Tyrannosaurus Tech

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Vivo, a virtual fitness program focused on strength training and older adults. We provide live, online, small group training to adults 55 and over to build strength and improve independence and quality of life.

For what projects/services did your company hire Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We are looking to build a tech platform to engage our customer base. We looked to T Tech to help us design, scope and cost out what this platform should look like.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals were to create initial mockups, scope documents, timeline and cost estimates.

How did you select Tyrannosaurus Tech?

I heard about them through mutual connections and a CEO organization that I am affiliated with.

Describe the project in detail.

We are looking to build a tech platform to engage our customer base. We looked to T Tech to help us design, scope and cost out what this platform should look like. We conducted requirements gathering sessions where talked through scope and priorities. T Tech came to the table with initial screen mockups for a mobile and web interface. We then iterated through the designs.

What was the team composition?

We met with the CEO and CTO through most of the meetings. There was also a project manager.

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

The deliverables were well created and on time, They provided everything that we asked, and even spent additional time and effort to go back and forth on some additional scope that was added.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their communication was great and there were never any issues with our workflow. We set up meetings and conducted them, as necessary and without issue.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their designs and mockups were outstanding. In addition, they quickly developed a good understanding of the needs of our customer base and our solution. They had the technical expertise to understand the complications of custom video conference and fitness wearables integration.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Greenlink Analytics, a 501(c)(3) that does energy and equity research.

What challenge were you trying to address with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We hired them to build a platform that would display any number of equity and demographic data at a neighborhood level across the US. We wanted to help cities have better planning processes that incorporated any sort of environmental and equity concerns.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tyrannosaurus Tech designed and developed a web-based platform for us. The team is now maintaining the platform. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three programmers and developers, a UI/UX designer, a project manager, and occasionally the two co-founders.

How did you come to work with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We did a national search and sent out RFPs to specific companies that we thought had done good work. We ended up choosing Tyrannosaurus Tech because we liked their development process, and they were based in Atlanta where we are.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $140,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in February 2020. The platform launched in October 2020, but they’re still doing maintenance work.

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

We're measuring success right now mostly by the response that we're receiving. We've deployed the platform and it’s going through a series of soft launches. We had our beta testers get into it first, and they probably represented about 10 different organizations from across the country. 

We then rolled it out to our first set of 25 cities, and we're rolling it out to a second set of 25 soon. Tyrannosaurus Tech has been responsive in terms of getting fixes forward, and people have been happy with what they’ve received, which has been good.

How did Tyrannosaurus Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall communication has been strong. We have a Slack channel where we can message each other back and forth, and the project manager does a good job of creating a log of each meeting that we have and sending that around to make sure that everybody is clear on what we discussed and the action items. 

We’ve created a couple of shared spreadsheets that we go into and note the issues and urgency, and they’ve been very good at working against that log. We’ve been using Monday to track things on our side, and they use Jira. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness and calmness are impressive. When things pop up that we don’t expect, they’ve been good at walking us through those instances.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had initially scoped and bid the project to be somewhere around $90,000, which we’ve significantly passed. Our hope was to have the product launched by June or July 2020, which didn’t happen. 

Not all of that is their fault. In fact, the timeline getting pushed back is due to our partners and the other part of that is the process guide for community engagement, which took until September to get prepared. However, we took advantage of that extra time to clean up the platform. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more explicit you can be upfront, the better off you’re going to be in the longterm. Tyrannosaurus Tech is willing to come to us with their ideas and recommendations for some aspects, especially for UI/UX design.

When it comes to open-ended questions, such as which analytics questions we should use to track engagement, the team is a little more aware but not as ready to recommend. The better the idea you have when you show up, the better your experience will be.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the dean of students as well as the director of IT at a nonprofit private school.

What challenge were you trying to address with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

Our students are sorted into houses and earn points throughout the year for academic engagement, character, outstanding performance, and other scenarios.  

We hired Tyrannosaurus Tech to revamp the platform we used for the house points, so it could be available for use by other schools.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tyrannosaurus Tech built our platform, a web based application with a mobile component. Administrators and teachers can use it to assign points to individual students as well as houses throughout the year. Parents can access the app to track their child’s success as well.

