TECLA

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of a healthcare software company. 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Healthcare software company providing telehealth and AI diagnostics for the retina. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Build a development team in the same time zone.
• Fit within our budget.
• Identify candidates for long-term growth.

SOLUTION

How did you find TECLA?

Referral

Why did you select TECLA over others?

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

How many teammates from TECLA were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Development of teleretinal platform with several components. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have several confidential outcomes internally, but the most important to us from TECLA was:

• Timeline. We needed the candidates discovered quickly. 
• Mutually agreeable contract for services. 
• Willingness to work with us, if the candidate was not working out. 
• Must be IN our timezones. This was one of the most important. We don't want exhausted employees working all night and we don't want to work overnight. Asynchronous work rarely does the job. 

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

TECLA's hiring process was easy. They reached out to me with questions and helped me identify my needs. Then, they drafted the job description and contract for the scope of work. Once they did that, I signed the agreement and they got to work. Within 3-4 weeks, they found several candidates. 

We interviewed between 4-10 candidates for each position and then selected from there. We were given a trial period to ensure we loved the candidate. They solicited feedback from us and the candidate. It was so easy. 

What was your primary form of communication with TECLA?

Virtual Meeting

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

We wanted to find a staffing company that cared about the staff and about the company they work for. We didn't want to pay a fee for access to a database. We wanted the TLC associated with vetting candidates first. Unlike nearly every other staffing company, TECLA has teammates who care about our success. And, we get Central and South American candidates on our timezones and that were committed to working for us for awhile, rather than come and go.

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

My only recommendation for TECLA is to keep growing. We need your services. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Dendi

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Vertical SaaS company focused on creating mission-critical applications for the clinical diagnostics industry. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Candidate sourcing
• Recruiting

SOLUTION

How did you find TECLA?

Online Search

Why did you select TECLA over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from TECLA were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Source highly-qualified candidates 
• Assist with the recruiting process
• Coordinate interviews with candidates 
• Define job requirements for various engineering roles
• Running background checks and reference checks 
• Introductions to HR vendors

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Immense time savings by having a LatAm partner who can communicate with well
• Team considers TECLA an integral HR/recruiting partner
• Around 30% of our entire staff are direct TECLA hires 
• Close to 0 employee turnover 

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

Emily listens, takes notes, and actually delivers on the feedback we give them. They were always extremely attentive and responsive. 

What was your primary form of communication with TECLA?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were definitely not looking to "augment" our staff with contracted, outsourced hires. We were looking to hire full-time staff who would be bought in to our company vision and contribute to our culture. 
TECLA was the only company that would work with us in this regard. Before TECLA, we tried using other vendors, and we never found a single candidate that fit our requirements. 

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

In the very early days, the candidates we got from TECLA were not a good fit for us and underqualified. 
We had a conversation to help better define what we were looking for, and there was dramatic improvement afterwards. 
Now, we're all smooth-sailing! 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and CEO of Ours Wellness. We provide virtual couples therapy for relationship health.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TECLA?

We were building a new HIPAA-compliant software platform for couples to have therapy sessions with their therapists, as well as to match therapists with couples. Thus, we engaged with TECLA to add to our software development team and capabilities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with TECLA to find the right candidate who could join us as a developer within our team. Initially, we worked with their team to write the job description and figure out the right profile. Then, they sourced candidates from their talent pool. The team also ran the interview process, for which they helped us filter and figure out the right candidates to interview and go through our case study.

Ultimately, we hired a developer who worked with us for almost a year. He immediately jumped in and joined our team as a full-time engineer. He worked directly with our head of engineering and plugged into all of our ticket pipelines, both user-facing and internally. TECLA also provided support to the developer throughout our engagement, but I was less involved in that.

What is the team composition?

Besides the developer who joined our team, we worked with 2–3 teammates from TECLA.

How did you come to work with TECLA?

