Simple Thread

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of operations at Seasonal Roots; we’re an online farmers market. We specialize in sourcing fresh local produce and artisan goods and distributing them throughout the region.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

We wanted to make our website more stable and build new components and features to help our employees and customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we provided Simple Thread with documentation regarding our original website, which we built six years ago. We also shared a backlog of information that outlined the work we’d done on our website since initially making it. Then, the team went through our existing code and identified some areas for improvement. 

Since evaluating our original website, the Simple Thread team has recommended various technical solutions. They’ve used Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and React to expand our website’s functionality. They’ve also helped with load balancing for AWS and created a pipeline to connect our WordPress platform to our website. 

Additionally, they’ve built a new premium item function and made cosmetic adjustments to our menu, making it more dynamic. The team has also made practical adjustments to our backend reports to increase their speed. They’ve also advised us on improving our Google and Facebook Analytics and helped with routine website maintenance and troubleshooting.

What is the team composition?

We’ve mostly worked with Mike (Senior Software Engineer), Brian (Director of Business Development), and Justin (Co-Founder). 

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

Our previous programmer introduced us to Simple Thread when he left our company. Our CEO had heard of Simple Thread before, so we met with them in person and felt they could help with our development initiatives. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Simple Thread in July 2019; we’ve wrapped our development initiatives, but the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been very satisfied with the results Simple Thread has delivered. They’ve significantly improved the speed of our backend reports, which has streamlined our workflow and enabled our employees to work more efficiently.

Their support was also critical in helping us stay in business during a difficult time. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our company went from processing 1,000 weekly orders to 4,000, and Simple Thread stepped in to help us scale the architecture to support our growth. Without their help, our website would’ve collapsed from the influx of orders. 

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve mainly managed projects internally, but Simple Thread has consistently delivered results on time and within budget. As with all software projects, there have been some delays, but the team has communicated openly and addressed issues efficiently. They’ve set realistic time estimates and been very transparent regarding progress. We’ve primarily communicated via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed with Simple Thread’s flexibility and dedication to our project. Our business needs have changed significantly throughout our partnership, and they’ve always supported us through potentially catastrophic infrastructure failures. They’ve even responded to critical requests outside regular business hours, which has been helpful. Simple Thread has played a key role in helping our business function. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was some turnover with developers at the beginning of our partnership. Although it created a learning curve, they were very generous with us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re great communicators, so as long as you express your needs, Simple Thread will provide you with the necessary support.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the innovation manager at Dominion Energy, a solar development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

We were trying to simplify and improve the way in which we monitor equipment ratings on the electrical transmission system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Simple Thread is helping us develop a web app that uses a cloud database. The objective of this app is to allow users to interact with the website and manipulate cloud database information to better caption our equipment ratings.

Initially, we went with them with relatively clear criteria regarding what we needed, but we also gave them the freedom to design the tool around our needs. They’ve used Figma to create the designs and prototype of our app to simulate the experience they’ll be ultimately building. 

What is the team composition?

Simple Thread’s team has fluctuated over our engagement. We usually work with 3–4 people from their team, but those resources vary and have included designers and developers. I know that they also have a lot of resources in the backend building the tool.

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

I don’t know how we originally found them, but they had done other projects for us, and they had a very good reputation for those past projects. Thus, we brought them again for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around March 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What Simple Thread has shown us so far looks amazingly promising. They’ve made great progress very quickly, and we’ve been very impressed with how things have gone. The way they’ve structured the UI is extremely intuitive and easy to use, and the UX is dramatically better than what we had before.

