Farm Studios walked us through multiple feasible outcomes. They presented various possibilities for a path forward, which we assessed to determine the project budget. Once we chose our desired path, the team moved on to the design and development stages. Now, they’re working on the demo and testing phase. 

They’ve built the app for iOS, Android, and desktop, and enhanced it to accommodate our specific training. The app is essentially a leadership assessment tool that enables users to complete our assessments online. Once a user has completed their inclusive leadership assessment, the app uses their responses to generate a leadership profile. Then, the app generates specific leadership training based on the results in their profile. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Dan K. (CEO), Kase (Senior Product Manager), Adam (Senior Product Manager), Dan R. (Interim CTO), a designer, and some developers.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios? 

I was part of a CEO group with Dan, and as he learned about my business, he shared how he could build an app to enhance our process. We had several conversations and moved forward with the engagement when we were finally ready. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Rocket Farm Studios on the discovery phase in September 2021, and they started building the application in January 2022. The partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we launch the app, our key success measures will be functionality and ease of use. At this point, the project is 90% complete, and everything’s been working great so far. We haven’t faced any bugs or crashes yet. 

How did Rocket Farm Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

Rocket Farm Studios has met deadlines and worked within our budget. The team has been very transparent about the functionality feasible for our app, and they’ve explained parts of the project in technical terms. 

We only faced one hiccup that caused us to expand the project scope, which made the project feel erratic at one point. However, it could’ve been a miscommunication on our end, and the team resolved it quickly. Everything else has gone smoothly, and we’ve used Slack, Zoom, and Airtable to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their biggest strength is their creativity and innovation. Their design team is exceptionally talented and thoughtful; they’re conscientious about aligning the app with our initial concept. They’re very thoughtful about user engagement, which is critical to the app’s success. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Apart from the one time we had to expand the project scope, I have nothing Rocket Farm Studios could improve on. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend approaching the engagement with a list of wants and needs for the app’s brand identity. Then, let Rocket Farm Studios guide you through the project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital product manager for a sheet music e-commerce website and mobile app. We deliver written sheet music in a digital form, so musicians can learn how to play their favorite songs. I work with our internal and external development teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

We’d already built our website and iPad app, and we felt the best way for users to interact with our platform was through a native app experience. We noticed the majority of our users were accessing our platform through their phones, so we wanted to meet customers where they were by creating a mobile application. 

We aimed to create an application with the same features as our iPad application on a smaller form factor for iOS and Android. We needed a development partner to take our legacy iPad code, bring it into a modern cross-platform framework, and expand it across other devices to make it easier for us to build upon in the future.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rocket Farm Studios has rewritten our existing code base and migrated it from Objective-C to Swift. The team has made some architectural changes to improve the performance of the iPad app and moved it into a modern framework to enable cross-platform development. We’ve plugged the application into our existing backend, and a mobile API developed internally. 

Although we’ve worked on some design initiatives, most of our partnership has been dedicated to creating feature parity between the iPad and iPhone applications. For example, we’ve tried to ensure we can reliably sync a user’s profile from one device to another. Additionally, Rocket Farm Studios has tweaked the frontend design so our customers can have a similar, user-friendly UX no matter which device they use to access our platform. 

Since working together, we’ve released the iPhone application, but we’re still working on releasing the Android version. We plan to continue working with Rocket Farm Studios on scaling the platform, expanding the functionality, and finding other ways to add value for our users. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with the CEO of Rocket Farm Studios and our project manager and account manager. Once we got into the thick of the project, we also interfaced with their developers and designers. 

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

We’d been working with another development company that we weren’t satisfied with, so we started looking for a new partner. Our parent company had collaborated with Rocket Farm Studios on another application development project, so we considered them for our project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with Rocket Farm Studios since September 2021. We officially launched our iPhone app in August 2022 and did a follow-up release with crucial performance improvements. We’re still working on the Android development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After facing several challenges with our previous development partner, working with Rocket Farm Studios has been a huge breath of fresh air. They’ve brought a lot of expertise and organizational skills to the table and delivered a great product. 

