Startup Masters

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of CraftBerry

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Development & engineering for e-commerce brands

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Startup Masters to accomplish?

• To improve the clients website usability, functions, ease of access for products and product categories and overall conversion rate improvement.
• Implementing strategies for upsell and cross-sell on multiple locations on the website
• Getting rid of all the unnecessary apps that were slowing down the website's performance

SOLUTION

How did you find Startup Masters?

Referral

Why did you select Startup Masters over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Startup Masters were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We hired Startup Masters to expand our expertise by providing Paid Advertising and Conversion Rate Optimization Service. We leveraged their knowledge on our company website as well as on the websites on clients'. Some of the deliverables are:

• Montlhy CRO audit of key clients 
• Monthly report of advertising spend on social media

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Some of the outcomes were as follows: improved conversion rate for our website and our client's websites. Effectively managed advertising budget for our company and achieved a positive return on ad spend.

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

Startup Masters always deliver on time and have been responsive whenever we need them to be. Their communication is promt and clear. It has been really helpful to receive a monthly report from them going in a lot of details.

What was your primary form of communication with Startup Masters?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

It is rare to find expert in Bulgaria with such a deep expertise in paid advertising, especially in the USA.

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

None that I can think of

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing director of Over The Top SEO. I'm responsible for all the projects and marketing strategies. I specialize in email marketing, Google Maps marketing, and other advertising platforms such as Facebook, Google Ads, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Startup Masters?

We wanted to completely re-design our website and create higher-end marketing campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Startup Masters did a complete re-design and development of our WordPress website. The team also ran multiple marketing campaigns for us. They provide strategies for all of our content and manage our ad campaigns for both Google Ads and Facebook.

What is the team composition?

I work with Simo (Master of Management), Dimitar (Master of Marketing), Maria (Marketer), and a couple of others from their team providing content and design.
 
How did you come to work with Startup Masters?

It was our CEO who found Startup Masters in a private Slack channel. He reviewed other companies as well and ultimately selected Startup Masters to work on the project.

How much have you invested with them?

Our company invested over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Startup Masters in September 2018 and our website was launched in March 2019. We are still working with them on other marketing campaigns that we have.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were quite happy with the design. Overall, their work quality was pretty awesome and I would rate them as 10 out of 10.

How did Startup Masters perform from a project management standpoint?

Startup Masters team is always available and they reply instantly to queries. There was no communication gap. Their work took a bit more time, but that was due to the changes we added during the design and development process. We use Google Sheets and Drive to track progress, and our teams also communicated through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Startup Masters’ response time was incredible. The most important thing is communication, communicating with them is amazing. Additionally, their quality of work is outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they can help their clients get the entire picture from the very beginning, that would save a lot of time. They could improve a little bit with their time management.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and CEO of a fitness company. The company has an iOS mobile app for fitness programs and training log where people can create their own training programs and share them with other trainees. Every person can follow a different program and track their exercises and training days.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I hired Startup Masters to create our branding, website for the mobile app as well as develop the back-end API which stores and syncs all training programs, training logs, exercises, training days, etc.

SOLUTION

How did you select Startup Masters and what were the deciding factors?

I hired Startup Masters because of their great design and web development expertise. I've worked with them in the past and also on other projects and I am extremely please with the solutions that they have provided me.

I needed a company who could create my branding and web presence quickly and with high quality. Their development team specialized in back-end development and API development, so choosing them for a complex solution, involving branding, web and API development was a no brainer for me.

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

We initially started with talks about the API. Their CTO was very helpful and not only understood my requirements, but also gave his input and suggestions on how to handle the API in the best possible way.

After that I had a meeting with their branding and web development teams. During those meetings we decided on the logo, colors, fonts, website structure, content, etc. After that, using the branding that they created, they developed the website for the mobile app. The technologies used were:

• HTML5 
• CSS
• SCSS
• JavaScript
• jQuery
• PHP
• Laravel
• MySQL

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

I've worked with 3 people from the Startup Masters team

1. The CTO
2. The head of the Design and Branding team
3. The head of the Web Development team

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was delivered on time and in budget. The whole team was very responsive and were always available to me. After the launch I got increased traffic and app downloads. As for the API - the would not work without it and they've done a great job supporting it and fixing and tweaking it.

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

We used SCRUM to handle task management, timelines, etc. We started with a list of all requirements, which was then transformed into a task list and then further split into multiple sprints. All of the sprints were completed on time with very little changes. We used Slack, Skype and Teamwork

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

That would be definitely their design and web development teams. They are some of the best I've seen.

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

I think that they could improve their sales pitch, because initially I did not know that they could provide the full stack of services. If I had known that I would have definitely used their Marketing Services also.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of an e-commerce retail company that operates in the outdoor and party spheres.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Startup Masters?

