Valere

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Global Learning Universe (GLU) a provider of mnemonic based content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valere Labs, and what were your goals?

We wanted a mobile app for I-phone users to access over 500 videos that teach Mandarin Chinese through mnemonic based entertainment content. Part of the challenge was to develop a simple, streamlined format that allowed users to find and use videos without a lot of distraction. Also required was built-in access for us to update videos at any time, as these are frequently updated.

SOLUTION

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

I liked the business model at Valere where the main office was located here in the USA with additional staff offshore. In addition, Guy had also developed subscription-based apps as an income business for himself, which signaled to me that he was intimately familiar with the marketing issues that content-based apps face, as well as the technical issues.

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

Guy walked me through his process and introduced me to his team in India. Early on he set up the content system, so my team could continue final editing, loading, testing, and changing 500+ videos. We refined the UX design together as his team built the app.

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

I worked with a primary contact in India who had several staff on her team as well as directly with Guy. They are all readily available and responsive to issues as they emerge.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

First of all, the project was delivered on time and on budget. Guy and his team offered a number of additional project additions which I agreed to do and these were implemented with the same fidelity to cost and schedule. Since launch 8 months ago the app has worked seamlessly. In addition, Guy and his team helped us with initial ad campaigns in which we have gradually moved to our current 4X return on ad spend.

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

Guy operates in a down-to-earth management style. He is concise and direct in his analysis. His offshore team is personable and they communicate issues clearly.

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

Guy is looking out for your business as if it were his own. He and his team offer well thought out next steps in the evolution of the project that extend the initial success.

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

I like the way Guy and his team work. And I will be looking to Guy to continue the success of our product launch, including several project additions that he and his team suggested.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a basketball simulation app that’s been maintained over the last 20 years in the Windows environment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

A lot of depth and statistical analysis were involved behind this app, and we wanted to turn it into something that could interact with the public. Ideally, we wanted people to log in with any device — be it an iPad, computer, or phone — and use the basketball simulation software. The goal was to make it very easy to use that someone who hadn't used it before could easily jump right in and play without reading any manual or watching a how-to video. 

My expertise was in backend development, so I didn't have any UI/UX experience. As a result, I looked for either a developer or a small organization that could make this Windows app more intuitive. I hired Valere Labs to do that. The app was written in the 90s, so it didn’t translate well into a web application that people were used to seeing. That was where I relied on their expertise.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Valere Labs not only developed the app’s front end; they also worked with APIs that potentially had bugs. Moreover, I didn’t specify a frontend technology they should use other than what was generally accepted among developers. The technology shouldn’t require any browser plugins because I wanted to make the application device agnostic. 

For this project, I developed a bunch of milestones to make the application functional as early as possible while developing key features along the way. The idea was to add better functionality for each milestone. 

What is the team composition?

We always work with three people at a time, consisting of a project manager and two developers. Guy (Advisor) was directly involved in the project early on when we were doing wireframes and screen design. 

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

I found them on Upwork. I received around 25 different proposals, but I wanted someone who had done a sports app before. Valere has actually done a basketball mobile application, so that was a huge plus for them, and that put them in the final selection. I eventually narrowed my choices down to two, which were Valere and another company. 

I sent both of them the first milestone of the project to see which one I liked better. Valere turned out to be less expensive than the other one, and their output was much better. As a result, I decided to give them the rest of the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on the project in April 2020. The engagement is technically ongoing, but I’m doing backend debugging and beta testing to find issues, inaccuracies, and things like that. As a result, our work with Valere is on hold. I hope to finish debugging within a month or two.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I work with 3–4 basketball fans who have looked at the app, and they like it. They like the UI design and the fact that it works on multiple devices; it also doesn’t matter whether they’re using Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Overall, the app works well and the feedback has all been positive. The application runs on any browser and device, and it’s designed to work with APIs. Valere Labs has met all of my requirements. 

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had twice-a-week scrum meetings so that we can review their progress for the day. We set up a Trello board to track issues, deliverables, tasks I need to do, and tasks they need to do. We also set up a Slack channel so we can communicate timelines, links, and screenshots. Valere Labs has recommended using Angular, which I had heard about but never really used before. 