From a technical standpoint, this project has been a considerable undertaking, and the team has understood the limitations of picking up an existing code base and migrating it. They’ve also proactively identified knowledge gaps in our documentation and worked through them alongside us. 

How did Rocket Farm Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

Rocket Farm Studios has managed the project well; they’ve even played a key role in streamlining our internal processes. When our development team has had questions, Rocket Farm Studios has quickly stepped in to guide them and ensure they’re working on the necessary deliverables.

Our project manager has communicated effectively and kept us updated on progress; we’ve been delighted with the workflow. We’ve used Airtable to manage the project, which has made it easy for us to approve user stories, understand the nature of sprints, and track bugs. We’ve liked using Airtable because it’s shown us Rocket Farm Studios’ approach to application development and helped us grasp the project scope. 

Although we’ve faced some project challenges, Rocket Farm Studios has always gone with the flow and accommodated any changes along the way. Working with them has been a really refreshing experience.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed with their ability to tackle such a challenging project, get to the bottom of our issues, and find solutions. Rocket Farm Studios has delivered exactly what we’ve asked for, and the proof is in the pudding. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t necessarily call this an improvement because you get what you pay for, but Rocket Farm Studios isn’t the cheapest shop on the market, so we’ve had to be creative with our budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a social commerce platform that invites users to discover and share their favorite things with their friends.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

We hired them to create the very first iteration of our software platform; they’ve been a part of our business since day one, designing and developing our MVP and our beta product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve developed everything from scratch. They advise us on marketing, and they’re available for whatever we need, which is amazing. If we wanted them to do any marketing, they would step right in, but we have another team for that.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Adam (Senior Product Manager). He listens to our needs and helps translates them into the technical solution that we’re looking for. We also work with some of their UX resources. While it took us a bit of time to find the right resource to work on our project, we found an incredibly UX lead and UI designer.

Adam also manages the engineering team that’s associated with our business on a day-to-day business.  

How did you come to work with with Rocket Farm Studios?

We found them on Clutch.

How much have you invested with them?

I’m not sure of the exact amount, but I believe it’s around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The best part of the engagement is that we now have a live application, which is exactly what we wanted and more. We’ve seen user growth and an increase in our ability to fundraise.

How did with Rocket Farm Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

We collaborated over Airtable and used Slack, Zoom, and email for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve never hired from a development shop before, but, compared to an in-house team, they’re an extension of ourselves, which is really awesome.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been very supportive of us, so the only thing I would say is that it would be great if they had even more people available to us. We love the people they’ve brought us, however. They recruit great individuals.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared for things on the marketing side and anything else that goes into consumer technology. You need to have an email strategy and SEO strategy. Just having something lined up on a parallel path is good because Rocket Farm can work quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP of UX at TrueMotion, a Boston-based software company that focuses on creating apps that understand how people drive in real-time, including their ability to get into crashes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

We’re a six-year-old startup that needed more capacity and a team that could be more consumer-focused. Our company is mainly B2B, so we wanted to branch out with a partner into new territory. We needed to spin out this product very fast, so we hired a few of their team members to support the development. Their team is also working on internal efforts, supporting a project geared toward insurers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re working together on a consumer product called Open Road that gets people in crashes immediate help from trained responders. The three developers we have staffed on the project create products for iOS. Our growth analyst is managing data and focusing on visualization to ensure that the backend is flowing logically with the rest of the product. Our data is being stored in Amazon Redshift, and they’re using Tableau for visualization. 

What is the team composition?

We’re working with three developers and a growth analyst from their team.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

I did a web search for mobile app development shops in the Boston area and found their site. It turns out that I knew their founder prior to the engagement, and we had good discussions.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $500,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has been awesome, and my staff absolutely wants to continue working with them. The team’s productivity is through the roof—they’re can get things done. I’ve always been happy with their pacing on projects. Lastly, they’re strategic thinkers. A few of them have stepped out on a leadership level to help us think about our architecture and business decisions. They’ve been very thoughtful, and I appreciate people on my team showing entrepreneurial attributes.

