Rootstrap

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a freelance marketplace that attracts quality global freelancers and corporates to create teams.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We brought on Rootstrap to set the foundations of our platform. They were responsible for building the product roadmap for what our solution would be.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Rootstrap provided business development services, creating a roadmap that would breakdown our product. In our case, it was a large-scale platform that included a mobile/tablet app as well as a web version. The final deliverable was a map and an offline prototype. We’re currently using their roadmap to build our product.

What is the team composition? 

The team was about four people in total. We worked with a business development lead, but there was also an account manager and strategist, too.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I found them on LinkedIn. At the time, Ben (Founder) was posting about Roostrap and what they offered, so I did some research. We were looking for the best of the best to help us set our foundation. After going to their website and giving them a call, I felt they fit the bill.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid them about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from January–April 2018.

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

Rootstrap set us up for success. Thanks to our collaboration with them, we’ve won Women in Tech awards and have even gotten accepted into accelerator programs. They’ve been a true help in finding the right development team for us, too.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was definitely fantastic. The beauty of what we’re developing is that it’s all about remote work, so we figured that we’d practice what we preached. 

Rootstrap was all the way in Los Angeles, New York, and South America while we were in the Middle East. We did weekly meetings with them along with catch-ups. I’d be involved once or twice a week before everything wrapped up in April. 

We’ve remained in touch throughout the years to see if we could go ahead with them to build our product, but that depended on the investment we received.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There are so many competitors out there, but Rootstrap was unique with the people they hired. Generally speaking, the team was professional, easy to work with, and smart. The head strategist, in particular, was top-notch.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When it comes to roadmapping, it would’ve helped to set our expectations if we knew that their prototype was going to be an offline prototype. That’s nothing to hold against them, but it did set us back.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t think twice about hiring them. They’re the people to go to if you want to develop your roadmap and product foundation. However, it’s worth it to spend a bit extra to have a live prototype from them. Again, that’s something we slowed us down for a few years because we didn’t have that done.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering for an online education company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed staff augmentation services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap provides high-quality senior developers and QA people. They work alongside two other firms and our in-house team to develop the platform. They’re our core developers.

What is the team composition?

We work with 14 people from Rootstrap: 13 developers and 1 QA. 

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I tried them about two years ago when I was at a previous company. I talked to one of the founders, who proposed using one person. That person was great, so we just kept adding after that.

How much have you invested with them?

At this point, we’re probably nearing $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around July or August 2018.

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

They’ve been pivotal in architectural decisions and design review done by due diligence; that was really favorable. All of their hard work has paid off in that respect. It’s hard to say how much to attribute to engineering, but I’d say that they’ve been one of the key factors in helping us get investments.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

That isn’t their role; they provide engineers, and project management is handled internally. We typically communicate via Slack, Zoom, and email. They’re great with communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their culture distinguishes them from other providers. They have a great group of people that integrate with our team amazingly well. 

The quality of their developers also stands out. I’ve never gotten a junior engineer from them. Everyone has been incredibly good. They’re always pushing their developers to become better at the frameworks they use. They’re great at hiring talented people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d say they could offer more product management. However, product management is a bit of a different concept to a Silicon Valley-based company than it is to a company in Uruguay and Argentina. They might be able to come around to that point of view of product management.

Any advice for potential customers?

View managing the people at Rootstrap as you would any other employee of yours.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of V3 Cybersecurity Inc. We’re a cybersecurity maturity assessment organization.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed to address the challenges that many security companies have, which are visibility and current consultative models. Most of the models that gave you visibility into your cybersecurity maturity were consultant-led. I felt that there was a better, technical form.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap designed and developed the cybersecurity platform. Their team designed the UX/UI and executed on the development. They primarily used Ruby. They also managed our AWS implementation. Now, they’re performing maintenance too.

What is the team composition?