It’s their suggestion that we use Trello, which is a lot better for tracking individual tasks than Slack. We’ve also created a private GitHub repository, which I wish we’d started earlier. We use it for code checking. Prior to using GitHub, we were just filling things out on our codebase. That was okay, but it was also a little bit clumsy. With GitHub, we can track and pull requests easily. Using GitHub is also Valere’s idea, and I’ve not used it before this project. 

Overall, the Valere team has always been able to turn bugs or issues around any time we find them. When I report such problems on Slack or Trello, they turn it around within 24 hours. Even though they’re an offshore team, everything works out well. I can submit a bug request to them, and I’ll have something I can test the next morning. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What has really made them stand out right away was the fact that they’ve done sports apps before. I thought it might be hard to find such a team because all the applications out there come from big shops, such as EA Sports. As a result, I didn’t expect to find anybody that had ever done any sports applications before, let alone one with basketball. In other words, Valere’s experience has given them a leg up right off the bat. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish we used some of the tools they recommended earlier on in the project for efficiency. Things may have gone more efficiently if we’d used GitHub and Trello earlier on. However, not using the tools didn’t really hamper our progress. On top of that, this isn’t my full-time job, so I’m only supporting it in my spare time. As a result, I’m sometimes the cause of the bottlenecks and not the Valere team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The clearer deliverables you have upfront, the better. I initially wanted to give them free rein on the project. However, this is a complicated application, and I’ve realized that I wanted to work on it in a specific way. We had to adapt that as we went. 

Having all of the project milestones in advance has also been helpful. On top of that, rather than doing the demo with different developers over and over again, I recorded a private video of how to use my Windows application. Then, they shared the video with the rest of the team so that they can go back and view it again. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the creator of a free-to-play fantasy sports app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

I needed help with app development to speed up the release date.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first had a discovery phase to discuss the project in detail. Valere Lab’s CEO had built apps before and was an entrepreneur himself, so he knew a lot about the process. They had a few suggestions based on market research and where the general trend of apps was going, which they later implemented.

Afterward, they began to develop the iOS app. I already had the design ready to go, so Valere Labs just worked on the front- and backend development. Months after they delivered the app, I also had them apply some updates.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager and a team of around 13 developers.

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

I posted a listing on Upwork, where I found their profile. I chose them after seeing some of their prior work.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2020–March 2021. The bulk of development wrapped up in December 2020, so we had a finished product based on our initial contract by then. In March 2021, I hired them again to add some expansions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I haven't released the app, so I don't have metrics yet. However, Valere Labs did a good job. I wanted a professional company to work on the app, but I also had a background in development. I reviewed some of their work, and it was excellent. 

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well on project management. We had weekly meetings and a communication channel where we interfaced regularly. Everyone was very open about communication through the channel. We both tried to be as communicative as possible and work through things together, which was very helpful. 

During our initial meetings, it was hard to follow because I wasn't familiar with their internal processes. However, once I saw some of their work, our meetings went a lot smoother. We were able to talk about specific features that they had completed and anything that needed touch-ups. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about them was how cost-efficient they were. The cost was very cheap for the quality of work Valere Labs delivered. Their CEO’s prior experience with building apps and startups was super helpful, as well. He gave me a lot of valuable advice on topics that were outside the scope of the project. Overall, the team was very competent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve dedicated more time to understand the scope beforehand. The project was conceptually challenging to build out, and Valere Labs did get it done in the end; however, had they understood the project before starting, they would’ve finished it much faster. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say definitely be as involved as you can be — you have to be part of the development process. Be proactive in looking through their work, so you can finalize some features and move on to new ones without having to go back and keep iterating through the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is a software company. We focus on providing solutions in the employment space: recruiting, talent acquisition, hiring solutions, and the like. I’m the founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

We need to collect data from around the web and plug it into an AI tool that would make sense of the content using natural language processing (NLP). We also needed to create sentiment scores for employers.

For example, we can take employer reviews from the internet, put those into the AI tool, and create sentiment scores about how workers feel about a certain company at a certain time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I tend to crawl before I walk and walk before I run, so the initial project was simple. We wanted to have a user put in a search query for a company and confirm that we provide the correct company in return. Then, we established functional connections to RSS feeds for the particular company and plugged the content into the AI tool, creating the sentiment score. Finally, we developed a charting system. Every day, Monday through Friday, we can now show scores based on the data we pull from the internet.