How did Rocket Farm Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

While they’re technically contractors, they act like they are fully committed to our team. Even if it means putting in time after work, they’ll accomplish tasks and hit deadlines. They also are able to think ahead and encourage us to structure their time to maximize predictability in the development. I couldn’t be happier with their project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The development space has moved from smaller, independent shops to larger, less independent companies. Many agencies have been recently bought out by large consulting firms. They’re small and homegrown, able to build close relationships with us. The owner there is hands-on, thoughtful, and caring. We meet for lunch monthly, and he is always checking in with the team. Our team feels very supported by them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Of course, they’re not as big as some of the other shops in the area. While that is good in many ways, they still do have a smaller network. So, large projects may take longer to scale than with other companies. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Lean into the relationship because they’re caring people that want to do well for your business. Reinforce that they’re a part of the team when they’re working with you. Additionally, make sure you have clear requirements at the beginning of the project. That will be very valuable to them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are making a live outdoor reality rower, which is a rowing machine with a 22-inch screen that links users live or on-demand with a trainer on a real body of water. It's a hardware experience mixed with a content experience that allows users to enjoy the outdoors while they work out. I'm the COO and am in charge of product management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

We were brand new and looking for an engineering team. We had an experienced CTO, but we hadn't hired any developers yet. We needed help with both design and app development before we engaged our internal team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We used them for a couple of phases. They managed our QA with a third-party vendor. We provided the tests to them, and they would execute on them. We had some periods when QA was every day and others where we would only work on it every three weeks or so. That flexibility was very helpful to us.

We had access to a designer who made our ideas execution-ready. The developers they provided started with that execution. As we filled out our team, we continued to use their UI/UX specialists. We used Sketch, Zeppelin, and InVision, and our stack included React Native for iOS and Android, plus a variety of AWS applications on the backend.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two or three developers, one designer, and two QA people at peak, though we may have had an additional developer. Lately, we just used a UI/UX person and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

They started with the company before I did, so I’m not sure of the hiring process.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $200,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

They started working in December 2017. The developers finished in July 2018, and the design work continued until February 2019. The final wrap-ups ran into March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a successful campaign in which we pre-sold more than $1 million in total, and our prototypes and betas helped us raise an additional $20 million in funding. Their work certainly reflected well on our company, but we didn't use any specific metrics to track their work.

How did Rocket Farm Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very flexible. It’s easy to get caught by surprise as a startup, but I could always come to them with an issue and expect a fast solution. Most of our communication was through Slack and InVision, and their developers used Pivotal.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really understood our business. We didn’t have to reexplain anything, and the startup time was really fast. They knew what we wanted, and that was incredibly helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any areas they should improve; I’m pleased with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain your core ideas and brand mission before sending them just the specs for your project. Then, take advantage of the fact that they understand your business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Hal Leonard Corporation is the world’s largest music print publisher and also one of the world’s largest music digital content providers. Hal Leonard produces songbooks, single sheets, and music lesson books.

Along with that we manage several websites; many are Business-to-Business [B2B] and many are Business-to-Customer [B2C]. Those websites deliver a collection of digital sheet music, digital audio and digital video assets to clients. We’ve also started creating mobile apps to push out content in that way.

What is your position?

I’m the product manager of digital media. I work with our internal development teams and work on a number of digital projects. I also work with external development companies for the creation of apps and other solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

The mobile market started exploding with the release of the iPhone, but with the release of the iPad it made a lot of our content exciting on mobile devices. One of our flagship series is called “Hal Leonard Play Along”. It’s a book that has notation as well as audio backing tracks for various instruments. This series has been tremendously successful in the printed form, and we wanted to take that content and turn it into a mobile experience. That was the challenge - taking our core content and making a mobile version out of it.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We started with iOS specifically because of the market and because of the revenue that was mainly attributed to iOS at the time. It was challenging from many respects. Not only were we looking for mobile app development, but there were portions of the project that tied into our internal databases and our internal content distribution system. The project with Rocket Farm Studios was a collaboration with our in house team to bring all these things together into an exciting product. 

