Tilicho Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of Doto which is an app for sports fans to connect and compete with each other. Right now, we are focusing on cricket, and users can play live cricket quizzes every day to try and win cash.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tilicho Labs?

They have been helping us build our trivia app. The user can come to the platform, input their phone number and after signing up, they can register for the contest. Our contests are done on a daily basis, and when it is the scheduled time for the quiz, the user can come onto the platform and play. It is a live game with a host.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tilicho Labs is developing our trivia game. They have helped us with the development of the frontend and the backend. The frontend technology is an Android app, and we are using Firebase for the connection. On the backend, it is complete serverless technology which is basically AWS and DynamoDB. We are also using GraphQL, Terraform, and SQS, and SES for email. There are a bunch of technologies on the backend to make sure that the game is live.

On the frontend, it is simple Android coding. We are using Firebase for analytics and plugins for the live quiz game. We are also using a platform called WebEngage for recording emails on the platform on the frontend.

As a deliverable, we will be getting an Android app, the codebase that is used for the frontend, and on the backend, we will be getting all of the APIs, and the codebase for all of those APIs, and along with that, they are setting up AWS services, DynamoDB, and Terraform.

What is the team composition?

I have been working with one of the co-founders who is our main point of contact, and from the backend perspective, there are two people as well as two people on the frontend.

How did you come to work with Tilicho Labs?

I know them from college, and we have stayed in touch for quite some time. We have worked with them in the past in our previous startup and they delivered good results which is why we chose them again to build Doto.

How much have you invested in them?

We have paid them close to 200,000 Indian Rupees (approximately $3,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

It started in December 2020. There are multiple users right now, so we will continue working with them for the next three months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are measuring the success based on the release cycles and how fast we are releasing new features, and the other thing is looking at the crash analytics and how many users are facing an issue. We have live users, so obviously we are looking at having zero crashes.

From the performance point of view, we look at the backend and measure it in terms of the number of seconds it takes for each API to be successful. Overall, we are also looking at making sure that the app doesn’t break, and if there is a break, how fast they can fix it. It isn’t a specific metric, but it is more about the app's performance.

How did Tilicho Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Our teams communicate through Slack and we also use Google Docs to send information about the requirements and other stuff. It is very easy, and they are more like an extended team. There haven’t really been any challenges in terms of project management or communication. Because of Slack, it is real-time and they can let us know what is happening on a daily basis. They are always available. We also have a group on WhatsApp as well for any urgent communication and they are always available for that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are available most of the time. Whenever we message them, they are there. This is very important to us, especially when working on a real-time product.

They are also very flexible. If something comes up, they look at providing great value. For example, we thought of two technologies to get started with, but they took on the accountability and they added two more. Tilicho Labs knew what technologies were the best for our product, rather than going with whatever tech stack we said. They have always been helpful when it comes to bettering the user experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

So far, my experience has been positive, but as always there is always room for improvement. Overall, I am very satisfied with everything. There can be unexpected things that come up but because they are always available, it cancels it out. I think they are doing well, and I hope that will continue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If someone wants to work with them, they should have clarity when it comes to what they want to do and have a thought process in place. I think their team can move really fast if you have those requirements. If you don’t have clarity or know what to do, I don’t think it will work out.

At the end of the day, they are trying to help you convert your vision to an app. Come with all your requirements. They are flexible enough to change, but they are really good at getting started and can quickly get started in a day or so. If you are looking for that, I think it would be really helpful to have some sort of documentation in place.