The whole tool was built using open-source PHP and My SQL.

We just finished a second phase, which involved e-commerce capabilities. People can subscribe to follow companies and receive more data. This required us to pull more data and develop more robust graphs (10-days vs. 90-days). Valere Labs has been invaluable in all these tasks.

What is the team composition?

Historically, when I’ve worked with sites like Upwork, I connect directly with the developer, which results in communication and time zone issues. I picked Valere Labs because their main contact was US-based and in my time zone. I’m not a technical person by trade, so having a liaison with the developers, who are primarily in India, was very helpful.

Once I built up a relationship with the developer, the US contact faded into the background a bit. He remained available if I ever needed help, however, as he focused on timelines and milestone delivery.

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

I found them on Upwork, and I liked that they had a US-based contact.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $35,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2020, and version one of the software launched in September of that year. Once we gathered enough users, we began the next phase, which ran from November 2020–March 2021.

When we reach the next funding and user target, we’ll look ahead to the next set of enhancements, which we’ll build with Valere Labs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ultimately, we’ve been successful on a human level. From the initial conversation to the work of the past 6–8 months, we’ve established a common culture, vibe, and language. This similarity has been missing in my past relationships.

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We still communicate over Upwork, including for milestones and payment. If I ever need to add a job, we handle it over Upwork as well.

The access I have to Valere Labs is vital. They respond to me as long as they’re not asleep. They’re accessible, and we have Trello set up for everything. Everyone is on the same page about priorities and what has to be done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their cooperation stands out. They want a long-term relationship, rather than to simply get the job done. We’ve maintained the same developers throughout the project, which speaks to the value of coordination with Valere Labs. I haven’t seen that with other vendors.

They’ve taken a bit of ownership with the project, and they want to see the business do well. Rather than seeing themselves as a simple delivery partner, they understand that I want them to develop for me for years to come. It’s not beyond them to throw in extra service free of charge — whether it’s extra edits or something that wasn’t caught earlier. That’s been rare in my experience in the development world.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s always a tug-of-war over the business owner wanting the task done yesterday, but the reality being it will take a little longer than we hoped. That’s been the only issue. Rather than having something done in January, it will be done by mid-February. Coordination could improve perhaps.

It’s like we’re committed to following the North Star, and we hope we arrive as soon as possible, but sometimes storms arise or the wind dies. Ultimately, we’ve been able to get to the North Star, which is the ultimate test for me. This is why I’m endorsing them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be communicative and ask questions about potential options. Valere Labs has thick skin, and they never talk down to you. Rather, they’re open and collaborative. If you don’t ask questions, however, they won’t offer them. They’re open to fixing projects that have gone in sub-optimal directions, which is helped by having a US-based contact.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-Founder/CEO of Relative Motion

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide dance studios and competitive dance events with cutting edge technique training. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Create Software for dance comps

SOLUTION

How did you find Valere?

Upwork

Why did you select Valere over others?

• High ratings
• Felt most confident they could deliver what we needed

How many teammates from Valere were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Developed Software App for our company to connect competitive dance events into technique training. Built CRUD funtionality for super admin + updated client experience to host videos and present them in a seamless way. Created an app to be able to run the system without wifi. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Client Satisfaction - Constant feedback that there is an ease of use to our software and the value it delivers.

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

They were incredibly communicative- like from 1-10 they were an 11. Always delivered in the timeline promised, if not sooner. always delivered quality work and if there were ever questions or concerns they were addresssed instantly. 

What was your primary form of communication with Valere?

Email or Messaging App

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

Impressive- High quality of work, constantly overdelivering and incredible communication

They truly cared to do the job at the highest level and truly cared if I was happy!

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO Founder of Paydesk AI

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Paydesk AI automates accounts payable processes, providing real-time insights, reducing errors, and offering banks new payment tools while improving cash flow governance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Build MVP
• Onboard Customers
• Product Support

SOLUTION

How did you find Valere?