Someone from another company referred us to TECLA. We also got recommendations for a couple of other firms that offer similar services, so we talked with three different service providers. Ultimately, we went with TECLA because they seemed to have high-quality candidates.

During our initial conversations, TECLA was able to provide a list of names, resumes, and backgrounds from candidates who really fit what we were looking for. Moreover, they were very responsive and helped us figure out what the right contract would be. Overall, it seemed like working with them would be very straightforward, which it was.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around August 2023, and we had to let go of the developer we had hired in June 2024. We let the developer go not due to his performance but because of team layoffs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although I'm not sure what TECLA offered to our developer, they made it possible to start working with him basically overnight. He plugged right in and demonstrated to be a great engineer. He was great to work with and had a great attitude, so he hit the ground running from day one.

The developer's experience was also exactly what we were looking for, both in terms of his industry focus and the skill level we needed. Moreover, he was very receptive to feedback and worked directly with our head of engineering on pretty complex tasks.

We were able to see the developer grow a lot from when we first started working with him through the end of our engagement. Overall, I have nothing but good things to say about him and how much he contributed to the team.

Working with this developer sped up our development process and allowed us to build more features and solutions for internal use, therapists, and couples. We built a pretty complex product for three different user types, and our engineering team only consisted of TECLA's developer and our head of engineering.

Therefore, the developer did a lot of work. Thanks to him, we were able to accomplish our goals and build this product a lot faster than we would have on our own

TECLA was also great to work with in terms of finding this developer and managing the whole process. We would definitely work with TECLA again if we have the opportunity.

How did TECLA perform from a project management standpoint?

Both TECLA and their developer met our deadlines. We didn't use any project management tools; we simply communicated over email and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of the candidates we met and interviewed in a very short amount of time was impressive. Running that same process and finding the candidates on our own would have taken a long time, and we would have distracted the whole business from being built.

The fact that TECLA put us in front of really high-quality and fitting candidates almost immediately was outstanding. It made it possible for us to keep building our product and add capabilities to our team in a very efficient way.

Moreover, the amount of money that we spent compared to what we could have spent hiring internally also stood out. Hiring through TECLA let us extend our runway, which was a much better fit for us overall.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing TECLA could have improved on. I wish we had more budget to hire more resources. However, we would definitely work with TECLA again, given the opportunity.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be very clear about what you're looking for and ask TECLA for guidance whenever you're unsure. It's best to have a clear picture of the experience and skills you're looking for in a candidate so that you can give them as much information as possible to find the right fit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the customer success manager of a streaming news app. We have an app in the eTV space and are a small startup that distributes content from many large news providers.

We’re headquartered in LA, but I move between San Francisco, Miami, and Lima, Peru, where we have an office with subcontractors working directly with us.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TECLA?

We’ve been successful in the TV space, primarily with our TV apps. We intended to grow and maybe improve our mobile apps because they were somewhat behind compared to our TV apps.

Our development was pretty much in-house; we had native apps in the eTV space. However, we had more work than usual, so we needed more people to help us improve our Android and iOS apps effectively.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially contacted TECLA to see if they could allocate some resources to improve our mobile app. TECLA worked remotely and directly with us as part of the company and streamlined the process.

On the Android side, we wanted people with experience in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose. On the iOS side, we needed people who knew Swift and SwiftUI.

We didn’t work on any other project.

What is the team composition?

We had four people from TECLA: two on Android and two on iOS.

How did you come to work with TECLA?

I knew the founder and people at TECLA. Whenever we need to grow our team, we contact the founder to tell us what they’re doing.

It was easy to reach out and tell them about our primary strategy. TECLA came back to us with a proposal for allocating resources throughout the year, so they were fast in getting those people up and running with our team. Overall, they were great and really responsive.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little less than $500,000, between $430,000–$440,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired them for one year, from January–December 2023, which was all we needed to complete all the items on the product roadmap for the mobile apps. We’ve explored the possibility of getting more resources for QA and recruitment because TECLA has a recruiting business. However, we haven’t implemented that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have a concrete answer. We were able to grow in rank in both stores. Before, we were in a terrible position in the App Store and Google Play Store. We moved several positions up, but we don’t have the exact numbers. Nonetheless, the team is very happy with where we are right now.

