STRV

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I lead the engineering team at CampusLogic, which is an EdTech company. We built a product to help create transparency throughout the financial aid process for students.

What challenge were you trying to address with STRV?

We had a web app but didn’t have a mobile app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

STRV developed an iOS app that mirrored our web app for high school students. The platform allows students to create profiles and follow colleges. On the app, students can also list accomplishments on their profiles to earn micro-scholarships from colleges.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two iOS developers during the first year of our engagement. We now only work with one developer from STRV.

How did you come to work with STRV?

I wasn’t part of the hiring process that brought STRV on board. Although I’m not sure how we found STRV, we tried to hire an in-house iOS developer but couldn’t find one. We then started searching for companies that we could contract. Ultimately, we chose STRV.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$700,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them around February 2017, and it’s an ongoing engagement.

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

The app has 990,000 downloads,14,500 reviews, and a 4.8 rating in the App Store. During its first six months in the store, 50% of our sign-ups came from the platform. Now, 20% of our sign-ups come from the app.

How did STRV perform from a project management standpoint?

STRV’s well integrated with our engineering team. We’re still working with a developer who comes to all of our meetings. They’re great at communicating and meeting deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their engineers have been at least as good as any in-house engineers I've worked with. When you contract a third-party company, you may not access high-quality resources. STRV has high-quality engineers. I’m impressed by how fast they’re able to complete tasks and the quality of their code.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had rough contract negotiations. Their team has been inflexible with making changes to how many hours we need without losing access to them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat the resources STRV provides as members of your team. Fully integrate them into your team and communicate with them as often as you communicate with in-house engineers to support real-time information sharing.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of a software company that makes mobile apps.

What challenge were you trying to address with STRV?

We needed help with the development of our products.

What was the scope of their involvement?

STRV provides us with engineering services that help us develop our mobile apps. We currently work with them on two mobile, native apps for iOS and Android.

We started the project with specifications and used wireframes to help STRV understand what we wanted to build. We then worked with them to identify the right team to transform our ideas into products.

As it’s our wheelhouse, we mostly designed the products ourselves. However, we’ll work with them to iterate on the products’ designs depending on customer feedback.

STRV helps to build an interactive game, which is almost complete. Their team built the product’s architecture from the ground up. They’re making the code modular and creating interactive elements. For example, a user can move their phone and then the screen melts to an image behind it. Their team’s creating a lot of heavy animations for the game.

STRV is also building a native iOS app in the Swift language. Their team also uses Realm DB, MySQL, and Metal — a 3D animation framework. They engaged Elasticsearch for the backend too.

On the Android side, they started with Java. Their team’s now using WebSocket and Rest API architecture. They used Firebase for real-time database and push notification features. On the backend, their team engaged Node.JS, MongoDB, DynamoDB, and Redis.

What is the team composition?

Three developers from STRV work on one project and two developers from their team work on the other project. We occasionally interact with a designer and frequently interact with their project managers. There’s heavy communication between us and their engineers. We also have a main contact and connect with Lubo (CEO) a lot.

How did you come to work with STRV?

When I was with another company, we engaged STRV to build an Apple TV app and a web app. That’s how I came to know and like them.

How much have you invested in them?

In total, we’ve spent about $2.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2017, and it’s an ongoing engagement.

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

Although we haven’t publicly released the interactive game, it has received amazing feedback for its level of detail and polish. I’m picky but believe STRV has done an amazing job making the game. It’s polished and immersive. They built 11 different interactions that enable users to unlock different puzzles. Everyone loves the puzzles. We’ve received a lot of great feedback on the interactions too.

How did STRV perform from a project management standpoint?

Unlike many agencies, STRV acts as an extended team. They uniquely integrate with internal teams. Depending on the project and its timeframe, STRV has a wide range of available engineers who figure out our needs.

We work together every day via Zoom and share a Trello board. We also use Slack for communication and have weekly sprint stand-up meetings. The process works because their engineers integrate with our team. They’re also responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have a long history in the tech industry and know it’s rare to find an agency like STRV. Their approach to team integration is special. They hire extremely confident and competent engineers. I visited their home office and found that their whole team was engaged, focused, and happy. STRV built a vibrant community, which is how they attract great talent. They have a great reputation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive criticism. However, I would like to see them have more locations and grow their footprint. I want them to be more visible and more successful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look no further than STRV. I always refer people to them because they’re great. Don’t look at them as a normal agency; look at them as an extended team and trust their engineers. Roll up your sleeves and engage them because they will be able to get you wherever you want to go.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Cinnamon. We are building video streaming platforms and toolkits for creators. We offer mobile and desktop apps at the moment.