The team used React Native and Ruby on Rails to develop the mobile aspect. It’s hosted on AWS.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with three individuals, our project manager, Carlos (Owner & Partner), and Richard (Owner & Partner). 

How did you come to work with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

I did some research on Tyrannosaurus Tech on what they offer, their expertise, and their ratings. I also had the opportunity to talk with one of their past clients.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since October 2018. We still rely on them for any updates, patches, maintenance, or other assistance related to the platform.

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

We’ve seen the number of our end users using the product continue to grow. Ever since we first launched the site, we’ve been making improvements and enhancements to the technology and UX. Each time we put out a new feature, people love it.

How did Tyrannosaurus Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

One of the things I love about working with Tyrannosaurus Tech is their excellent project management. There were times when we had a bottleneck in our processes which caused us to fall behind, but they were always really flexible. 

We have a solid working relationship, and they have a great way of doing things. The team has always kept a line of communication open. Tyrannosaurus Tech treats this project like their own — they’re an excellent partner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m really impressed with their creativity. They’ve brought amazing ideas to the table, keeping the future of the platform in mind as well as the costs. It’s clear Tyrannosaurus Tech has a personal investment in our project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think the only small area for improvement is keeping us abreast of hours billed before we actually get the invoice.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring your entire dream to Tyrannosaurus Tech. Think about what you want your product to look like five years from now, and ask questions from a space of both their experience and what you want in an end product.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of FoodFinder. FoodFinder is a nonprofit organization whose website and mobile app help connect food-insecure families across the country to the nearest food pantry for food assistance programs. Even though we are a 501((c)(3) nonprofit, we are in a unique position because we're an all-digital organization and the technology platform we offer is how we are able to serve families in need across America.

What challenge were you trying to address with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

Since 2019, as we established full-time payroll for the first time in our organization’s history. As all facets of our work were ramping up, we needed to further delineate the increasingly heavy workload that was needed to manage both our product roadmap for our revenue-generating API platform and how we license our database to other organizations in the fight against hunger.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tyrannosaurus Tech helped us with software development and enhancements for our core platforms like our website and our iOS/Android app.

For most of 2019, our focus had been on API development. Tyrannosaurus Tech was specifically dedicated to things like routine maintenance, platform enhancements, new functionality on our primary platform. 

In the first few months of our partnership, they focused on small frontend changes on our website, cosmetic things, and the overall speed and performance of our mobile app. For instance, one of our biggest items was reducing the initial app screen's load time as someone pulls it up on their phone.

Going forward, we want to be able to create a color-coded map that distinguishes the different types of different food providers in our network. 

What is the team composition?

Richard (Co-Founder) has been terrific with overall communication, making sure that their team understands our work and expectations.  

Then we work with a technical lead who does the majority of the development work. 

Finally, we work with Shannon (Lead Technical Project Manager). She coordinates items in the workflow and in the queue from their standpoint and makes sure that we are making good progress month over month on knocking out items on our roadmap.

How did you come to work with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We first connected with them a few years ago at a mobile marketing event.

We ended up choosing them because of their really clear and consistent communication. At the onset of the pandemic, we needed to be very dynamic as we adjusted to new challenges, and their communication was excellent.

They have a ton of experience working with enterprises, benefit corporations, nonprofits in the healthcare space, and that really reassured us.

Not only did they have the expertise and the credentials needed, they appreciated what we were doing. They believed in our mission and knew that their work would have a direct and positive impact on families in need. 

How much have you invested in them?

Right now, they are doing 40 hours of development work. It is about a $6,000 per month investment to help with the items on our product roadmap. As of right now, we have invested $12,000 on this engagement, but of course, because there is no finite end date, by the end of 2020, we will expect to spend between $25,000–$30,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe our first month of engagement with them was July 2020, and we are still working with them today.

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

They've done a good job with the UI/UX. They made sure that the platform was more appealing and indicative of our work.

They're able to identify what causes issues, like extended downtime and slow loading speed, and are able to fix it. 

They're conscientious of our position as a nonprofit — they try to stretch our money as far as possible, but still building a high-quality and scalable product.