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

Simple Thread has been very quick and efficient. They’ve been very good at staying in frequent contact and walking us through the progress to ensure everything is coming together as desired. In addition to Figma, which has been very helpful, we’ve used Miro for whiteboarding and taking notes. Additionally, we have a weekly Microsoft Teams call and share plenty of emails between calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of Simple Thread’s most impressive talents is how good they are at designing usable and intuitive apps — they’re very good at understanding how users interact with the tools they create. The UI of our app and the thought process behind it is one of the best parts of our experience with this project. They’re not providing us with an off-the-shelf solution; it is a solution tailored to our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been stellar.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When building a custom tool, it is necessary to be involved in the development process. Be available to answer questions, explain things, and help them build what you need. They’re very good at taking notes, but they need your honest feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at our company in the power delivery unity. We handle electrical transmission, distribution, and generation. I work in the transmission organization where we’re focused on physics-based modeling and simulation of the grid, time-series, data analysis of the grid, and data-driven operational support for real time operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

In general, they’re fulfilling a latent need to address the sustainably of a lot of custom tools that we build internally — specifically web tools. Additionally, they’ve helped us follow through on several ideas that we hadn’t built ourselves yet, spanning several use cases.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In terms of specific projects, they’ve worked on a number of efforts, including an operational planning platform and API that allows engineers in our control room to do high dimensional analysis of different scenarios on the grid. Other efforts include a telescope project, a mobile app development project, and a facility ratings application. All of these tasks require robotic process automation and knowledge of the process management space focused on the performance of teams. In total, they’ve delivered or are delivering six or more distinct digital products.

A robust discovery process precedes all their digital work. We start from scratch on every effort, as we often don’t know exactly what we need until we get into the work. This process involves methodical, purposeful interviews with many people that enable us to better define the product. We traditionally come to Simple Thread with an abstract idea or an existing tool that doesn’t work very well, and they figure out what want. Simple Thread then provides all the application hosting and maintenance post-launch as well.

What is the team composition?

In the 3–4 years we’ve worked together there have been around eight people we’ve interacted with directly. These peoples’ positions run the gamut from owners and business development resources to members of the design team and developers and project managers.

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

I met their business development lead through a friend, who told him about the number of tools my organization uses and the help we needed. Our engagement blossomed from that conversation.

Something that stood out about them was the questions they asked, and particularly in the design phase regarding the wireframes and user flows. The way they presented the problems to us demonstrated a superior level of competency. When I would present a problem and a suggested solution, their suggestion would be better.

When I’ve hired vendors to handle UI/UX design, I’ve ended up having to correct them when they made errors that were blatantly wrong. I have no background in UI/UX; they should have had the right level of competency.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’re approaching the $3–$4 million dollar mark across our six deliverables

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I built the original platform, and before Simple thread came in, it only had about one user. Now, our entire team uses it, and no one can figure out why they didn’t use it earlier. It’s gotten to point where it’s a running joke about how great it is. We can’t imagine a world without it.

Simple Thread has also driven a cultural transformation. We’ve taken on some pretty gnarly problems together and solved them, which has taught us to expect us to a certain caliber of work from our vendors. We shook up a whole number of established business processes with this partnership, and that could have gone very wrong, but it’s become a new way of working for us.

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

I don’t have any complaints about their project management. Our organization doesn’t move very fast, but there haven’t been any bottlenecks with Simple Thread. If anything, they keep us in check.

We typically communicate through email, phone calls, Microsoft Teams, etc. It’s a big benefit that they’re local to us. Our corporate network doesn’t allow for tools like Slack, so we shifted to more traditional methods.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I remember working with them for the first time and being scared to hand over control, but we were thoroughly rewarded. Simple Thread knocked it out of the park and have since built a high degree of trust between us. We have a lot of complicated processes, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable handing them over to just anyone.

On a personal level, I’ve judged everyone at Simple Thread to be awesome human beings. Additionally, they haven’t diluted the quality of their team as they’ve grown. They must have some kind of special sauce in the hiring process because everyone they bring on is very competent. They are well-rounded human beings.

For example, one of their developers, David, is genuinely interested in the engineering disciplines part of the work. He’s not coming in to write code that he doesn’t understand the subject matter behind. Like I said, we have complicated business practices, and Simple Thread’s resources are willing to invest time to understand them, which translates to better outcomes for us.