What challenge were you trying to address with STRV?

Right after receiving seed investments from our investors, we had to make a decision as to whether we wanted to build our mobile apps ourselves or choose an agency that could deliver the apps to us within a certain period of time.

What was the scope of their involvement?

As a startup, we have to move quickly. We picked them to do the work on our Android and iOS mobile engineering as well as on the emotion detection AI.

What is the team composition?

There were 10 people that we worked with, including three Android developers, three iOS developers, one QA, one project manager, one AI specialist, and one backend developer.

How did you come to work with STRV?

Our engineering team is based in the Czech Republic. STRV is based in multiple locations, but they started off in the same city. Their track record made them pretty well known in this industry across the country.

We had a couple of options, but after a few calls and the technical specifications, we ultimately chose STRV for this project.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent exactly $275,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2020, and it is an ongoing relationship.

Most of the work had been completed by the end of August 2020. Now, we are only using their AI engineer for our needs and purposes because we managed to hire our own mobile engineers in-house.

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

They have a sharp team. Not only are they eager and energized to commit to our projects, but we also admired how they proactively requested specifications from us.

They have been very helpful in guiding us through Apple and Android requirements for store approval. The entire team that has been working with us has remained focused on the quality and delivery of the solutions. Overall, we are super excited that we have had this experience–it has been educational for us. 

How did STRV perform from a project management standpoint?

I think the job has been done pretty well. Anytime they needed something, they communicate immediately without friction points. We've slowed them down a few times.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The scope of their abilities is exceptional. They know exactly what clients need and can adjust anything to adapt to those needs. The team moves companies from point A to point B.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We once gave them a challenging, vague request that we thought should've been completed more quickly. However, we should have been more clear about our needs from the start to avoid the resulting misunderstandings.

At the end of the initial project, I forgot we had any issues because our success overshadowed those negative feelings.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would definitely choose STRV because they shape ideas into functioning solutions that convert customers. They have the experience to advise and guide companies on the way. They've built hundreds of apps, so their expertise speaks for itself.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Product Development Lead of heybaby. heybaby is the first dating app that puts the kid conversation front and center. Whether you see children in your future or have them already, heybaby helps family-minded people find each other.

For what projects/services did your company hire STRV?

We partnered with STRV in the very beginning, armed with little more than the concept and a basic wireframe. STRV was brought in to help bring our vision to life by shaping it and giving it direction.

We needed them to take us through their Discovery Phase, which means that they worked with us to define heybaby by establishing the foundation of what we wanted to make and where it would fit in amongst the competition. From there, the team tackled the design and development of the entire app, all led by their product managers, who worked with us to make sure no decisions were made without our own team.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a dating app that would breathe life into the dating game. There are tons of niche dating apps, but we felt there was nothing out there for family-oriented people who didn’t want to waste time with empty conversations or casual meetings that may not lead to anything.

How did you select STRV?

We were looking for a company that has made beautiful dating apps in the past and could bring unlimited expertise to the project. And we needed someone who had a set, proven process for bringing an idea to life from scratch. STRV was the clear choice. Because STRV has tons of experience with dating apps, we knew that the team was skilled and creative enough to help our app stand out.

Describe the project in detail.

Once STRV joined the project, we set up regular meetings, defined everyone’s role and scope of involvement, and worked together to analyze the user experience, crucial features that would cater to our target audience, etc. When everything was defined, STRV’s designer and developers got to work.

Apart from a detailed onboarding experience, the main focus was on security. Thanks to their prior experience, STRV knew which data analysis tools needed to be implemented to keep user information and the entire community safe, and we began working on eliminating scammers during the verification process.

What was the team composition?

We’ve had STRV’s product managers, developers (iOS, Frontend, Backend) and a designer all working on the project.