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

When we sent out our RFP, they came back with what was probably the most robust proposal and was most aligned with what we wanted the project to be. You could tell that Rocket Farm understood us and our product and what we were looking to achieve. The reason we ended up going with Rocket Farm is because we had actually worked with them on a previous project and got to know them through there. We were always extremely happy with their professionalism, their insights, and their efficiency. From top to bottom, from their chief executive officer [CEO], Dan Katcher, to their developers and project managers, they are a very well-run company. We were really impressed with them, they’re terrific.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was a very large project. We’ve only done a soft launch. We’re planning a major release around December 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We couldn’t be happier with our partnership with Rocket Farm Studios. They are a professional group and we plan on doing more with them in the future. We’ve been very happy with the results. We have a lot of terrific user feedback. Users like the additional tools we’ve added to it and they can record themselves now through the iPad with the track backing. It’s really like a recording studio on your iPad and they love the content selection.

What distinguishes Rocket Farm Studios from other providers?

It starts with their CEO, who is just a terrific guy with great energy and attitude. He really understands us as a company. They have top list people, from their developers to their project managers. When anybody undergoes a big complex development project like this, I think you need to look for overall efficiency. With this complex project, Rocket Farm really provided that with quick problem solving and state of the art knowledge of current requirements related to Apple and iOS. They made it easy to make progress and they’re just great people as well.

Is there anything Rocket Farm Studios could have improved or done differently?

No. Rocket Farm Studios is a team full of pros. They’ve helped us navigate the mobile world and helped us understand the complexities of app development. At the same time, I think we’ve been able to help them understand the plethora of content that we currently have as a company and the opportunities that we could have in the future together. It’s really been a win on both sides.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We deliver scent services to commercial companies, including hotels, retail stores, nursing homes, gaming establishments, and other places that are commercial environments. 

What is your position?

I'm the COO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

There were two major reasons that we were searching for a software company. First, we are an IoT [Internet of things] company, our devices are communicating with other devices deployed out in the field. In order to manage them we need several things including a cloud software as well as a way to control them through a simple easy to use interface. We were able to work with a larger company to develop the enterprise software to manage our device, but that software wasn't meant for certain scent features we needed in a commercial environment.

The second thing we wanted was to have our product give our customers the ability to control the diffusers on their cellphone, mobile device, or iPad. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We partnered with Rocket Farm Studios to develop software as part of our larger enterprise solution to do specific things like select a fragrance or schedule a time period during which a fragrance was released. We had Rocket Farm create an app that allowed us to delegate those features to our customers. 

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

We put out an RFP [request for proposal] and we searched worldwide. We looked at companies in Asia and the United States, as well as Eastern Europe and South America. I think we evaluated five companies total. We concluded that Rocket Farm's price was right and the technology skills were there, and it would be a lot easier, faster, and cost-effective to work with a local company in the New England area.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Up to this point, the project is the range of $50,000 to $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've gone through many new releases after first launching the products during the first quarter of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Rocket Farm Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

Rocket Farm Studios has a very good team with great skills and an understanding of the market we're going into. They have a talented project manager to help keep everything on track. Communication has been strong with great documentation. It's been a smooth process. Rocket Farm has been responsive to our needs.

What distinguishes Rocket Farm Studios from other providers?

Rocket Farm Studios is an experienced team. They're not an enterprise with a heavy infrastructure and bureaucracy. We were able to deal directly with the founding team, which gave us the comfort that they'll be responsive.

Is there anything Rocket Farm Studios could have improved or done differently?

Not specifically. As you go through projects, you run into a few issues, and we've certainly done that, but I don't believe there were any major areas of concern. Overall, it's been a very smooth process and a very good relationship with a top-notch vendor.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

SERMO is a social network for physicians.

What is your position?