I have a main point of contact. From a development perspective, I’ve worked with the same scrum master. I’ve also worked with the same frontend programmer since day one. During the initial development, I had a main point of contact who was our project manager.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I looked for South American development companies and found them through Clutch.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $125,000–$150,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our partnership in June 2019, and our major development effort finished in November 2019. But we’ve continued to engage with them.

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

I’ve been happy with their processes and management. In some instances, we could’ve had issues that made for an ugly situation. It’s a testament to their organization that those instances strengthened our relationship.

In the beginning, I was heavily engaged in the development process. I had strict oversight. By the time we finished the development, I'd given them guidance and trusted them to execute on my vision. That's an important part of our relationship. I trust Rootstrap to take my ideas and concepts and turn them into a product.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

We used JIRA to work through the program and had weekly meetings. We followed an Agile methodology with two-week sprints. 

They communicate well. Their flexibility and transparency are top-notch. Their ability to address concerns throughout the process was excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their transparent approach and flexibility impress us. Their designers also listen to us. They take their experiences and integrate them into my project to create more value. We’ve been able to leverage their experiences, which accelerated the process and created a better product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have a bad thing to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to engage with them. Give them an opportunity. They want to compete for business. They’re small enough to be hungry and big enough to be established. Their leadership is open to earning business. Include them in your shortlist.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an e-commerce platform in the rent-to-own space that serves our clients without physical stores. We built the platform to both provide products and underwrite the customer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We built a web application with an offshore development team but ran into problems with the first iteration. We needed a different partner to rebuild the application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap replaced our first offshore development team. While a maintenance team supported the initial version of the app, their team developed the second version of our platform from scratch. We also engaged their design team to create mockups and resolve design challenges visually.

Their team created the microservice platform with several technologies. The frontend’s based in ReactJS and the backend was built in Ruby. The app’s containerized on AWS. We use Kubernetes for container management and Postgres as the database.

What is the team composition?

At its peak, 15 people from Rootstrap worked on the project. We’re reducing that number gradually.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

Our president and CEO found Rootstrap through a referral. After searching online and performing background checks, we asked them to assess our first application and show us how their team would improve it. Initially, we engaged only two people from Rootstrap to investigate the platform and help us decide how to proceed. As they did a great job, we felt that they could do a better job by rebuilding the entire app. We had a bid process and brought in other vendors to talk us through how they might create a second version but didn’t give them the same level of access as Rootstrap. We felt comfortable in our relationship with them and chose them to rebuild the entire app.

How much have you invested with them?

Our burn rate's around $100,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought on the initial teammates from Rootstrap in August 2018. In June 2019, we expanded the team to start building the next app and their work’s ongoing.

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

The first version of our platform crashed often. We also didn't have metrics to measure our site's capacity. We wanted to know the amount of traffic that our product could handle especially for a busy shopping season. We tested the platform based on the prior year to make sure the new version could handle that amount of traffic. The product never crashes. By using Kubernetes, we’re able to deploy continuously without taking anything down, which is a huge plus. That saves us a huge amount of time. We don’t feel that we’ve lost any money from customers frustrated by the site.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

We use JIRA to manage the flow and Slack to communicate daily. Their team also uses a tool that shows the project graphically. It wasn’t a fixed bid with contracts where we had to hit a certain timeframe, so we work together on timelines and trusted their estimates.

We carefully decided what features needed to be in the application to manage our schedule. Our project manager works closely with their project manager to make sure that we’re always on track and informed. We had daily check-ins and weekly progress reports. We felt informed and were never surprised. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project manager realized that our schedule’s busy as we work with a whole other development team. The project manager started to create video updates for us to watch at any time and pass around to management. That made us feel comfortable. We understood that if they replaced our other team, they would give us that level of communication. It seems small but it showed our team that they understood and would be able to deliver. We could trust them to deliver. We're in the same time zone, allowing their team to work during our hours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While we always work through it, there are times when we feel that products should be delivered faster. Their team wanted to follow two-week sprint cycles and a traditional path for deployment. A product could be delivered over a two-week sprint but more critical features need to be done faster. We had hiccups to pulling that off. When we asked to prioritize a feature, we meant that it needed to be done as soon as possible not in a two-week sprint.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about the development model that your team will follow. Let them know if you need a flexible development schedule. Have a timeframe for when you expect products to be delivered.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of engineering at Cleo, a family healthcare company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