Finally, Simple Thread has always moved at our pace, and they never make decisions based on revenue. They agree to take on projects based on the degree of value they can add to the work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything because everything has been amazing. I would ask them if we could double their abilities so we could produce to solutions at once, but that’s all. Honestly, if you doubled their size, then it would change them as a company. I can’t think of anything to really help them with here.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re having cold feet about the collaboration, you can always set up a discovery and design project at first without committing to building what you design. Once you go through the discovery and design, you’ll have so much confidence and consensus around your next steps that deciding to move on to development will be a trivial choice.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Magazine Jukebox, Inc., a digital magazine rack for commercial spaces. Users can scan our code, use our technology, and enjoy a nationally known magazine without having to download an app or without providing any personal information.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

We wanted Simple Thread to help us produce our product’s MVP because we didn't know how to create the software and code for that. After creating the MVP, we also needed them to help us launch it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Since our product didn’t exist in the market yet, my wife and I put our product into patent pending. Then, Simple Thread began writing our platform’s code, which would allow for the integration of digital magazines. While building the MVP, they created mock-ups and wireframes so that we could see the flow and functionality of our product. Once they created the demo, they ensured that our platform was operational once it went live.

On top of that, they created our Squarespace website that users could visit, and they developed our backend sales process, integrating our billing software in the frontend to ensure that we could efficiently sell our product.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Brian (Director of Business Development), Marie (Delivery Manager), Derek (Senior UI/UX Designer), Robert (Software Engineer), and Drew (Software Engineer). Brian is in charge of liaising between our teams, and Marie ensures that their team is on task. On the other hand, Derek is in charge of the website, and Drew and Robert are in charge of the backend integration. I’ve also had a lot of interactions with the founders of their company.

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

I found Simple Thread through a gentleman I met in 757 Startup Studios, an ecosystem of founders in Norfolk, Virginia. He gave me a list of 10–15 different businesses, and from there, I got a hold of Brian. I also talked to different companies, but their price wasn’t that competitive and they wanted part ownership in the company. Meanwhile, Simple Thread understood my budget and what I needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $175,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We use Amplitude to show our traction to clients, and Simple Thread has been pivotal to our business and we’re not where we are today without them. They’re also quick to resolve any issues in our project. However, we really haven’t had any major issues. Overall, their team is absolutely trustworthy and incredible. In the future, we’ll potentially move the website to WordPress, and they’ll be able to help us when that time comes.

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a perfect project management process. I’ve had a pretty strict budget, but Simple Thread has been able to adjust to that and has helped me achieve my goals. Their communication skills are also superior, and they’re good at estimating timelines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve made it easy for me to understand their work. Furthermore, their honesty and transparency are impressive. More importantly, they allow us to save a lot of time and money, and that’s important for a startup like us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We value them as part of the company.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Establish your plan and understand that everything costs money. After that, reach out and talk to Simple Thread because they’re good at providing estimates. Their team is also good at listening, and they don’t charge you additional costs unless you make a change order.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the lead reliability engineer for Dominion Energy. We essentially control all of the power for Virginia and parts of North Carolina.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

We have to run a multitude of computer-based simulations to understand whether or not the power grid is reliable. My group handles all of the data analytics on planned outages and had a ton of data that needed to be packaged in a way that an engineer or end-user could easily understand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Simple Thread to build an interface that presents all of our data in a clear, concise, and logical format. Their team created the system’s first UI stage and then built the second UI stage. They’re currently working on a third project. Their team’s now spinning all of our analytics onto 12 new servers. Simple Thread has coded in Python.

What is the team composition?

The size of the team ebbs and flows depending on the complexity of the project’s stage. We initially worked with about six people and then 2–3 people full-time during the first project. During the second project, we worked with only two people because they already set up the majority of the design and infrastructure. We’re now working with three people full-time from Simple Thread.

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

My colleague previously worked with Simple Thread and recommended them. We also wanted to work with a local and smaller tech team that could rapidly deliver a product. When we first met with them, the whole organization joined. We discussed our problem and then set up several subsequent meetings.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $750,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the first project with them in the summer of 2019, and our partnership's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Simple Thread took a product that we couldn't present to engineers because it contained lines and lines of data and created a clean, beautiful, and easy-to-use UI. They helped us propel our analytics platform to where it needs to be. We’re considered industry leaders which wouldn’t be possible without Simple Thread.