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

The project and cooperation are still ongoing. The app has been available in the App Store since March 2020, and the launch campaign is focused on the San Francisco Bay Area region in California - USA. So far, the reception from the users and the media has been very positive, and the app will gradually be promoted across all USA, and hopefully internationally.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

communicate everything clearly, with zero delays, is something we found incredibly valuable. From design aspects to the next steps in development, we always felt that our input was heard and taken into consideration.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

STRV really took on our project as their own, approaching even the smallest tasks with great care. They wanted to understand our motivations, our goals, our worries...everything. In terms of design and development quality, they’re absolute experts in what they do. The product manager is always thinking many steps ahead and evaluating each detail from all angles.

Designers take great pride in their work and aren’t satisfied with “good enough”. And engineers are clear masters of their craft. From day one, you really feel that your product is in safe hands. But despite all this know-how, they always ensured that every decision was a conversation. That’s a rare find.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The price is relatively high compared to some competitors. But of course, we knew this from the get-go and always felt that the quality coincides with the price. So it’s less of an “area for improvement” and more just something that inspired us to ask additional questions before closing the deal.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a fintech startup. We focus on offering digital banking to smaller credit unions and banks.

What challenge were you trying to address with STRV?

We needed someone to help us develop a mobile solution for our next-generation platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

STRV developed our mobile banking app. It includes all of the features you see with digital banking, such as login, transfer functionalities, and transaction history. They used Swift and Kotlin to develop the app, which is native iOS and Android.

They do have good designing sense, but we had hired a designer before we handed the app over to STRV for development.

What is the team composition?

We hired two senior iOS developers and two senior Android developers.

How did you come to work with STRV?

They were recommended to us. We used them before for our first-generation platform, and now we’re doing the second generation. They have the expertise.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and the work is ongoing.

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

The quality of the code is really good, and the team is very good and experienced. They care about their work. They don’t generate sloppy code.

How did STRV perform from a project management standpoint?

I manage the project. We follow an agile methodology and use Jira to check on the progress. They deliver on time and are very well structured. They know how to prioritize things. We have daily standups and use Slack to talk regularly. We use email occasionally.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re more experienced than I am in mobile development. They don’t just do the work; they go above and beyond and provide suggestions to make the product even better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did a really good job. We’re very happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you check the developers’ resumes for the experience level you’re looking for. Work with the manager to lockdown the scope of the project and make sure it can fit into your budget.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Daytrip, an online platform. Our users can book private drivers for leisurely trips all over the world. 

What challenge were you trying to address with STRV?

We needed someone to develop our iOS app. We also wanted a company that could master project management and development and really deliver on the product, as opposed to hiring cheaper competition or doing it in-house ourselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially hired STRV to design our app. Then, we were choosing between different agencies to develop the app after the design phase, and there were benefits to having the same company develop it. 

They developed our iOS app, and they may develop an Android version in the future. Our customers will be able to use the app to book trips, manage bookings, find inspiration about tourist destinations, and get information during their trip. The app will have various safety features, such as enabling users to share their location with friends and family.

During the design phase, they shared the designs with us through InVision. They used Swift to program the app.

What is the team composition?

We had one UX designer and a project manager during the design phase. For the development phase, we had the same project manager and three assigned iOS developers.

How did you come to work with STRV?

We really wanted the final project to be full-service and to stay on budget and schedule. We trusted that STRV had the process in place to make this happen. They had the experience to give us a clear expectation of what we could expect for the 3–5 months of development, what the final product would look like, and how much it would cost. We chose them because of this. Their portfolio also showed us they could deliver really nice and functional products.

How much have you invested with them?

The design was €20,000 (approximately $22,500 USD), and the development was about €180,000 (approximately $203,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2019, and the main part of the development was finished in May 2020. Now, we’re finishing up some details on our part, such as supplying the backend and making sure that APIs fit well together. The app isn’t released yet, but we’re testing the beta product and finishing up the API communication with the app.

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

We got a nicely designed and working product within the scope and budget. They fulfilled the expectations we had for them.

How did STRV perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is one of their biggest strengths. We don’t have it in-house, and it’s important for an external agency to have. They were very proactive in communication. We had frequent meetings. We communicated with the team through Slack, and they also used a project management tool. 