I was looking for staff augmentation. We’re a pretty early-stage startup and when I joined the company, I didn’t have a strong engineering team. I inherited a team of three engineers and we needed a lot more people. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide staff augmentation, specifically engineers to work on our projects and work alongside our full-time in-house engineers.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was the head of sales. Then we had an account manager and two engineers. Now we’ve grown the team to five engineers and two designers.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I believe I got a cold email. I was struggling with the engineering capacity until they emailed me about staff augmentation. It was a well put together deck that they sent me.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent $1 million so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019 and the work is ongoing.

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

Their engineers are dedicated, smart, and humble. There’s no challenge working with them and the quality is exceptional. It’s been a very fruitful and healthy relationship.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

We haven’t had them lead a project end to end, but overall it’s good. Their communication skills are great; they dialed into our video calls every day. Their engineers are dedicated, smart, and humble. There’s no challenge working with them and the quality is exceptional. 

After evaluating an engineer that wasn’t performing effectively for 2–3 months, I communicated that to our account manager and he took care of it immediately and replaced that engineer with another. If there’s any issue, they’ll tell you about it and try to find a solution. One of their designers was going on vacation and before he left, they found a replacement. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication skills are good across the board and they’re very proactive. I’ve seen it at the engineering level, to the account manager,  up to their CEO and they’re very forthcoming with anything. If there’s any issue, they’ll tell you about it and try to find a solution. One of their designers was going on vacation and before he left, they found a replacement. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Since it’s offshore contracting, you have to make them feel like they’re part of your team. The more frequent the communication, the better. In my case, I communicated with their engineers multiple times a day. It feels like they’re a part of the team. Even the simple things like a video call instead of an audio call, help you develop a little bit more trust.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product for WalletJoy, a personal finance brand. Our parent company specializes in online lead generation.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed UI/UX and development help with building our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

WalletJoy is predominantly a content-driven site that provides personal finance guidance. Rootstrap built it on WordPress. 

Before building the site, Rootstrap also helped create the brand strategy and define the design system. That included high-level brand and style guidelines. Our side was driving that strategy, but Rootstrap played a huge part in making sure we were thinking of the right things. Their expertise led to valuable and critical input into that strategy definition.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three engineers, two product designers, a design director who helped with the strategy, and a resource for visual design and brand design. 

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

One of my peers in grad school works at Rootstrap. I brought their team into the evaluation process and judged them on two major criteria. First, we wanted our site to follow SEO best practices. We look at portfolios that demonstrated that kind of web work, and Rootstrap stood out. Second, they had a lot of flexibility in their operating model, which made it easier for us to accept the risk. (This was our first partnership with a third-party vendor.)

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in January 2019. We’re still working together, but going forward, we’ll just have a one-person team.

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

It’s definitely early in the lifecycle of the product, but we’re already seeing 20%–25% user retention, which is beyond what we expected at this stage. That’s a testament to the work we did with Rootstrap on the brand side. It also shows that the site experience is friendly, intuitive, and well-done.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t share an office or a time zone so collaboration has been a huge part of this process as we build this site from scratch. Rootstrap is made up of highly responsive and great collaborators. We’ve had no issues with communication and project management. That’s a huge part of the success we’ve seen. We use Slack for communication and Trello for ticketing as well as the development and design work. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

