Seta Workshop

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of BizzyCar. We provide a membership service where people can pay monthly for car maintenance. We send a valet driver to pick up and drive the vehicle to the dealership, where it’ll be inspected and repaired as necessary.

What challenge were you trying to address with Seta Workshop?

We had built a prototype solution that we were using for various car dealerships in the St. Louis area. We quickly realized that our business model was gaining traction, so we brought on Seta Workshop to build a broader-scale web application for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The web application is built on Angular 7. Its API layer was constructed using Ruby on Rails. Additionally, we have a set of worker functions, which were created using Lambda Functions and written in Node.js. The solution is hosted on AWS, and while Seta Workshop handled some of the simplified deployments, we’d built the environments ourselves.

Our business revolves heavily around geolocation. Once a customer signs up for our service, we use their physical location to determine who’s best to service their vehicle. After they share the details of their car model, we’d produce customized pricing based on their provided details.

To materialize this desired functionality, we utilized a Google Maps API to determine the best possible match for getting a driver to and from their house. The technology coordinates the informs our customers of their customized appointment and scheduling.

What is the team composition?

We work with Sebastian (Co-Founder) and Jose (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with Seta Workshop?

We were matched with them on UpWork after posting a scope of work. Once we engaged with them, we established our own simplified contract with them on the platform. Upon going through technical interviews with around 20 candidates, we finalized our work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in January 2019 and is ongoing.

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

Their team has demonstrated their ability to consistently deliver, and the quality of their output is very, very high. We arrived at our first product to market within three months, which was a massive undertaking for us.

Their work has been very solid, and Sebastian and Jose are quite clearly experts in their fields. They’re amazingly methodical and able to think about the bigger scope of problems. The quality of their code is much higher than I would’ve otherwise expected from an outsourced vendor.

Sebastian has excelled at making himself available to deal with the ebbs and flows of our development schedule. He’s also expressed a sense of pride and ownership in his work, which clearly motivates him to flawlessly hit milestones.

How did Seta Workshop perform from a project management standpoint?

We used to have pretty strict deadlines and stringent requirements, and our expectations were always met. Now, we’ve built a relationship with them where we’re able to trust that they’ll make the best possible decisions. They attend all of our daily stand-ups and participate in our demos. They’ve hit all our deadlines, so they’ve proved to be exceptionally reliable.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think that you get a combination of quality and speed with them. They’ll produce a very, very good end product at a reasonable rate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thorn on our side, early on, was that we wanted more time from them. It’s not necessarily anything we can fault them for, but we were seeking to secure them for 80-hours a week — like two full-time bodies. They were only able to commit to 60-hours a week.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d have them participating in the design of things, as opposed to having them deliver on hard specs. Their knowledge goes way beyond simply developing. They have a wide range of skills in both project management and UX/UI, so I’d encourage clients to utilize the full scope of what they can offer.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I wrote a book called Che boludo which is Argentine slang translated into English. It is basically a linguistic guide, because the Spanish they speak here in Argentia is very unique.

What challenge were you trying to address with Seta Workshop?

I wrote the book 15 years ago with the idea that it would be a linguistic aid for travelers to Argentina. I noticed that it really took off with the Argentines as well because the way they speak here is a strong part of their identity. 

Due to its popularity, I wanted to develop an app version, and I needed someone to build it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Seta Workshop did the full app development for me and put it all together. The app is available for both Android and iOS. Six months ago, I hired them again to add some more material and once again they did a fine job.

It is applicable to travelers, or Argentines who are just interested in their own language. The app has six categories for different things. For example, there’s a category for audio that gives examples of different accents and wordplay. There is also a dictionary, a category for expressions, and lists for lots of common words. Further, there’s a lot of Italian influence here, so there is a category about relevant hand gestures. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with Jose (Co-Founder), and I was also in touch with other people who did the graphic design and the videos. Everyone was really great to work with.

How did you come to work with Seta Workshop?

I was initially talking to people all over: in the US, India, China, and Pakistan. Somehow, I found Jose and Seta Workshop, and I liked they were in Uruguay as they speak similar Spanish.

How much have you invested in them?

It was between $2,000–$3,000 for the initial application, and it was a little less than $4,000 when it was all said and done.

What is the status of this engagement?