We knew what they were doing at all times. The project manager was there to step in if the developers weren’t on the same page or needed something. When the project manager sensed that the communication between our developers and their developers wasn’t ideal, she’d step in. They’re really thorough and know what they’re doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

STRV really cares about the product as a whole. They want it to be usable. They pay attention to detail so that the end-user can enjoy using it. They work on it as if it were their own.

The project management is really good. The communication was very open, and we could quickly go through any questions or concerns on either side.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project manager changed midway through the project. It would’ve been better if the new one didn’t have to come up to speed on the project. Our developers had to get used to working with a new person. However, the new project manager did successfully take over, so it wasn’t a big problem after all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have really clear goals in mind when you start the project. Know what the project should achieve, and give the designer a lot of freedom in getting the design to a state where it can achieve those goals. They’re really good at designing mobile apps. It’s very beneficial to give them freedom in designing the user flows and the UI.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and COO of a community-based media company at the intersection of pop-culture and entrepreneurship. We produce monthly events and create tailored content for our subscribers and members, the next generation of creative leaders across entertainment, music, media, tech, fashion & art.

For what projects/services did your company hire STRV?

Referral programs are one of the best ways to increase organic conversions at a low cost. These systems must be extremely frictionless and fun to use which makes developing them and designing the UI rather challenging. STRV developed everything from UI/UX design to frontend and backend development.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to develop and easy and fun to use referral program.

How did you select this vendor?

We had heard great things from people we trust in the tech community. We reached out and felt really good about STRV after our initial call with one of the co-founders. We considered three companies and STRV was selected based on own internal vendor ranking rubric.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

STRV developed the referral rewards system to allow frictionless sharing and earned rewards. Key. functionalities included multiple layers of transactional emails, a web app, and a database. The STRV team was responsible for end to end development including implementation into existing web properties and Saas services.

What was the team composition?

Account Manager, Project Manager, Designer, and engineers.

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

It's too early to be sure but so far we've seen really promising results. Increased engagement and organic referral behaviors have led to higher quality users jointing our platform and at a fraction of the cost.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our teams linked together via a shared slack channel. This is were weekly standup where conducted. A shared channel was easily the best way to keep this fast-paced project on track. Especially since slow feedback from clients is usually the reason for most delays. We were able to respond nearly in realtime with live feedback.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The entire team from start to finish went out of their way to ensure that all our concerns had been addressed. They aired on the side of over-communicating which was really helpful. They keep us updated on completed and upcoming tasks almost daily and reminded us of their needs from us. I have worked with very many vendors and this is an area where I can say STRV totally stands apart from any other vendors I have worked with before.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Sometimes the team moved too quickly. We found ourselves trying to keep up with needs and requests for information that we as clients were expected to provide. I wouldn't have had it another way but this the only aspect of the project that was particularly challenging.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Product & Engineering at Teampay, a business-to-business payments solution for SMB businesses. We have hundreds of clients across multiple industries.

For what projects/services did your company hire STRV?

Our company had been around for several years, but had not developed a mobile application. Additionally, we had developed several products that would be well-served by a mobile app. Since we did not have any mobile development expertise, we decided to engage a third party to build our solution.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a robust mobile application on iOS. We wanted it coded cleanly so that we could eventually take it in house if needed.

How did you select this vendor?

We talked to at least five different vendors to understand their workflows, philosophies, capabilities, and prices. After much consideration, STRV seems like the best fit to us because of their ability to work within our existing tools and processes in a timely fashion.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with some basic discovery using the existing mobile web application as a guide for v1 requirements, and then STRV's designer took it from there. We had weekly calls to review designs and make sure progress was moving to schedule.

Once we moved into development, we continued the weekly calls. In addition, STRV was on our slack team, and we saw the results of their regular developer updates. The development team used our Github account, so we had full access, and they coded in Swift.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager, a designer, and two iOS/Swift developers. As the project moved into development, the designer resource went away.

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

We had a well functioning application in our hands within a few months.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our teams was seamless. Because they were on our Slack team, we were able to rapidly provide feedback. They always resonded in a timely fashion.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I really liked the feedback we got from STRV on UX and design best practices on mobile. They provided great reasoning for why they made the choices they did, but we also willing to compromise if we had compelling reasons for wanting changes. It felt more like a partnership than a one-sided relationship.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing comes top to mind.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Manager Global IT CoE Online at a company that supported the global IT service in the cosmetics corporate. Our IT CoE is headquartered in the Czech Republic and it has about 200 employees. I oversee the development of our digital products on websites and mobile apps.

