StartxLabs Technologies

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co-founder and CTO of the company. Hunar.AI is India's first Source to Hire platform for frontline talent in India helping organisations in hiring right frontline talent fast and efficiently.

We help organizations in Finding, Engaging and Hiring talent all in one platform with access to India's first B2B Frontline talent marketplace

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

We have been working with StartxLabs for more than 3 months now and have a staff augmentation contract with them. We use experienced developers of StartxLabs in various projects. As of now, the developers have contributed to more than 7 assignments. We have requirements in multiple technologies (Design/Development).

Our goal was to set up a long-term relationship with a technology partner who could complement our requirements and match the required technical skills.

StartxLabs was able to complement this and has successfully provided us with resources on technologies like React, Django, React Native, Flutter, Python, QA automation, Design Experts etc.

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

We received a recommendation for StartxLabs via a mutual acquaintance. We were looking for an agency that could help us quickly onboard developers of different technologies. StartxLabs was very responsive and that was one of the prominent factors to work with them for so long.

StartxLabs Technologies has already shown great flexibility when it comes to scaling assigned teams. I see this as a USP and it is a very beneficial factor for us. Ability to communicate regularly with them has helped us be efficient in the whole process.

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

StartxLabs has worked on multiple projects which had different technical requirements. We have so far hired the following skilled personnel from them:

• Project managers
• Django
• React Native
• React JS
• Python
• Flutter

The developers are always engaged on a monthly retainer, and we have adjusted the counts based on specific requirements.

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

We have so far engaged 4 Developers from StartxLabs for an average duration of 4–12 Months each and a few ongoing.

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

Since the StartxLabs team assists us on different projects in different capacities, we identify them as our prominent technology partners. The team in numerous instances demonstrated their ability and have given commendable participation to solve complex problems.

They have been proactive and have impressed so many of our clients. Also, the team members are very professional in terms of availability and documentation. This helps everyone else a lot.

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

We have been working with StartxLabs on the staff augmentation model so the resources are basically independent team players. The communication tools are mainly Slack/JIRA/Trello. We have specifically hired certified project managers from StartxLabs and they are quite professional in managing the project.

The resources hired as project manager’s style are pragmatic and structured which is very beneficial to us. They have quite a natural skill of getting associated with the end client and creating a smooth communication flow between different stakeholders.

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

StartxLabs has been constantly upgrading its skills and I am quite impressed as they are readily available to accept and implement any complex requirement that we have been assigning to them. The team has shown an exceptional professional attitude while working on the project and have been flexible. They are trained team players that make coordination with remote teams very easy and effective.

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

The engagement can become more if they start deploying onsite. Currently, they have paused their onsite deployment citing the recent pandemic situation

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and founder of a tech company specializing in education. We provide online classes, examinations, and a platform for schools to manage their finances, communicate with students, and more. We service between 400–500 schools in India, and the same amount worldwide.

What challenges were you trying to address with StartxLabs Technologies?

We tried to minimize our development team’s workload. We managed a couple of tools internally to manage all the schools, but we needed a partner to take over anything extra we needed.

What was the scope of their involvement?

StartxLabs Technologies has done design, development, and app testing. They’ve created some of the applications from scratch, including two of our internal apps for emailing, customer management, and note-taking. We’ve worked closely with them on various projects; they’ve used Flutter, JavaScript, Python, and Microsoft SQL Server. Additionally, they’ve done a lot of manual testing.

What was the team composition?

We have 4–5 people in total. We’ve mainly worked with the main developer and a tester.

How did you come to work with  StartxLabs Technologies?

Someone referred them a long time ago. I believe it was an employee who used to work with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent up to $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2018, and some projects are still ongoing.

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

Everything is great; we haven’t seen any flaws. Even though everyone can improve, StartxLabs Technologies is doing an excellent job. Our engagement is good in general.

How did StartxLabs Technologies Company perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is excellent. We get constant updates, and the team manager works closely with us. They also send reports and are responsive.

They use Jira as a project management tool and Zoom to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They stand out from other vendors due to their communication skills; we’ve worked with many service providers and had terrible experiences regarding communication. Moreover, they’re always responsive, and the quality of their work is fantastic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing to improve. Their CEO asks us for all the details about the project and updates, so communication is vital.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend working with them. The team is trustworthy, and their communication and design skills are excellent. If you set expectations, they’ll tell you what you can and can’t do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of ZTelco, a VoIP provider.