From both a development and design side, UI/UX is something we’re not strong at as a company. Rootstrap brought that to the site. They helped us define the site and product design. We continue to iterate. They’ve also been really helpful to us being adaptable and agile. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The engineering team has the ability to get the site up quickly, which is fantastic and what we needed. But now, as we’re more mature as a company, the speed takes away from the DevOps process. We’ve sacrificed some efficiency and best practices, leading to QA that could’ve been avoided. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Rootstrap is a very talented team. Try to establish a lot of things ahead of time. That will set up a process and structure that the entire team can follow from the beginning. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP of engineering at MasterClass.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed assistance with web development. At the time, we had a team of around 18 people and we needed to scale up the team because we had new initiatives.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We reached out to Rootstrap and started with a couple of engineers to get the ball rolling. We’ve slowly ramped up their involvement to around 18 people working with us. They took care of an SEO initiative that we had. They also worked on the website. Their team helps with the backend work for our mobile application.

What is the team composition?

Out of a team of 18, one is a scrum master, one is a QA engineer, and the rest are regular engineers.

How did you come to work with Roostrap?

We were referred to Rootstrap from a friend of a friend.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in June 2018 and is still ongoing.

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

Overall, the quality is fantastic. The engineering team is very dedicated. They’ve essentially become part of our coding and development team. For example, their team has optimized our monthly subscription models. They’ve provided significant impacts on our promotional work.

From an SEO perspective, the execution speed is brilliant and the code quality is solid. That helped us build up our SEO initiative from the ground up, making it a major organic channel for us.

How did Roostrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Our main point of contact was Carolina (Engineer, Rootstrap). We don’t have a dedicated project manager, but we have one scrum master. Otherwise team members directly work with our project managers and team leads. We have standup meetings every morning and grander planning meetings every week. They fully participate in these meetings. We usually use Zoom for these meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism is unmatched. The ways they groom their engineers and the quality of engineering are really good. Although the engineers are new, they are very good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

One thing we do is not treat them as an outsourced team. We think of them as one big team. They’re part of all our code initiatives. Typically, we give actual product work to the team, which they appreciate. They're involved; they have the same level of care and ownership of the product as our team. Don’t make them take on second-class work. If you treat them as your core team, you can utilize them to the fullest and tackle challenging problems.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of a software startup.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We initially worked with Rootstrap when our business was first starting. Our team didn’t have a technical co-founder, so we hired Rootstrap to figure out the technical requirements of our platform.

Once we had a technical co-founder, Rootstrap helped with the development of our initial backlog for the platform by creating wireframes and designs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

During three-week sprints, we went through customer discovery, creating wireframes based on our feedback and what we envisioned for the web-based platform. Even though their team worked remotely, we collaborated to build the backlog and iterate UX designs. For the UX phase, they used InVision.

What is the team composition?

We had a core group of five people, including Ben (Founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Rootstrap) and Anthony (CTO, Rootstrap). We also worked with Rosina (UX/UI Designer & Frontend Developer, Rootstrap) and their head of engineering.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I connected with one of their team members on LinkedIn. After viewing some of their work, we started a brief conversation. Rootstrap stood out from the crowd of development and design agencies.

From there, our conversation progressed enough for us to choose them as a partner. We hoped to set a solid foundation for building and growing our platform and business.

How much have you invested with them?

During the design sprint, we spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Rootstrap from September 2017 to November 2019.

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

We do all of our development and design in-house now, but we’ve kept a close relationship with the skilled team at Rootstrap. Our initial MVP, based on their design, received great feedback from our users. They set us up for success from a usability perspective, making sure the platform was intuitive.

Their work also iterated our early development practices and technologies, allowing us to create a sustainable development team and workflow. We took their best practices and implemented them within our organization.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was wonderful. They were easy to work with, responsive, and accommodating throughout the process. We primarily communicated through phone and video calls. We also had a private Slack channel where we could ask or answer questions. All of our messages were responded to in 30 minutes. If they needed further clarification, we would hop on a quick call.