We wouldn’t keep moving forward with this team unless they delivered. Their team delivers on time and under budget. As we like everything about them, we keep throwing work at them. They surprise us by how easily they understand information, so we’re happy with them.

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a biweekly conference call and communicate via email too. We like their speed and hospitality. I’ve been in this industry for 25 years, and Simple Thread’s project management skills are as strong, if not stronger, than other agencies I’ve engaged. If they have a question, their team doesn’t sit on it. They let us know when they need our input to move the project forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t think our first project would’ve been possible if we didn’t work with a local agency. I appreciate their communication too. With Simple Thread, there aren’t language or time barriers. Their team’s smart, young, and fast. They’re local and communicate well, so it’s been a pleasure working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We just want them to continue growing their relationship with us. We consider them a key player in this platform. Justin (Partner & Engineer) needs to continue to grow his team and offer resources to us. We invested a lot of time in them, and I know they want to continue the relationship too.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Simple Thread can handle essentially any technical challenge but it’s important that you paint the picture for them. I would advise other clients to spend time taking notes, making slides, and developing white papers on their problems and then give Simple Thread those resources.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of research in the custom applications consulting services department at the University of Virginia. We do custom software applications for anybody throughout the university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

We had to change the scope of the system; it was becoming more of an enterprise-wide system. We also wanted to implement automated testing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Simple Thread helped build software, which we were developing as an in-house grants management system. It’s an enterprise-wide system that supports the research community for proposal development, award management, and other workflows. Their team helped us get up to speed with writing a test and implemented an automated testing infrastructure. They also helped implement the functional areas of the system including the electronic sponsor action requests. Basically, the component replaced a number of paper forms within the university into an electronic request and workflow system for first sponsor programs.

From a technical standpoint, we used all Microsoft .NET technology. We used C sharp, SQL Server, and everything was hosted in an Azure environment. A lot of frontend work involved JavaScript, TypeScript. From an automated testing standpoint, we used the Microsoft Native unit testing components but also used Selenium for user testing.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one contractor—David (Senior Software Engineer, Simple Thread).

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

My manager had a relationship with Simple Thread through the university. We looked for expertise in certain areas such as automated testing. We contacted their team and felt comfortable with their background as well as the type of services they could provide.

How much have you invested with them?

We ended up investing $525,000 over the course of a few years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with David in November 2016 and the engagement ended last week.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There were four major areas of functionality that were implemented while David was on board and it wouldn’t have happened without him including automated testing, proposal development, non-funded agreement module, and the electronic sponsor action requests. Those four things all happened while David was with us. He was a key member of the team.

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

We handled the project management on our end because we had David on as an extra developer. Even though he worked remotely, we were engaged with him every day through ZOOM meetings and Slack. We’re an agile shop, so he participated in sprint ceremonies. His communication and availability were excellent. It was easy to keep him on task and know where he was in the process. Plus, he kept us up to date as far as what he was working on and how it was going. The engagement worked out fantastically.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Simple Thread was not a huge operation. All their developers are competent as well as their principals. Not only do they have their client’s best interest in mind, but they also understand the talent of the people they’re providing for their services. Bigger agencies have products or people that don’t work out because they’re just another body that moves through the company. Simple thread invests a lot to keep their staff up to date on technology. They provide top-notch talent to work on projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything negative to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Like any project, keep communication channels open so that everybody is on the same page. Not everybody at Simple Thread works on-site, so interact with their team daily to keep a pulse on what’s going on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior producer at SpangTV. We’re a Richmond based production company that works in all aspects of film and video. We’re primarily commercial based, but also create content for the web and television, amongst other applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

We needed to freshen our website a bit, while also maintaining our WordPress backend solution. We were looking for a vendor to adjust the site to put it on par with industry standards.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Simple Thread changed the way our site functioned. The team kept our video content forward facing and also allowed us to keep using our backend video-hosting solution. They gave us a full bleed image and reel for our home page, and then subsequent pages with different drill-downs and reels for separate directors.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with two members of the Simple Thread team, one of which was Brian (Director of Business Development, Simple Thread).