Moreover, TECLA reduced the gap between our TV and mobile app features. The gap was huge when we initially hired TECLA; our mobile apps couldn’t be compared to our TV apps. We are in the same space, so our success is growing.

How did TECLA perform from a project management standpoint?

We integrated TECLA as part of our development team. As a startup, we were focused on working with an agile methodology. Whatever an engineer committed to work on and deliver, they were accountable for it. We never had an issue or had to escalate something with TECLA.

We used our internal project management tools, but nothing directly with them. We also communicated through emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

TECLA integrated flawlessly; there’s usually a learning curve for the type of business we run because it involves streaming and eTV apps. However, their team learned from us quickly.

Moreover, we also learned a lot from TECLA because they knew more about Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, and SwiftUI than our actual team. Since we’re always looking for ways to migrate into the newest technologies and optimize our apps, we wanted to start off with that stack. The people they gave us were very knowledgeable on those two fronts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were quick to deliver whatever we needed. We usually take a lot of time hiring people, which is why we look for a partner. TECLA got the people we needed for the project, and it was a great experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be really clear about your requirements and specific about the type of profile you want to hire. We know that hiring is really tough, so we prioritize the technologies we want. For example, we separated the desirable traits from what we definitely needed. Having cleared that up with them, it was easy to get the people they could allocate directly with us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at Wesper. We create home sleep tests, which are devices used to diagnose and monitor chronic sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea. Ours is a very lightweight and easy-to-use consumer device with an FDA clinical certificate, giving us an edge in getting to patients and providing value for physicians.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TECLA?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we needed to grow our company, so we decided to hire globally because everyone was at home working remotely. Working with remote resources was an interesting idea for us because we hadn't done that yet.

One of our general rules was to expand our talent pool with resources working in roughly the same time zone, which was important for us. Latin America was an inviting option for us, so we decided to expand our team through a partner.

Navigating a different geography with a different language required a partner to help us find the right talent and do all of the top-of-the-funnel processes. As a startup, it was difficult enough for us to hire in the US, so we figure out that hiring outside the US would require a partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired TECLA to be our partner in searching for new talent in Latin America. Their team has helped us find candidates for a variety of positions, especially in software and algorithm development. Still, they've also helped us find talent in the product and data analysis spaces.

Thus far, we've hired nine different resources through TECLA, and the process for each hiring has been roughly the following: We first reach out to TECLA and told them we need a new resource. Then, they ask a few general questions about the position, the salary, the preferred location, and the language.

After providing the initial requirements, we provide TECLA with a more detailed job description to help them find the resources we need. Within 1–2 weeks of starting their research, TECLA starts providing us with a list of potential candidates. Their work includes finding these candidates, screening them based on our requirements, and putting together summaries before delivering the list of options.

TECLA also has a web app that we can use to access these candidates and see their salary expectations and resumes. After the team delivers the list of candidates, we start going through the different resumes. We can also request adjustments if needed. For example, if the candidates aren't exactly what we're looking for, we talk to TECLA to adjust the requirements. More often than not, TECLA captures our requirements pretty well the first time.

After revising the candidates, we start going through the hiring funnel. We reach out to TECLA, and they schedule an initial interview with the candidates we select. If this is a technical interview, it's usually with me. Then, we follow the hiring process from there.

What is the team composition?

During the initial candidate search, there are usually 2–3 teammates from TECLA involved. During the actual search process itself, there's usually one teammate from TECLA involved who acts as the main contact point for the rest of the process. This teammate answers our questions and helps us add candidates to the list.

How did you come to work with TECLA?