Online Search

Why did you select Valere over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from Valere were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Strategic Planning: Conducted market research, defined key problems, and built the business model.
AI & Automation: Developed AI-driven features to automate invoice management and enhance real-time insights.
Payment Tools Integration: Enabled support for digital payment tools beyond traditional methods like ACH and wire.
System Integration & Security: Connected the platform with existing financial systems and ensured robust data security.
Testing & Deployment: Conducted beta testing, launched the MVP, and scaled the platform for larger customer adoption.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MVP product in use in production. 

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

Excellent project management and execution! 

What was your primary form of communication with Valere?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Broad expertise and talent. 

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

NA

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Fable AI

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Fable's essence lies in the seamless fusion of AI and storytelling, transforming the tabletop RPG experience into an immersive and dynamic adventure. It's about empowering users to craft unique narratives, fostering boundless creativity and exploration.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Market Research
• Company Branding
• Product Development

SOLUTION

How did you find Valere?

Online Search

Why did you select Valere over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Valere were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Valere helped in creating a generative AI for my platform alongside doing market research and company branding.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is still ongoing, but the outcomes so far have exceeded my expectations. I'm excited to see the finished product once we're ready for launch.

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

The PM team at Valere is thorough, communicative, and able to use their experience to helpg uide the project to fit my needs in the best possible way.

What was your primary form of communication with Valere?

Virtual Meeting

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

The transparency and willingness to work with the customer to create an ideal solution.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Caylent

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an AWS Premier Consulting Partner delivering services suchs as migrations, devops, application development, big data, and generative ai.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• User experience and design
• Generative AI POC

SOLUTION

How did you find Valere?

Referral

Why did you select Valere over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Valere were assigned to this project?

15

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

We engaged Valere on two fronts - the first was user expereince and design. This invovled working with product owners and users to develop wireframes that capture all the appropriate use flows is a well thought out way. The second was on a handful of GenAI POCs which invovled backend and front end development and interacting with LLMs and Vector stores to deliver chat bots

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For the user experience work stream they delivered wire frames and use flows. Everything was well done and delivered in a timely manner. For the GenAI workstreams they delivered code, demos, and handoff documentation.

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

We conducted project managed internally 

What was your primary form of communication with Valere?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their flexibility and willinginess to work with you to find the best outcome 

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

None come to mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder, President of 66th Degree Enterprises, LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Create innovative products to improve efficiency in the day to day lives of all individuals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Valere to accomplish?
Design An App for Law Enforcemnt Use

SOLUTION

How did you find Valere?

• Online Search
• Upwork

Why did you select Valere over others?

• High ratings
• Transparency

How many teammates from Valere were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Develop an app for law enforcement use to enhance efficiency with certain aspects of important law enforcement work. Design, build, and create a smooth interface with the emphasis being on clean, efficient app usage.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Currently in the design and development phase. Valere has met timelines and delivered the design and product visioning within the projected parameters and outline they have provided.

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

Project management has been handled well.The project lead was really good at communicating the timeline and benchmarks to be hit. If a deliverable was going to be late, they communicated that ahead of time, and they were never majorly delayed. They were flexible and adaptable to what I felt was important to the project.

What was your primary form of communication with Valere?

Virtual Meeting

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

They have a friendly team that's honest and transparent about what they're able to provide unique and innovative ideas, and they are willing to assist in shaping the product from the ground up.

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

I was initially confused by the overall process, and that could have been a slight misunderstanding on my end, but perhaps there could be a slightly better outline/timetable out of the get go.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Campsite Tonight

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The kayak for camping

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address?

Poor execution with minimal communication

SOLUTION

How did you find Valere?

Upwork

Why did you select Valere over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Valere were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

What was the scope of their involvement and team dynamic? 

The newest project manager got involved and really helped get work finalized before a transition.

What's the status of this engagement?

Switching to another team internal to Valere

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with Valere evolve?

They became increasingly willing to make bigger changes to the working team. This change was slow to be made but once they saw the underperformance, they leaned in to switch teams internally.

In what ways can they improve?

Really lean in to fix things at the first complaint. The last project manager I worked with was great.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

Switch teams at the first signs of trouble, like project misunderstanding or need to do major rescope. Also, request working with existing experienced teams.

UPDATED REVIEW

• Take existing app, update core frameworks
• Add in new data sources and build back end for faster response
• Launch in 4 months

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App