SmithySoft

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Foundersuite.com

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Foundersuite.com (for startups) and Fundingstack.com (for VCs) is the leading provider of software for raising capital

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmithySoft to accomplish?

• Add various CRM features
• Build investor database
• Rebuild the platform

SOLUTION

How did you find SmithySoft?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select SmithySoft over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SmithySoft were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Smithysoft has been a KEY part of our engineering team. The team of developers has built numerous features in our platform, such as our Investor Update tool, our Pitch Deck Hosting, our Virtual Data Room and our Investor Database. Smithysoft also built Fundingstack and is helping us completely rebuild our platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The Foundersuite.com app built by Smithy has been used by 34,000 startups around the globe. The Fundingstack.com app is used by hundreds of leading venture capital funds.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Smithy has worked closely with our Product Manager since day 1 and consistently meets deadlines. The team is very responsive, especially when there's any critical bug or issue.

What was your primary form of communication with SmithySoft?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They delivered excellent quality work -- the code is exceptional. They solve problems.

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

There is always room for improvement on the language since we only speak English across the various teams, but it has not been a problem. We heartily recommend SmithySoft.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the principal consultant of a custom software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our client found that tracking the progress of their tutors and the children they were working with was a time-consuming and tedious process. Tutors were required to manually fill out paperwork after each tutoring session, which was then entered into Salesforce by the team. This process was prone to errors and made it difficult for our client to quickly and accurately track the progress of their tutors and the children they were working with.

SOLUTION

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

Their ability to quickly understand partners' requirements and arrive at a solution is impressive. On a personal level, they are very friendly people. 

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

The team helped us with the requirements gathering and definition, UI design and prototyping, resolving problems with an existing Salesforce integration, substantially increasing the stability and reliability of the system, developing new functionality for monitoring the students' group work, implementing effective reports tools, and integrating a new work program into the existing system. They’re continuing to assist us in improving our product while also providing maintenance and support services.

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

There were 7 people from the vendor's team: 2x Senior software developers, a mid level software developer, jr software developer, project manager, QA engineer, and a UI designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The single most measurable outcome was that SmithySoft was able to complete the required changes to our system on time and on budget. This had been problematic for us with 2 previous teams, but not with Smithy Soft. This enabled us to continue to conduct business, as without the changes, we would not have been able to use our software.

We adopted a new methodology for the 22-23 school year and this change in methodology required substantial changes to our software which the team was able to implement according to their plan. Furthermore, the SmithySoft team identifies new areas to improve stability and performance and  were able to make those improvements without changing our deadlines.

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

The team works in agile, with 2-week sprints. We use Asana internally and the team was able to use Asana as an issue tracker with a Kanban-style board view.

Tasks in Asana had dependencies and occasionally subtasks. All tasks had a user story with acceptance criteria, making it easy to understand what the developers  were working on. Tasks  were also given deadlines once they  were assigned to a sprint. Smithy Soft also provided a roadmap that they kept up to date each sprint so we could track our larger goals.

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

What was most impressive about this team was their ability to work remotely and asynchronously. They had excellent communication skills and  were available for real-time video conferencing during weekly check-ins and whenever we asked. The lead developer understood what we needed and helped guide the delivery to meet our functional requirements while keeping the project on time and within budget.

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

More written system documentation could have been helpful as training materials for our internal team. That said, we had a limited budget, and the Smithy Soft team  did the best they could have done within our budget limitations. Ultimately we made the decision to prioritize feature implementation over documentation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a Senior FrontEnd software engineer

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

It’s a startup

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmithySoft to accomplish?

• Design development of a music player

SOLUTION

How did you find SmithySoft?

Referral

Why did you select SmithySoft over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from SmithySoft were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Smithysoft took on the comprehensive task of player design, resulting in an extensive Figma project. They crafted over 80 screens with two distinct color schemes, not just focusing on visuals but also providing a UI kit and screens optimized for various resolutions. Their work went beyond appearance, exploring new functionalities and addressing different usage scenarios.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We received fully developed designs of all pages in Figma as well as a UI kit

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Their responsiveness to our needs was noteworthy, as they maintained effective communication channels. The team's agility and adaptability ensured a smooth collaboration, providing reassurance in their ability to meet project requirements promptly.

What was your primary form of communication with SmithySoft?

Virtual Meeting

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

What makes SmithySoft stand out is their knack for delivering a complete design package. It's not just about the number of screens; their meticulous attention to detail comes through in considering various scenarios and introducing new functionalities. This reflects their dedication to deeply understanding user interactions, establishing them as a notable player in the design field.

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

SmithySoft exceeded my expectations in every aspect of the project, and I'm highly satisfied with the results. The team demonstrated exceptional expertise, met all deadlines, and maintained clear communication throughout.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing director of a medium-sized company that offers IT services and develops software for customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SmithySoft?

We need qualified developers for developing mobile apps and portals in Ruby on Rails

SOLUTION

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

We searched for freelancers on various portals, but didn't find any that met our requirements. I met Andrew through a contact. We then engaged SmithySoft

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We needed two Ruby On Rails developers and one Android and one iOS developer each.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We discussed MS Team and Zoom with the responsible person. and corresponding plans developed and implemented

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

SmithySoft is not just a typical executor but more like an IT partner. None of the different task trackers that we utilized before supplied us with sufficient information about the problem-solving processes in our company and the progress towards achieving the company's strategic goals. After SmithySoft had completed the first project, we decided to hire them for the further project with no doubts.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The developers worked together with our team, we were very satisfied with the work and communication

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

Hmm... strange question. As expected, the cooperation went very well.

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

No.