I’m the senior vice president [SVP] of technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

We were looking to have new mobile apps created and we didn’t have the expertise in house for the architecture or the implementation. Rocket Farm provided that great start for us as we built a team and product for the physicians to help their patients.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Development for both Android and iOS was provided. It was nice when they came in because we started with architecture so they started with some design and architectural insights that led us straight through. We did the project management but they joined us as a real part of the team in building this application.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

We did have an RFP and sent it out to five local companies and narrowed it down to Rocket Farm and another company. We really felt that we could work with Dan Katcher [CEO, Rocket Farm Studios] and his expertise in particular would help us build the product we wanted. The way they presented really was in sync with our team and how we worked.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

To kick off design and build the initial releases of both the iOS and Android app cost us $500,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The real success comes when the app is being used and your users are delighted. We had an iOS app that we replaced and we didn’t have an Android app. We were able to meet the needs of a lot more of our members. Overall, the performance and usability of our apps has increased tremendously.

What distinguishes Rocket Farm Studios from other providers?

Rocket Farm Studios really blends into our team. Part of their culture is blending in and being part of the team. Working with their team is very easy. They were flexible when we needed to adjust, move, and course correct. They’re open to suggestions and to advice, which is also great.

Is there anything Rocket Farm Studios could have improved or done differently?

No. We use an agile process, so we went through several iterations and I think we both improved as a result of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a startup company called LeaderClips. We help people understand leadership and personal development by using videos from public domains. We do that through a website and a mobile app.

What is your position?

I am the founder of LeaderClips.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm Studios?

I’ve worked in information technology myself so I know a little about the process of developing an app but I was unfamiliar with developing in the mobile space. I went to Rocket Farm when I had this idea.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

I engaged with Rocket Farm to help build our website and mobile app. They also provided coaching on how practical my idea was and what could and couldn’t be done. They helped the scope of the idea fit into a solution that’s more practical for the mobile platform.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm Studios?

I went through a pseudo request for proposal [RFP] process. Rocket Farm Studios was one of the eight or nine different companies in the Boston area that I talked to. They listened to me - even though some of my ideas were off the wall - they spent a lot of time with me and gave me advice before I spent one dime with them. Because of that, I decided to work with them. I could tell that Rocket Farm could give me some critical feedback and advice on this mobile world that was unfamiliar to me. Some companies didn’t understand the value of what I was doing and they walked away from the project.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

This was a massive undertaking on my part. This project is way over half a million at this point. Rocket Farm Studios has built a product for me and they’ve also enhanced and maintained it ever since. They’ve been a part of creating my road map for future releases and future development.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was about two years ago that I started talking to Rocket Farm. I think we first engaged in December of 2013 and the project began in March 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I think Rocket Farm Studios is very good at understanding the business case. Some of the development firms that I talked to were willing to listen to my requirements, tell me what it would cost and how long it would take, but the Rocket Farm team did more than that. They actually tried to understand my business model. They got in my seat and looked at the project from my perspective. They took the time to read books about the market I’m trying to serve, my target audience, and put together profiles of the typical client that will use my solution. They were heavily involved in understanding the business which led them to become heavily involved in the user experience design, all before they got down to writing code. I really liked and appreciated that.

I thought that if they took the time to understand what my business objective and what my target customer was like, they would better understand how to build and how to advise me on what I asked them to build. That was one of the biggest highlights of working with them, they took time to understand the business.

What distinguishes Rocket Farm Studios from other providers?

The Rocket Farms Studios team are friendly, good people. These are the kind of people I would be happy to go play golf with. They’re easy to get along with and they’re honest. I’ve never had any integrity issues with them. I’ve worked in IT for over 30 years, so I know the game a little bit and I know how difficult it is to build applications. I know that at times, you estimate something’s going to take a week and then things happen and it takes two weeks. We’ve had our share of delays, but I wouldn’t say it’s out of the ordinary for this type of work. Overall, they’re really smart and a good team of people to work with.

Is there anything Rocket Farm Studios could have improved or done differently?

The one thing I think they can improve on and I’ve shared with them is that communication could always be better. As the client, sometimes I feel like I have to chase them for information or for the status of a particular project. When they say they’re going to have something done for me in two weeks, it gets to be around day 10 and I haven’t heard anything, so I have to reach out and ask for an update.