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

I knew one of their employees from outside of work. After viewing his work on their website, I reached out to him to try and gauge his technical knowledge; not only was he knowledgeable, but he was an expert. I decided from that point that I didn’t want to work with anyone else but him.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began this project in January 2019 and completed it in April 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback on Simple Thread’s work was positive.

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed great from a project management standpoint. Brian kept us on track, which isn’t always easy considering how busy we can get.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with them felt very much like a personal relationship. I was especially impressed with how they performed on a professional level.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not on this job. I definitely think they did outstanding work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Potential customers shouldn't hesitate to select Simple Thread.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO of Dominion Due Diligence Group. We perform due diligence services for real estate transactions that use Federal Housing Administration-financed loans and mainly focus on multifamily housing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Simple Thread?

We struggled to find a project management software that matched our needs because of the sheer volume of data that we work with. We operate in all 50 states, and we have about 30 terabytes worth of project data. Most of the off-the-shelf project management software packages can't support us. We hired Simple Thread to build a custom project management software for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Simple Thread managed our product from soup to nuts. We identified our pain points, but we had little idea as to what kind of solution would be suitable. Simple Thread conducted a business analysis, defined how our business runs, and determined what type of support we needed in our software. They ultimately designed and developed a Ruby-based solution. Though they built the software several years ago, we still have Simple Thread on a retainer to provide a certain number of support hours each month.

What is the team composition?

The firm’s two partners serve as our project managers and main points of contact. We also work with as many as three developers.

How did you come to work with Simple Thread?

One of our IT systems technicians is well-networked in the Richmond and Central Virginia area, and he initially found Simple Thread through his connections. For large initiatives like this, we typically consider at least three firms. Simple Thread proved to be the best of our finalists.

How much have you invested with them?

The software package was probably about $80,000 by itself. Over the years, we’ve spent around $500,000 in all.

What is the status of this engagement?

The main software development project spanned May 2013–February 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received an impressive software package. When we show it to clients, it’s common for them to request contact information for Simple Thread so that they can contact them regarding similar projects. With the new project management system, we’re far more productive than we ever were with off-the-shelf solutions.

How did Simple Thread perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re fortunate to have the firm’s two partners assigned to our project. They are some of the most experienced project managers that I’ve worked with. We have conference calls every other week that range from 15 minutes to an hour. In emergencies, the most we have to wait is an hour or two. The team is very responsive and reliable, and I can’t say that about all of our other vendors.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re easy to work with, which is why we’re still working with them. They’ve taken the time to understand our business, and when we give them a new challenge, we don’t have to reiterate why we need it or the risks involved. Simple Thread is thoroughly familiar with our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m under the impression that Simple Thread has struggled to grow or find quality developers at times. If we were to take on a significant initiative with them where we’d need their support for several months again, it would depend on their ability to find the appropriate resources.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend working with Simple Thread. They’re easy to work with, and they have smart people running the company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an IT support specialist at Outdoor Living Brands, a franchise business catering to the outdoor living market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Simple Thread?

We were looking for a vendor to perform custom development on an existing pricing tool used by one of our brands.

What were your goals for this project?

Our list of action items included enhancing the UX of the software so end-users could navigate the pricing tool more efficiently.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Simple Thread was recommended to us by another agency. After speaking with the team, we were impressed by their professionalism and outstanding communication style. They also provided references that complemented their work.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The team first collaborated with internal stakeholders to define the project specifications and scope. They picked up where another specialist had left off on the pricing tool development. They accomplished a number of tasks and released the updated tool in a short amount of time.

What was the team composition?

The project team consisted of three specialists. Most of the communication was facilitated by Mike (Software Engineer, Simple Thread) and Brian (Director of Business Development, Simple Thread).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The Simple Thread team kept the software up-to-date and responsive to the needs of the end-user.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team’s stellar project management was aided by ongoing communication about every aspect of development.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team was able to personalize the business relationship through meaningful collaboration. It felt as though they had worked with us for several years rather than a few months.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I'm happy with the team’s work.