We went through a few firms and ended up choosing TECLA.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $50,000–$60,000. We work on a commission basis, based on the candidate's salary.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around October 2021, and our engagement is ongoing. We've actually started a new candidate search two weeks ago for a new position.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first piece of evidence for a successful relationship is that we're still working with TECLA. Second, seven of the nine candidates we've hired through TECLA are still with us. As for the two resources that aren't with us, just one of them didn't work out in the traditional sense, but it wasn't TECLA's fault. The other resource had to leave the project because we had to shift priorities in the company.

For a startup our size, I consider our project to be a huge success. We're talking about over two and a half years of working together, which demonstrates a long and meaningful relationship. Even though we're hiring resources from Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and Brazil, it doesn't feel any more complicated than hiring in New York or New Jersey. The process has been very clean, and TECLA has done a great job of making everything very uniform and smooth.

How did TECLA perform from a project management standpoint?

One of our main success metrics is what we call the media time to hire, which is the time lapse between the moment we start the search and the moment we hire a new resource. Currently, we're at a 6–8 week median time to hire. Some hires take a bit longer, but others are much faster. Compared to industry benchmarks in the US, the median time to hire TECLA has achieved is very good and fast.

Whenever we start a new search, TECLA responds very quickly and starts providing candidates very fast. Moreover, those candidates already know our needs when we talk with them, so there's very little need to go back and forth with them. TECLA's candidate search has been very effective.

I already know that whenever I start a new search with TECLA, they'll be able to hire a new candidate in less than three months, which is very good. Hiring through them is not only very fast but also predictable, which is hard to achieve in recruiting. On top of that, whenever there are issues with the candidates, they handle those very well, which is also efficient.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Abigail (COO) has been continuously involved in the process at a higher level. She's always involved when we start a new recruiting process, and she's available whenever we need to address something. Overall, she's been great to work with. Additionally, Gino (CEO) has been very communicative and helpful whenever we need something at a higher level.

Although we don't work with María (Former Account Recruiting Manager) anymore, I want to mention her because we worked with her a lot. She was our main point of contact on a daily basis. Since María left, we've been working with Emily (Lead Client Manager), who seems to be pretty good. TECLA's entire team has been great to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Resumes in Latin America tend to be in different formats, and the candidates' experience looks different depending on the industries they've worked in. Still, TECLA has been great in helping me, someone who has mainly worked with US resumes, navigate through those other resumes and read them better. Sometimes, they even work with the candidates to clarify some things.

During our first candidate search, I had to find my footing a bit more, and TECLA was very helpful with that. I had to get used to the rhythm and pattern of working with them, but the learning curve was pretty short and not very steep. Since then, we've established a good pace and a very good conversation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

TECLA has a web portal for clients, but I would like to get more from it. It has been built in a way that is a little inconvenient sometimes. For example, when looking through candidates, it's a bit hard for me to know which candidates I've already reviewed and which not. Moreover, moving a candidate to the interview process requires a lot of clicks. It feels as if it could be a little smoother.

This platform also assigns grades to candidates from one to five. Obviously, if TECLA is giving me a candidate to look at, their grade will be very high, so having all that extra information isn't very usable. Overall, the platform's UX could be more streamlined.

Other than that, TECLA's work is pretty much what we want and expect. I can't find many areas of improvement specific to the kind of recruiting we do, which is hiring one candidate at a time. Tecla is very communicative and finds great candidates, so I have nothing to complain about.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

First of all, understanding what it implies to work with Latin American resources will go a long way in improving the relationship with TECLA. This encompasses understanding that time zones are roughly the same but not exactly the same, being prepared to shift things around, and understanding the significance of language and communication.

Moreover, it's very beneficial to know what you want, so have good job descriptions and a good idea of the salary range and timeline. Moreover, you need to have a good sense of your hiring process and tell TECLA about it upfront so that they can communicate it to the candidates. The better everyone knows what they need to do, the more focused and streamlined the effort can be.