What challenge were you trying to address with StartxLabs Technologies?

We hired them for their mobile app development services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

StartxLabs Technologies provides mobile app development support. After finalizing our contract, we held a discovery meeting with them, during which we created storyboards for our requirements. From there, they started with the work and helped implement various custom features using several key technologies, including Qt, Node.js, Django, Python, React Native, Electron. Their team also helps us with iOS, Android, and desktop development.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 people from their team, including a project manager, an iOS developer, an Android developer, and a Qt developer.

How did you come to work with StartxLabs Technologies?

We found them through a recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $400,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with StartxLabs Technologies in January 2019, and our engagement is still ongoing.

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

We’ve encountered a couple of bugs and issues, but StartxLabs Technologies has managed to resolve them in a timely manner.

How did StartxLabs Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style is good. We have weekly meetings every Monday to review the progress. They’ve also been very responsive. We use Jira as our project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s their pricing — they do a pretty good job at an affordable price.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

It took StartxLabs Technologies a little while to get up to speed regarding the specific technologies that we were using. I wish they had already done their research prior to the start of our project. Nevertheless, we’re still satisfied with their work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a joint venture company and invest our time in trying out new ideas, taking concepts that are popular in the West, and localizing them for the Indian market. I am a project owner of YouMint, a part of the joint venture.

What challenge were you trying to address with Startxlabs Technologies?

We looked at lip-syncing apps like Dubsmash and decided that we wanted to build something similar. We have in-house planning capabilities, but we lack developers since managing such a team would be a big hassle for us as a small company. We have invested more in thinkers, rather than doers — we create a plan, and execute it in the market.

We started the project with another vendor and faced many problems. They had difficulties capturing video and self-images, as well as with syncing the audio with the video. We assigned the work to Startxlabs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to create a lip-syncing app with a local flavor. Startxlabs developed the app for iOS and Android.

What is the team dynamic?

I assume that there were 5–6 people involved based on our scope discussions and negotiations.

How did you come to work with Startxlabs Technologies?

I handled the project on our side, including vendor finalization. Our first vendor was not able to complete the work, so I looked for an alternative in Delhi since I have an office in that region. I found Startxlabs and gave them a small task, which was delivered well and in a timely manner. The rate we negotiated was also better than that of the previous vendor. In the end, it proved to be a good decision.

How much have you invested with them?

We have paid close to $11,000 for Startxlabs’ services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The shift to Startxlabs was made in August 2015. After this, we gave them two more small projects. We have not worked on anything since May 2017 since aren’t focusing on any mobile projects at the moment.

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

We had a complex, techy project, but their company was able to deliver it correctly and in a timely manner. We’ve had many difficulties in finding reliable partners, but this was never an issue with Startxlabs. We have developed a total of three apps with them, one of which is live, another is partially live, and the third was never put into the market.

How did Startxlabs Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We are a products company and, as such, we focused on what requirements we wanted for the app and created use cases. We didn’t get into the details of how the coding was managed.

We’ve visited them twice to ensure that the team understood what we wanted and because we wanted to check their setup.

We used Trello for project management and the initial requirements were shared through Google Docs. In order to make sure their team understood what we wanted, we also created videos and screens.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do good work, follow up constantly, and have good response time. Issues can come up in tech projects, and they’ve quickly responded back to us and got to work quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure how big they are now, but I think that they have potential to scale up and take more work. We need good resources, and I wish that Startxlabs offered more web services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s always important to negotiate, even though Startxlabs is reasonably priced. They’re an easy team to work with and have performed better than our in-house staff at times. I feel quite comfortable with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company works mainly with telecoms to help them optimize communication and operations internally. We provide a type of CRM and PRP solution to our customers. I am a project lead for the business and have been managing all the work that has been assigned to Startxlabs as their main point of contact. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Startxlabs?

We have been working with Startxlabs from the initial days of our business. The quality of work they produced has been very good so we kept the arrangement between our companies going.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Startx was involved in the overall development of our Android application. Our app is a communication tool, and acts as a messaging and broadcast interchange. They took care of the architecture, and integrated Google maps API into our application as well.

What is the team dynamic?

I originally was in touch with the project manager, and we exchanged the overall requirements. They also assigned us a quality engineer to over the main product of the deliverables.

How did you come to work with Startxlabs?

We chose them because they were recommended through a mutual connection, and I already had a trust in them in that sense. The apps that they have built in the past are very similar to the environments that we wanted.

How much have you invested in them?