They know that quality is super important to us because we are helping people in crisis situations and we want to provide the most effective platform that we can. Tyrannosaurus Tech has given us good ideas to improve the platform but hasn't oversold or up charged us. 

How did Tyrannosaurus Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

They have been good. They're always receptive to our timeline, even as our needs change and new challenges arise. They are flexible and are continuing to prioritize the matters that really are the most important to us. They’ve been really fair, agile, and flexible in catering to our needs. They've done a terrific job of communicating with us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They've been able to convey the pros and cons of different options on how to implement the changes that we want to make. I appreciate that they take the time to explain the true causes of a bug or an issue that we are hoping to resolve. Then they describe my options to resolve it so I can choose between a temporary fix or a more intensive solution. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We recently requested weekly check-in calls just to make sure that we continue to make progress. Originally, we were concerned about the timeline, but our schedulel has improved with the current check-in calls. As of right now, there is nothing major to report.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure there's a mutual understanding of your expectations. You should outline everything, from how you plan to communicate, to the quality of work you expect from them, and how long you plan to have their product in place. 

We try to do everything that we can to be fair. In return, we hope they can give us the best possible work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the principals at SBX Technologies. We’re an environmental remediation firm that operates primarily in Georgia, but also throughout the Southeastern US. Our projects often involve addressing environmental concerns for utility companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We had a website that had been around since we started the business in 2003, and the whole platform was no longer working for us. The site was outdated, and our previous web developers were not very responsive.

We decided that we wanted to create a new set of webpages with a fresh look. We were looking for a team that could provide ongoing maintenance as well, but the primary objective was building a new site. Our website is mostly a set of informational pages that talk about the services we provide, as well as our experience and qualifications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redesigned the site, taking many of the building blocks from the old version.  As far as the mechanics of the website go, I’m sure they told me what they used, but I don’t remember at the moment. I was primarily focused on the design.

I provided all of the information that they needed—images, text, that sort of thing. They retained the same basic content from the old site, but the presentation was all new.

Before they started making changes, they gave me a draft of the website and let me critique it. We talked about the different elements of the site, including specific placement of various objects, like menus and case studies.

What is the team composition?

I had exchanges with at least three people. I’m not sure about their internal processes, but I had one project manager who had a small support team. I also met with one of the owners at one point.

How did you come to work with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

I started by looking around for somebody who could redo our webpage and provide hosting. I called one location who turned us down—it seemed like they were looking for larger projects—and they referred me to Tyrannosaurus Tech. I gave them a call, and the rest is history.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the development piece was about $6,000. We’re also paying $600 per year for hosting and maintenance.

What is the status of this engagement?

They gave me a proposal in March, and we signed a contract soon after that. The site was up and running by the first week of May. It took them about three weeks to develop the site.

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

The website is live, and they seemed to have captured our vision pretty accurately. There are a few updates that we need to do, but that’s on me. We’ve started offering new services and need to add that to our site.

Tyrannosaurus Tech did give me and my team the capability to update the site; we just haven’t done that yet. As far as what they made, it’s perfectly in line with what we wanted.

How did Tyrannosaurus Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

The design feedback process was fairly quick. We were able to get it done without making it too elaborate. Coincidentally, our offices are within walking distance of each other, and I did get the chance to meet them in person.

I connected with the project manager and the owner, and the rest of the communication was via phone or email. Overall, it was very effective. They were always proactive about getting the information that they needed from us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Compared to other firms, their responsiveness stood out. They asked questions that I would never have thought about. You could tell that they had gone through the process before. They also delivered on everything they promised, which is important for any business endeavor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I know they’re not perfect, but I can’t think of anything at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide all of the information that Tyrannosaurus Tech needs. They will build off of what you give them, so give them as much as possible. They don’t need to know every detail about your company, as long as they have what they need.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of a full-service dog park bar.

What challenge were you trying to address with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We require our customers to fill out paperwork and a liability waiver with basic information about themselves and their dogs. However, we were busier than we’d anticipated. My team was spending a lot of time inputting data. We also had a POS system and a separate payments system that we wanted to integrate.  