We relied on Startup Masters for web development and branding on two of our websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Startup Masters designed landing pages for us from scratch. They developed the UX/UI with Adobe Photoshop. They also delivered branding elements and content generation some our web pages. They’ve also run ads for us.

How did you come to work with Startup Masters?

I found them through a freelancing platform. I was impressed by how they approached the project from a top-down perspective. They did research beforehand, analyzed my niche, and came up with a thorough presentation of what they planned to do.

What is the team composition?

We typically work between 2–4 teammates.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $5,000 and $10,000, over time.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in March 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After Startup Masters’ work, I saw the conversion rates for our websites go up, as well as a surge in sales. We’ve received tons of compliments regarding the site’s design from customers, too.  

How did Startup Masters perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re exceptional on this front. They’re amazing with their communication. We had a call every Monday to go over the week’s tasks, and go over progress. We’d just hop on a call during the week if we ran into any roadblocks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a full team ready to take on any hurdle, whether it’s from a design perspective, development, or advertising.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. The only obstacle we’ve faced is the time zone difference between us and them since they’re located in Europe. Aside from that, nothing could’ve gone better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Start off by mapping out your vision for the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an e-commerce company. We’re doing ERP and CRM system implementation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Startup Masters?

We needed someone to help us with consulting for our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I liked Startup Masters’ way of working and their processes, so I asked if they’d teach us their process and they gladly agreed. We started with a two-day workshop to introduce the process. They were part of our meetings for about four hours per week to facilitate the process.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one consultant from their side.

How did you come to work with Startup Masters?

I found them at a conference they presented at. One of their clients told me they liked their way of working as well as the results. I asked them about their work process.

How much have you invested in them?

The cost was between $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from April–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our work became more predictable and streamlined. We had better communication with our clients regarding my client’s expectations and deliverables.

How did Startup Masters perform from a project management standpoint?

They came to our office in-person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their approach and confidence in their work make them stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything was the best.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to just listen to them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of an IT company that does custom development. We focus mainly on programming backend systems, integration, organizing various IT events, and IT marketing courses for people with no previous experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Startup Masters?

We needed to increase our online presence, wanting a company to help with digital design and marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with brand awareness, handling design, marketing, digital campaigns, and an IT conference. Our team offers a marketing course, and they offered lectures through that program as well. 

What is the team composition?

I’m not sure how many people were on their team.

How did you come to work with Startup Masters?

I know them personally and have worked with them in the past. Based on that, I knew they were the right team for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000 - $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–October 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We offered three courses: backend development, frontend development, and marketing costs. There was a max capacity of 12 people for each course, and all of them were filled. We were very happy with their work.

How did Startup Masters perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Google and Asana. Due to the established relationship, communication was very easy. They did a good job managing the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re professional and helped us achieve our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your budget. They’ll help you get the best possible outcome for your project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a risk manager at ING Bank, the biggest Dutch bank, and at the time, it was number four in Europe. On the side, I was working on the innovation team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Startup Masters?

We have innovation initiatives that help people develop new products for banking. I came up with a new product that I needed help with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we used them to get marketing metrics. We developed a survey and a matrix of what the product that we’re aiming for was and who it was for. We targeted 5,000-6,000 people for a survey to see if the product made sense or not. Our conclusion was that it made sense so we submitted the project to the innovation group. Out of 4,000 initiatives, we were chosen for the top 100. This got us a lot of funding to further develop it.

Together we went really deep to find out what the product was. We pivoted it a lot. Half of the product and idea behind it came from them. They gave me a lot of feedback and I’m really happy with it. We then created a landing page where people could get a sense of what the product was.

After that, we entered the top 20. Once again, we used them for prototyping. It was a dummy application that didn’t do anything but it was to demonstrate what the product was.

What is the team composition?

There were five people.

How did you come to work with Startup Masters?

I knew one of the people from the company. We were in the same high school 15 years ago. We made a tender with them and two larger companies. They weren’t the most affordable but not the least affordable either. They offered the most in terms of product.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between €25,000-€30,000 ($29,400-$35,300 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March until June 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Throughout the whole thing, I was amazingly satisfied with what they delivered. At times we had arguments, but, bottom line, I’m amazed.

How did Startup Masters perform from a project management standpoint?

I was working on a 9-5 work day at ING Bank and right after that, I’d go to Startup Masters and stay up until 10-11pm each night for maybe a week. They were really engaged in this and helped me a lot. We communicated via phone, in person, and through Google Drive. The communication was pretty good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What distinguishes them and why I prefer them over other companies I’ve worked with is the part where we argued. They are so engaged with the product and what we’re doing, that they don’t just deliver what I give them as a specification.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get together with them on a Team chat or a Zoom chat or in their office and start talking about your product. Have a 1-2 hour chat about it. When they get to know your product, they feel it and they really work for it. They treat it as if it’s their product.