I don’t remember the exact number, but it is well over 10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2016, and the work is ongoing.

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

It is an enterprise application, and the feedback has been pretty great. Anytime we have gone back to Startx with minor or major issues, they have been very proactive in solving them.

How did Startxlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very proactive with communication. If I was to leave them an email or message, they would typically reply within 12—24 hours. We have been using Slack and Skype, as well as emails for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing is how proactive they are when it comes to communication, and the project manager they assigned to us is very skilled in Android development and very experienced with technology. They were able to assist, help, and guide us almost like a technical advisor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There might be some things they can improve upon, but nothing I can think of off the top of my head.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We have got several prices and certifications like: 500 Startups, Google Launchpad, ISO 29110, Apple popular application.

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

We were looking for software development partner firm to collaborate with us on multiple assignments. We found StartxLabs team perfect for this. We needed to collaborate on Mobile application development, UI/UX design and Website development.

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

We found them by searching on Internet as an offshore software development service provider. Their past experience with Mexico based on product companies, skillset, technical expertise were the factors that helped us to work with them.

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

Develop mobile and web applications which include GPS based functionalities, image editor using NDK, listing features, IOT. Deliverable: Android, iOS and Website Technologies: Android, iOS,Python, Django, Postgresql, Reactjs and DevOps

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

We have so far engaged 10 Developers from StartxLabs for an average duration of 4 - 6 Months each. The technology Vs Position are as follows:

• Project managers
• Django
• iOS and Android
• Reactjs
• Python
• DevOps

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

They followed a human approach to solve the problem, followed a process to showcase progress milestone wise, made respective apps live in alpha and beta environment, delivered the project and published it for live users.

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

We have been working with StartxLabs for multiple software development projects. The communication tools were different for different assignments however the most prominent were Slack/ JIRA/ASANA/Trello/Google Meet.

We have specifically hired certified project managers from StartxLabs and they are quite professional in managing the project. The resources hired as project manager’s style are pragmatic and structured which is very beneficial to us.

They have a quite natural skill of getting associated with the end client and creating a smooth communication flow between different stakeholders.

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

StartxLabs has been constantly upgrading its skills and I am quite impressed as they are readily available to accept and implement any complex requirement that we have been assigning to them.

The team has shown an exceptional professional attitude while working on the project and have been flexible. They are trained team players that make coordination with remote teams very easy and effective.

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

The engagement can become more if they start deploying onsite. Currently, they have paused their onsite deployment citing the recent pandemic situation.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the technical lead for a recruiting software company that has developed a product to provide automation for the facilitation of traditionally manual tasks in an agency's database.

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

We partnered with StartxLabs for Web Development and Design of our product. The challenge was to help bring our vision to life as I was very familiar with the systems integration component to interact with the respective database of our client, but lacked the ability to create a user friendly interface and handle the presentation/storage of data for our clients.

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

The StartxLabs team and myself instantly hit it off from our first meeting! I had actually worked with them on a project with a past company back in 2018 and their company culture just clicked with ours. They are very transparent, friendly and offer great insights on our website design that generated improvements to our final product.

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

The scope of work included the development and design of our web application as well as an associated Chrome Extension to increase access to our end users. The technologies leveraged were Django, AWS, React and Postscript SQL.

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

I corresponded with their entire team of 8 ranging from Project Manager to the Technical Lead, but also worked with the Backend engineer, 2 Frontend engineers, UI UX Designer, QA Engineer and Business Analyst.

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

StartxLabs development cycle met our timeline and budget which was amazing! As far as measurable success, this was the first version of our product so they helped create it from scratch.

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

They met every single deadline proposed and the project management was spectacular. I initially had some concerns about the time zone difference between New Delhi and New York, but they were more than accommodating to meet during my business hours which was greatly appreciated! The relationship I have developed with their team is one of the strongest in my professional network and will lead to future collaboration in the months/years to come!

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

The thing I find most unique about StartxLabs is their team's ability to communicate complex ideas in a simple manner. They made me, as well as other members of my team who attended calls about technical requirements, feel comfortable the entire time. When I attend web meetings with their team, I feel like I am having conversations with people I have know my whole life - that is how strong of a relationship we have developed!

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

As accommodating as they were to meet during business hours for EST, there would be times where my schedule was packed in the morning hours and they could not meet in my afternoons. This was not a huge issue, but it would push calls back a day or two. This would be my only advice for improvement, other than that - AMAZING experience working with their team!