For the initial app, I worked with them from November 2017. It lasted for a few months and it was completed in May 2018. I came back last October when I changed a couple of things and added more material.

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

I have nothing but good things to say about Jose. As a product, the app has been fairly dormant. I hired some people to do some social media promotion and it was all slow going. I am a builder and I have a contracting company, and it is hard for me to devote any time or even thought to it. So, it’s out there, but I haven’t really done any marketing at all. I have gotten good feedback from people who have seen it. It’s great and easy to use.

How did Seta Workshop perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was good. We communicated through Skype, email, and I think we used WhatsApp a few times as well. There were also a few conference calls between myself, Jose, the graphic designers, and the sound people.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Jose was very open to all my ideas. I am fairly primitive when it comes to technology. It all started with a book and then the app idea came to me. It was like I was breaking new ground, and he really helped me figure it out with great ideas on how to make it work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Seta Workshop was excellent to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It was all very straightforward and in terms of the technical work, I was very ignorant of what they were doing, but they dealt with it very well. They had great ideas and took the reins completely.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I started working with Seta Workshop, I was at a full-time job. I now own a small agency that specializes in branding and creative design.

What challenge were you trying to address with Seta Workshop?

Seta Workshop built out my portfolio website. I was in the process of leaving my full-time position, so I needed an online presence because I’m a designer. I wanted the site to look a certain way and showcase my aesthetics.

I work meticulously on the frontend and user experience, but when it came to bringing the site to life, I didn’t know where to start when it came to development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Seta Workshop helped me figure out the architecture for the Angular platform. I didn’t want to have to contact them for every little change, so we decided to build my portfolio using a custom Ruby on Rails CMS and backend. As projects came into fruition, I would be able to update my portfolio without any help.

They also approached this like it was a portfolio project for them as well.

What is the team composition?

I worked with José (Co-Founder). I also engaged with his partner Sebastián (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with Seta Workshop?

I found them on Upwork. I wanted to work with a freelancer, and at the time, Seta Workshop was a freelancer partnership. Their business has grown since then.

How much have you invested with them?

The development was under $1,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with Seta Workshop during the summer of 2017.

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

It was a true partnership with Seta Workshop. I was really pleased. I didn’t have any challenges with them because they met my design expectations. Once the project was finished, I didn’t touch it for a while. If there was a bug or anything while I was updating my work, they were super responsive and helpful.

They were detail-oriented, building a backend that was user friendly for me. Their attention to design is fantastic. They make sure everything is pixel perfect.

There was a loading animation that wasn’t part of the scope, but their team went above and beyond to help with that.

Overall, Seta Workshop did a phenomenal job. Even though it’s been a while, they’re still top of mind for me if I get any more similar projects.

How did Seta Workshop perform from a project management standpoint?

Having worked as a freelancer myself, I appreciate how extremely responsive they are. They have a good project management system. Everything was done in Trello, and their team was flexible about posting updates. Tracking everything in Trello gave the project the right amount of transparency. For anything immediate, we would email and occasionally have Google Hangouts meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to detail on the design front was impressive. That’s a rarity for me in my line of work. It was great to see that in them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a time difference, but their team was on it with deadlines, so it wasn’t a big challenge. But when work is done across time zones, there can be a lag in communication.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When working with any developer, the more detailed you can be, the better. I passed them very detailed Sketch design files. I would advise giving them a brief or milestones. The end result will benefit from that. You have to help them help you.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Manager and COO

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

Embedding customer testimonials on our website

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

CEO and CTO found Jose

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

Embedding customer testimonials on our website.

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

Just Jose (Co-Founder, Frontend Engineer, & UX Designer)

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

Awesome Job!

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

Perfect.

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

Jose did a great job!

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

Nope.

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO

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

We hired Seta for front end development. The goal was to develop a mobile app that looked great and provided excellent user experiences for iOS and Android.

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

We use Seta frequently because of their quality and reliability. They do excellent work, can sort out technical challenges on their own, and always deliver on time.

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

To develop a complex Flutter app that works heavily with a variety of weather map types.

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

Jose Gazzano, CEO

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

It is an ongoing project with many components. The feedback on the components Jose delivers has been consistently excellent.

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

Agile - The primary PM tool is Pivotal Tracker.

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

The ability to provide good estimates for complex user stories. Their consistent deliveries and high quality of work are impressive.

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

No.