Whenever we start a new search, and everything is very clear, the process moves much faster, and everyone is happier. In addition to that, be ready for what comes next. You'll hire candidates in a different location and with a different language, so be aware of what that means.

Additionally, be attentive to TECLA's feedback. They're great at telling you whenever your salary range isn't practical for this region or if the type of candidate you're looking for is hard to find in the region you want. TECLA has a lot of experience in Latin American recruiting, so listen to them when they come back with feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an online platform that allows users to buy and sell auto parts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TECLA?

We were looking to supplement our existing development team, which consisted of two developers in San Francisco, in developing several new platforms and applications for our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started our engagement with TECLA by bringing on one full stack developer, and in the last 18 months, we’ve since added two more. Our first project together was an overall redesign of the frontend of our website, including the addition of a custom login portal for our professional customers. Our stack is Python running on a Bottle web framework, and all of our infrastructure is on Amazon Web Services (AWS). We use Javascript, CSS, and Bootstrap on the frontend, with Node and Handlebars for templating.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three developers from TECLA, and they’ve been fully integrated with our team.

How did you come to work with TECLA?

We conducted an online search for development firms and individual freelancers in Latin America to avoid significant time differences. We found TECLA and reached out to them. They were very responsive and easy to communicate with, and we moved forward with them shortly after.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $50,000-$199,999 on the engagement thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2016, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had great results with TECLA’s developers. They’ve allowed us to drastically increase the pace of our development process and try new things more efficiently. This is crucial for us as we continue to grow. They were very helpful in ensuring that the right developers joined our project, and their familiarity with our system has been a tremendous asset. They’re enthusiastic and work hard to learn quickly.

How did TECLA perform from a project management standpoint?

We use GitHub Projects as a ticketing system. We’re currently trying out several new projects and strategies, and as a result have not maintained a strict scrum system. However, we’ve been very happy with their time estimation and ability to meet deadlines. We’ve been very happy with how the engagement has progressed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re committed to solving problems. Over the course of the engagement, they’ve grown to become an integral part of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. We’ve been very happy with the engagement and would highly recommend them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner at an immersive technology agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TECLA?

We needed staff augmentation for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They found us developers that use Unity Technologies, Oculus, HTC Vive, and ARCore, through a search and interview process.

What is the team composition?

We have two resources assigned to us.

How did you come to work with TECLA?

I’ve been working with the founder for a couple of years and have previous work experience with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We spend $5,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been very pleased with the developers that we’ve hired through them. TECLA conducted a thorough personnel search for us and they were really good in the interview process. The person we landed on has been a really good addition to the team, and we’re really pleased with that result.

How did TECLA perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked directly with the developers. TECLA’s quality, support, and help have been very high-level.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The founder is always available to talk and is very helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Witlee is a small company that is building an e-commerce platform for fashion bloggers.

What is your position?

I am the CTO and am in charge of all the technology and coordinate all development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Tecla Labs?

We needed help building out our front-end.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We have in-house designers that actually come up with the designs. I've got two front-end developers within Tecla Labs that we give the designs to, and then I document how the APIs [application programming interfaces] work. They take the designs, the API specs, and then build the front end to those specs.

How did you come to work with Tecla Labs?

Gino came as a recommendation, to our CEO. We had a number of different conversations, both what their skill sets were, the specific skill sets of the developers, what resources they have available, and cost.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We're working with them on a monthly retainer basis. We're paying less than $10,000 a month for two developers. We're approaching having worked with them for a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are currently working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don't have specific statistics, but Tecla Labs is highly responsive and good at going with the flow. If I need to change the priorities, they're more than happy to flip and to do what needs to be done.

How did Tecla Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a good job and meet all our expectations. We use Pivotal Tracker to have them check in all the projects they are working on.

What distinguishes Tecla Labs from other providers?

Tecla Labs has done some great work. The UI [user interface] matches the design we provided which is really important. I'm very particular as far as how I want it to look and flow and can get very specific. Tecla Labs always puts up with it, makes the changes, and delivers how I want it. Their ability to be flexible is a huge benefit to us.