We hired Tyrannosaurus Tech to transfer this time-consuming paper-based process to an app. We hoped to save time and resources while making the check-in process as stress-free as possible for our customers. The biggest impression we need to make is during our first interaction with the customer.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tyrannosaurus Tech developed a web app, on which customers can create a profile and fill in their information. Customers input their name, their dog’s name, information about themselves, updated vaccination records, and photos of themselves and their dogs. My team provided some design parameters, such as keeping the logo and colors the same, but we mostly gave Tyrannosaurus Tech the liberty to create their own design.

They developed several features within the app. For instance, if a dog’s vaccination is about to expire, the app notifies us beforehand so that we can let the customer know they need to provide updated records. Tyrannosaurus Tech created an area where our employees can take notes and record “strikes,” such as if a dog is aggressive. They also enabled us to take payment within the app by integrating our POS system and our app with Square.

What is the team composition?

Shannon (Lead Technical Project Manager, Tyrannosaurus Tech) is our main contact, and I work closely with her. I also work with Richard (Owner & Partner, Tyrannosaurus Tech). My team has limited interactions with the backend programmers, but they’re available anytime we have questions.

How did you come to work with Tyrannosaurus Tech?

I searched for local app development startups on Google and came across Tyrannosaurus Tech. After looking at some of their previous work, we reached out to them. We met with around five agencies, but Tyrannosaurus Tech gave us the best feeling from staff and programmer perspectives. Their business seemed pretty cool.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $70,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in April 2019, and it’s ongoing. Tyrannosaurus Tech just showed us the first mockup. We’re doing training next week, during which they’ll show us what the full-functioning app will look like. After that, we hope to launch within two weeks.

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

I think the app they’re developing will really help from a customer service perspective. Whereas the check-in process previously took 5–8 minutes, we’re confident that the new app will reduce the process to two minutes or less. Now, customers will be able to sign up on the app elsewhere, and we’ll just have to confirm their information and take payment when they get to our location. This will have a big impact on our customer care. Integrating POS with the app and payment system makes it much easier to keep everything in order.

How did Tyrannosaurus Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

Shannon reaches out at least a couple of times each week to make sure we know where we are in the process. All communication goes through her. We communicate via Slack and weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’d had a bad experience with another app developer, so I told Tyrannosaurus Tech upfront that we didn’t want to pursue the project if they couldn’t deliver on their promises. They’ve been very open about their capabilities and parameters. They let us know where they’re comfortable or uncomfortable.

The team also does a good job maintaining open communication, whether it’s about an invoice or the progress of their work.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

This applies to any developer, but I’d have them more clearly lay out what the total cost is going to be. As a startup, it’s critical that we get a good idea, within $5,000–$10,000, of the project’s total cost. Tyrannosaurus Tech didn’t go over budget, but the more precise they can be, the better it is when we’re budgeting how much money we need to set aside.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very open. If you’re upfront about what your business needs, they’ll do extremely good work. One thing we did was present our short- and long-term goals for our app. Sharing that with Tyrannosaurus Tech gave them a good idea of where to start and how to make the relationship successful.  

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of an app that helps groups of friends choose between restaurant options. Our cross-platform product recommends restaurants based on the group’s selected preferences.

For what projects/services did your company hire Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We needed a vendor to rebuild the first version of our app in Expo framework using React Native and following design specs.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a fully functional MVP for the App Store and the Google Play store.

How did you select this vendor?

I’d been introduced to them at various tech startup events near Atlanta. They expressed interest in working with us, but our product architecture made it a challenging fit. However, they were extraordinarily helpful in thinking through how to redesign and fix our architecture prior to actually engaging with them. After about a year, we hired them because their client team was extremely involved and committed to our product, and the development talent they staffed my project with was unrivaled.

Describe the project in detail.

The mobile app allows an event creator to set basic parameters for a restaurant outing, and then invite friends to help fill in the "when" and "where." Guests receive SMS invitations to complete prompts on their preferences, which are collected in the backend. The app considers all responses and queries third-party APIs to recommend restaurants for the group.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a developer, a project manager who did QA, and two senior managers who provided some oversight and guidance.