For what projects/services did your company hire STRV?

Our company decided to redevelop the current shopping mobile app with an ambition to build a basic digital platform for our customers. That's why the focus is primarily on the best UX/design experience and modern technical architecture. We needed to increase the experience in that area and we supported our team by experts from STRV.

What were your goals for this project?

The first goal of the project is a prototype where we can consider the UX/design quality and technical architecture. The next steps will follow.

How did you select this vendor?

We searched for a vendor in our region (Central Europe) to be able to meet personally at least time to time. We evaluated STRV as the best option based on their experience and excellence in the area of designing and development of mobile apps.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected this vendor we set up two streams of the cooperation. In regard to UX/Design, we started with an intensive workshop with our corporate designers and the project owner to be aligned in an understanding of the project, expectations, and basic rules. After that, the STRV designer elaborated and consulted the design of particular areas in regular iterations. In regard to development, we more profited from a mentoring role of the experienced developer.

What was the team composition?

In general, there were a product owner, a designer, frontend/backend developers and QA in the team. As mentioned, we hired just the UX/design position and a senior developer/architect. The project management was on our side.

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

The project is still in progress. However, we can already predicate that the result of the phase of the prototype will be successful. Especially we can highlight very positive feedback on the design where our designers appreciate the experience in mobile apps. As well the developers bring the knowledge and experience that was expected.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The hired experts were in almost daily contact with the product owner. The communication was perfect and the cooperation was smooth.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

First, what was already mentioned several times, the experience in mobile apps development. Second, the stability of the high-level skills and knowledge. We haven't found any weak points during the cooperation. Third, perfect communication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The price is relatively high compared to the competitors. On the other hand, the quality is high too.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the mobile engineering manager at LegalZoom. We allow entrepreneurs, people who want to start a business.  We offer easy, digital legal solutions for our customers.

What challenge were you trying to address with STRV?

We’re creating an app that will help out clients form an LLC, incorporation, or other classifications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app is a post-order product we use to finalize customer orders, users can ask questions, and they can track the status of their order, digital files about their company, chat with an agent or a chatbot. We wanted to build a modern mobile app that ties into our secure APIs, and other toolsets.

They built it from the ground up. Working with our internal teams, they created the architecture, engineering, design, and the product.

On the iOS side, they used Swift, and on Android they used various toolsets, SDKs, and native plug-ins to build a native experience.

What is the team composition?

We had a total of nine people on our team, including four iOS engineers, four Android engineers, and one UI/UX designer.

How did you come to work with STRV?

Someone on our team worked with them in the past and had a great experience. They loved that they were able to scale up quickly and still deliver a robust, clean code, that created the experience to the customers.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $5 million–$10 million

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2017 and the project is ongoing.

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

As time goes on, STRV continues to build the right product. They’ve been ahead of the curve in ensuring a great product and customer experience.  

On the product side, we use Google Analytics to optimize leads and track metrics. We ensure that our customers are getting a great experience—whether that’s finding different defects or resolving confusion. We also track metrics on the hours each developer spends on a project and their impact. They’ve been overachieving on several levels. The experience we’ve had while working with them has been great.

How did STRV perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they’ve done very well. Communication has been amazing. We have monthly stand-in meetings, but if I need additional information, they’re always available to answer questions. Their door is always open.

There’s a ten-hour time difference between our team and theirs, but they still get back to us in a timely manner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

First, the ability to scale developers at a rapid pace. Second, they customize the development process. I’ve worked with other offshore teams in the past, and it’s been very difficult.

Their team had gone above and beyond. They actually sent a developer here to work out of our office. That’s a big deal. They’re able to join meetings, interact with us, and get to know what we really need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the beginning of our project, we had a few communication issues when rotating developers into our project. We had a few gaps between developers that would stall productivity. But, we’ve figured out the right process and are able to transition between developers smoothly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You’ll get high-quality engineers that work quickly and efficiently. They’ll definitely bring your business new customers. We had a great experience.