Valere

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the founders of the 1972 Project, a nonprofit that’s primarily geared toward race and gender equality in the workplace. It also has a nonprofit arm focused on education, providing a community for women and women of color. Our organization also provides a place where people can organize campaigns. We’ll also have a political arm that’ll provide support for lobbying legislation for race and gender equality in the workplace. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Valere Labs?

We wanted an attractive and interactive website that provided us with tools and resources for organizing campaigns and building communities. Our team wanted the site to have a chat room and a knowledge section. As a result, we needed a company that could work with us from a political perspective, guiding us on our parameters and the technologies we should use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Valere Labs built the website from scratch, helping us to not only find the right technology for it but also to work on its look and feel. Another provider did the initial design of the website, and then we switched to Valere Labs for both front- and backend development. Initially, we had a discovery phase that lasted for 3–4 weeks. During that phase, we had detailed discussions on the nuts and bolts of what we wanted to build. 

After that, Valere Labs took copious amounts of notes and came back to us with user stories, which laid out what the UX would be. We began looking at how the existing site design supported those user stories. From there, they started the site development. We had weekly calls to review what they built, providing commentary on their work. Our teams also did a bit of QA work along the way. As we got closer to the project’s completion, we decided to do a soft launch; the site was password-protected, and it was accessed by a few users who gave us feedback. We then provided user feedback to Valere Labs.

At present, we’re doing the full QA process. Our teams are checking static pages and ensuring the language is appropriate. As with any website development project, the process is never done, and the bulk of our work is tweaking the site. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with their design experts, including Guy (Founder & Advisor). Developers and designers work in the background, but we primarily interact with the project manager.  

How did you come to work with Valere Labs?

We found them via UpWork. Our team looked at their reviews while also looking at other providers. When we talked to Guy, we knew he truly understood our project and vision. As a nonprofit, we wanted to work with someone who believed in our beliefs. Guy had his own experiences and believed in our vision. As a result, we chose them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2021, and the relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People have been pleased with the website’s functionality, look, and feel. Valere Labs has done a great job from that perspective. We’ve also received feedback about the parts that don’t work exactly as we want, but that’s normal and part of the process. Overall, the project is going well, and it’s successful. 

On top of doing a great job, Valere Labs provides highly competitive pricing and stellar technical design and development services. Since the bulk of the team is in India, I’ve had to provide them a lot of guidance and handholding. However, that’s expected when working with a foreign team. In any case, they’ve been gracious and technically competent. 

How did Valere Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The Valere Labs team works tirelessly; sometimes, they work past midnight in Indian time as we talk to them on the phone. That’s not only because they believe in our cause; it’s also part of their nature. Overall, we truly appreciate the time and effort that they put into fixing issues that come up. 

Meanwhile, we have to factor in the fact that some things haven’t been communicated correctly the first time both on our side and their side. Because they’re in a different time zone and country, there have been cultural and language differences — some wordings on static pages were off. Ultimately, though, we’re going to use them again as we’re building two other apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Valere Labs has highly competitive pricing as they deliver fantastic products. If we have to do anything complicated, we’re going to pay for it — but at a competitive rate. Along with the competitive rate, the end product we’ve received so far is technically sound and operates the way we want. That’s what distinguishes Valere Labs from the American companies that we’ve considered. 

Apart from that, they have the right energy and enthusiasm for our vision. We’ve talked to people who see this merely as a project. By contrast, Guy and his team are truly excited about what we’re doing; they’re like partners as opposed to service providers. That’s what we truly like about them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

From a customer perspective, their development process should have less friction in it. When we communicate about something, we shouldn’t have to worry about constantly checking for requests to be done. To that end, stronger project management can help. Guy should hire project managers in the US that have experience in what we’re building. 

For instance, if we’re building a fintech app, they should bring in a project manager who has experience in doing that. If they don’t have such a manager, they can outsource it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come to the table with a clear and concise vision of what you want to build. Given the language barrier, confusion can arise if you don’t know what you want to do. In other words, having a clear, well-thought-out roadmap of your vision will be highly beneficial.  

Moreover, you have to stay on top of them, and this is true with any other company. Things can get lost in translation because of language and time barriers. Given that, you must be detail-oriented and focused — stay on top of the process. 

Finally, have someone who’s capable of co-managing the project. That person should sit side-by-side with Valere Labs’ project manager to make sure everything is built the way it’s agreed and discussed. On top of that, the person should be detail-oriented to help the process.