For the initial backlog, we used Trello, and they used their in-house tools to perform an audit of our existing codebase. Their team also recommended different technologies to leverage in our development process, which was helpful advice for a team that’s just starting.

Rootstrap focused on our company’s success. They dedicated their entire team to the project; no one was pulled in different directions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at Rootstrap offers services that cater to startups and robust companies with massive teams. They also work quickly and take strong consideration in each of their projects. Rootstrap invests their time in resources that ensure company success.

A lot of other development agencies want a quick check, but Rootstrap is considerate of their client’s budget and timeline. They also make sure any work will prepare their clients in the long run.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. Their work and team stood out significantly from other providers. They’re a top tier development firm.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go in with an open mind. Their approach isn’t to make money. They’re a smart team that makes sure everything they’re doing fits for their clients. They appreciate honest feedback because it will benefit the project.

Listen to the different options because they strive to provide customized solutions within the breadth of services they offer. Across their entire team, they cover all of the required technical acumens.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a national balloon delivery company. It’s currently in a beta version.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We hired Rootstrap to support us through each stage of our process, from product conception to user testing, into conversion funnels and launch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team helped me test the idea by setting up landing pages, and running paid and organic media through landing pages. Our goal was to acquire email addresses and leads. Once our key performance indicators (KPIs) were solid, we built out the e-commerce site and product collection. They made offerings customizable for different aspects of the website.

Then they developed a brand style guide including mockups of what the next iteration of the site should like. Now we have a full workflow into all of the custom development we’ll do in phase two.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Ben (Co-Founder, Rootstrap) and Ben (Tech Lead, Rootstrap).

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I’ve worked with them on projects for other businesses. They’re leaders in product and web development. This is the first project we’ve done for my business, but I knew we needed to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in June 2019, and I’m always checking in with them.

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

In a very limited rollout, we’ve made over $50,000 in sales. We’ve basically launched a business overnight.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

They are extremely organized. We communicate by sharing screens on a weekly cadence. When we're in a development cycle or a sprint, we communicate by email, text, phone. Really, everything is perfect.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They invested in developing a positive working relationship with me by walking me through the process of really testing the idea, coaching me, and building my confidence in their skill. When vendors approach a business relationship from that angle, they establish a partnership based on trust and respect, not dollars.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything; everything has gone smoothly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They give you homework, so you should put in the effort for that initial work they give you. It will put you in the right place to successfully manage each other’s time efficiently.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of GiveTide, an app designed to make charitable giving a seamless and easy part of your everyday life by making it about your inspiration instead of your financial capability

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We were looking for someone to develop a prototype of our app before we had funding.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap developed our mobile app. About halfway through building the prototype, we received funding and continued working with them to build the full version of the app. Their team integrated several different API into the iOS app. They also added features that we didn’t have the technical skills to produce ourselves.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with quite a few different people but our project manager is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

We did a Google search for development shops and came up with a list of about 20 based on reviews and our first impressions. After narrowing it down to the top four via phone interviews, the CEO of Rootstrap went above and beyond to show us the longterm value of the app. We decided to work with Rootstrap and I’m really glad we did.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Rootstrap began in January 2017. The app itself launched in October 2017, although we continue to work with them.

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

Rootstrap’s work is flawless. They’ve never failed to deliver. As an early-stage startup, we move fast and make decisions just as fast. Despite that, they’ve always delivered value. Anytime their work doesn’t reach the standard we’re used to from them, they go above and beyond to make sure they remedy that.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Our teams usually communicate through Slack and either Zoom or Google Hangouts. Their team is very organized. We’ve never had an issue and they’re incredibly flexible whenever we need to move a meeting or push something back.

What did you find most impressive about them?

With zero exceptions, every member of the Rootstrap team brings something new to the table. They go beyond being just professionally capable. I genuinely consider some of them to be friends. Rootstrap has a really strong culture.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything has been great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re not going in there expecting your words to be law. As developers, they can open up a whole new avenue of value.