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

Our app is available in the App Store and the Google Play store.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team was transparent and flexible and we communicated easily. My background is non-technical and they educated me as much as possible.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their flexibility ensured the project’s success when I sometimes had trouble communicating technical expectations. I don’t think we could have delivered the product without their help.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CFO of FGE Power, a developer of power generation assets including wind farms and natural power plants.

For what projects/services did your company hire Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We hired Tyrannosaurus Tech to fix a code injection attack that had occurred on our website. In addition to fixing security issues, they needed to rebuild the site and correct its Google cache.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to get the website back to normal—stop it displaying Japanese language spam ads—and ensure such a breach never happens again.

How did you select this vendor?

We hired them based on their reputation.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They rebuilt the site by locating and fixing our corrupted files, as well as closing any security holes. The team then ported everything to a new secure server and web host.

What was the team composition?

We worked with their CEO, one lead developer, and a secondary developer.

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

Since the attacks occurred right before a critical press release, their efficient fixes saved our business.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team’s performance matched their reputation.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their customer service and technical skill sets stood out.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Nothing. The project was perfect.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president of the Atlanta Street Food Coalition. We provide a number of services to mobile food vendors, including startup assistance, event management, and lead generation.

For what projects/services did your company hire Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We needed to update our website to allow us to improve our service offerings. We also wanted to simplify and automate our back-office workload.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to have a functioning site before March 1, 2018. Our project had been seriously delayed before we started working with Tyrannosaurus Tech.

How did you select this vendor?

A trusted friend of a business partner recommended Tyrannosaurus Tech. We interviewed them and were extremely impressed with their professional approach.

What was the team composition?

We spoke directly with the CEO on several occasions. Our project manager and a developer were with us every step of the way.

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

Despite a tight schedule, they launched our website on time. Our clients have been very pleased with the updates.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was extremely effective, so everything moved along at a brisk pace. The team at Tyrannosaurus Tech scheduled weekly conference calls and provided excellent notes via email. We also had extremely reliable points of contact throughout the process. I cannot think of one time when I felt unsure about the direction or progress of the project. They did not miss a single detail.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism was impressive. With previous developers, I had become accustomed to having to chase them for updates, canceled meetings or phone calls, missed deadlines, etc. In contrast, Tyrannosaurus Tech did everything they said they would do in a timely manner.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the managing director of The Bridge Community program, which helps a consortium of large corporations source and form partnerships with early-stage technology companies.

For what projects/services did your company hire Tyrannosaurus Tech?

We needed technical due diligence on a group of early-stage startup companies to better inform our program's selection process.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking to better understand the breadth and depth of our candidates' technology, gauge their sophistication, their ability and readiness to support integrations with our corporate members, their ability to quickly scale successful pilots and integrations across a large enterprise, and fact-check the claims they made in their program applications.

How did you select this vendor?

Their level of experience allowed them to do the work we needed quite efficiently and quickly. We required a very tight turnaround, and though other vendors promised they could get the deliverables to us on time, Tyrannosaurus Tech were the only ones we actually believed. The questions they asked during our initial calls made us feel like they truly understood us, while the process they outlined for doing the work made it really easy to work with them. Finally, their promptness, brevity, and style of their communication—both on the phone and through email—gave us the impression that we would enjoy working with them.

Describe the project in detail.

After explaining what we needed from the due diligence reports, they identified what information needed to be gathered on each startup, and what the deliverables would look like. They then directly contacted the startups to request the information and gain access to their code and data repositories. 

From there, they reviewed everything they received, conducted phone interviews with CTOs and technical leads, analyzed demo applications, reviewed any other publicly-available code, datasets, and websites they could find, and wrote simple one-page due diligence tear sheets that our non-technical stakeholders could read and understand.

What was the team composition?

I primarily interacted with one of the owners. He and one of their developers did the work.

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

It was simple—the due diligence reports were delivered on time and contained exactly what we required.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were very communicative, letting us know their progress, and sending us drafts. That meant we had plenty of time for small improvements along the way so that the end deliverables were exactly what we needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their speed, communication style, and the ease of working with them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There were no glaring ways they needed to improve. They delivered and we were very happy.