Is there anything Tecla Labs could have improved or done differently?

Overall, we are happy with our relationship with Tecla Labs. That being said, if the communication between us improved a bit, the relationship would be even better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company provides a feedback and posting platform for enterprises to unlock the voice of their employees, get feedback from them, and improve the organization.

What is your position?

I am the head of engineering at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Tecla Labs?

The challenge we faced was figuring out how to scale up our development resources so that we can continue to improve our product faster than we are right now. We have a small internal development team, so we were looking to augment that.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We now have two full-time developers and one full-time designer from Tecla Labs. We've worked with other providers who help with overflow through the years. For the development work, they do web applications.

How did you come to work with Tecla Labs?

Gino [Ferrand], who is one of the founders of Tecla, reached out to me via LinkedIn. That's how I found out about them. I evaluated a number of different providers and, for us, the determining factor was that Tecla Labs was in our time zone. I felt like they were a good value and that they had the capacity to grow with us. They've been very flexible with finding people with our specific requirements.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We're paying about $18,000 a month for the designer and the two developers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We still work with them. We've worked with them since November [2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Internally, we're moving much faster than we were without them and have been able to implement far more features. Once we brought on our first full-time designer, it made the quality of our user interface, product, and marketing efforts increase substantially.

How did Tecla Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They're doing a great job. Anytime we've ever brought anything up, they've been super responsive.

What distinguishes Tecla Labs from other providers?

The biggest thing Tecla Labs provides is that they feel a part of the team. It doesn't feel like we are are in different locations, which is nice. They've been a good value.

Is there anything Tecla Labs could have improved or done differently?

I don't think so. They have been on time and have provided for a good relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is called Fabio LLC. With Tecla Labs, we developed an application to provide moving services on demand or as scheduled.

What is your position?

I am the chief executive officer and co-founder of Fabio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Tecla Labs?

Tecla Labs developed our app.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Tecla Labs took our basic idea and came up with a proposal. They designed everything, from wireframing to the actual program design. They then published the app, which is currently just in iOS, on the App Store.

How did you come to work with Tecla Labs?

A friend of a friend pointed us toward Tecla Labs. We sat down and had a meeting with them. From day one, they were very open to communicating with us and giving us guidance. The level of detail they went into with us set them apart from other companies. We're not well-versed in programming, but they were able to talk in nontechnical language so we could all get what we were trying to accomplish.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We have spent about $30,000 working with Tecla Labs. That number is a little deceptive because I believe the value they provided was easily double or triple what we actually paid for.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're at the tail end of the project, so we're still working with them. There's a little troubleshooting left to be done, but we're two or three weeks away from finishing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from your work with Tecla Labs?

We launched the app last week in the App Store. Since then, we have had a lot of traction. We've had about 50 people download the app so far in about four or five days, which is good and certainly more than we expected.

How did Tecla Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The most important thing about project management is communication. Tecla Labs was dealing with multiple departments of ours. Their communication is above and beyond what is required. They send daily updates and constant emails with questions or status updates. I never had to ask myself what was going on. I'm constantly being reminded that they are performing work. They are on time, start with a good proposal, and work above and beyond to ensure that they meet or exceed all deadlines and requirements.

What distinguishes Tecla Labs from other providers?

Tecla Labs is unlike any of its competitors because they've provided more than we asked them to do and always think outside the box. They came up with solutions to problems we hadn't even thought of. Much of that is a consequence of how they communicate with each other internally. They look for solutions before they bring the problem to my attention, which helped a lot. They understand exactly where we are and want to be the best at giving us what we need to be successful.

Is there anything Tecla Labs could have improved or done differently?

I wish I could be a little bit more involved in how the back-end looks and works. I don't have any real knowledge of back-end or programming issues. I would have liked to be able to be guided a little on how that language works so I could understand how they made things happen.