Ventive

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an educational SaaS company, and we develop software for schools, libraries, and other organizations that host reading programs. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ventive?

We were looking to build a goal-based reading program for students and users from a school and library ecosystem.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ventive is helping us build a web and mobile app to help people participate in reading programs through a virtual environment.

the team started by rebuilding our existing app on a different framework, which was followed by the website and dashboard system using Webflow. They then custom-implemented a database system for the backend of the administrative portal.

What is the team composition?

Over the course of the engagement, we’ve probably worked with 10–16 people from their team.

How did you come to work with Ventive?

I met the CEO at a conference in Boise, Idaho. We quickly developed a relationship after discussing what I needed, which led to us selecting them as the primary vendor for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of our engagement, we’ve probably spent a little over $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They met our initial goal of delivering a viable product in the marketplace and after launching the project, our number of users significantly increased for the first 90 days of the product being live — we’ve experienced fairly robust growth since then.

How did Ventive perform from a project management standpoint?

Ventive does a phenomenal job of staying on task and delivering their outputs in a timely and cost-effective manner.

We use Basecamp to manage the project and typically communicate through Zoom video conferences and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

A lot of service providers claim to have the capability and technology to deliver, but they really don’t.

What impresses me with Ventive is they always accomplish what they commit to — they have the resources to build very complex digital products without the grief that comes with the development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would’ve been nice if we implemented better scoping meetings just so I could have a full understanding of what I was getting into before building the app.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would suggest having an end-to-end understanding of what you want to get out of the engagement, and making sure the development is understood by both parties at the outset.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a software startup that developed an application called Practice in Your Pocket. It helps dentists manage their businesses. I am the managing director and one of the three founders of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ventive?

There were a number of challenges. One was creating a mobile app that people could connect to an existing system via an API, without requiring someone to visit a dentist’s office. We wanted to automate this. The original vision was to have people go to the app store, download the app, and get their data synchronized without a phone call or visit.

The other challenge was getting development done for a reasonable price, given that we don’t have any customers without a product. The development of the mobile apps was started from scratch, and we went through a process of selecting software vendors, settling on Ventive.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ventive built this dashboard-based application which gives high-level information about production and collections from doctors and hygienists. It has a set of functionalities by which doctors can import their goals to perform against. Each of those screens has a drill-down, so we can break them down by individual doctors or hygienists. We also have functionalities that allow doctors to call patients they put under anesthesia. This was all automated in the mobile apps.

We have some more exotic functionalities which allow for the analysis of fee schedules. Dentists can ensure they’re charging the right amount for each procedure in their region, compared to publicly available data from the American Dental Association. We also connect to QuickBooks so that people can get their P&L [Profit & Loss] and balance sheets, and look at their categorized overheads in their business.

I’m not very familiar with the stack they’re using. We do have a SQL database, and the mobile apps were made for Android and iOS. The mobile and desktop versions were developed in parallel. We also have a web version, which came later. It allows users to make the connection between, say, Dentrix [dental practice management software] and our application. It has onboarding functionalities, but it’s also promotional with videos and information. We’re extending the platform to work with other scheduling applications, Dentrix and Eaglesoft [dental practice management software]. We’ve also added a CRM [Customer Relationship Management] solution, and there have been changes along the way, including the implementation of Touch ID on the cell phones.

How did you come to work with Ventive?

We heard about him through connections, had an interview, and talked about what we were doing. We were examining another firm in San Francisco at the time, but we elected to go with Jon [Founder, Ventive] because of the price point and how he was structured. It was more of a traditional organization, with fulltime staff that had been there a long time, whereas the other firm we were looking at was pulling in resources as-required.

How much have you invested with them?

I prefer to keep this confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Ventive in July 2016. The product was completed March 2017, but we’re continuing to do development on it. Ventive is providing maintenance and customer support for us as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with Ventive has been pivotal to developing our application. We couldn’t have done it without them. They came up with helpful, creative ideas that we couldn’t have come up with on our own. We’ve assessed them based on how they manage against financial estimates and timelines, as well as on their ability to collaborate with us and come up with solutions for complex problems.

How did Ventive perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been communicative, and the relationship is collaborative overall. I have a close relationship with the lead developer. When we get new tasks or challenges, we can easily get on the phone. They have a good process and have provided a lead developer and a lead product manager. Jon has overseen everything. If we have difficulties we can’t resolve with the leads, he is always available for us, happy to step in and resolve any issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a strong process and strong technologists. Ventive is very responsive and their pricing is competitive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Ventive, like many software vendors, has experienced some staff turnover. Our experience has been that the turnover has not been with key players, but with coders. Their process manages around this, so I don’t really have any feedback on how they should be improving.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Working closely with the provider is inherent in software development. Simply providing specifications and waiting for delivery will probably lead to disappointment. The client needs to have someone on their own team who understands enough in order to work with their vendor, and not just present them with what needs to be built.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a managed cyber security service provider. I am a managing partner and co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ventive?

We initially engaged Ventive to develop our website and then we had them work on some marketing automation, as well as some additional process build outs. Those were the initial projects that we worked with them on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their work has progressed over time. It started off just building the website and then it progressed to the marketing automation. It's a very interactive, scrolling website. It has a client portal page and is a complete build of a website. They did everything for the website including the design. I believe they used Drupal and WordPress, and some of their internal technologies that they built in house also.

They also run our whole SEO program, AdWords, and our PPC campaign. They set up the platform that the automation is run on and helped build the content. It has been extremely successful. It’s bringing in leads and they've been very integral in the build and management of the process.

How much have you invested with Ventive?

I rather that not be public knowledge.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for a little over three years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback is extremely positive. We don't have direct metrics, but there has been an overall increase across the board. For the marketing automation, we've had probably a 1000% increase in the number of hits that we've gotten on our website and a 200% percent increase in the number of inbound leads.

How did Ventive perform from a project management standpoint?

It has definitely been a collaborative engagement. We'll provide them an outline and we take it from there. It's joint content development. It's not just that they take our content and then use it. We work together and jointly build out the content. They are a full-service, multi-component digital agency for us, so not just the development of the website, but content creation, marketing automation, and process build out. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are extremely communicative, punctual, and proactive. They've been great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They've gotten much better at this, but at first, we were too involved in the process. We needed to be managed better, and over time they grew to know how to do that. They're very proactive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is a title insurance and closing business. When someone is buying or selling a home, commercial property, or another complex residential or business property, they can use us to do their closings. This involves examining the title, performing the closing, issuing the title insurance policy, distributing and dispersing all the funds in the transaction, and such. There's a lot of that goes into it.

We were one of the few independent title companies when I started it back in 1992. I was the president and owner until about 2015. I was mostly responsible for the technology decisions, including the website. I then assigned the presidential duties to someone else.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ventive?

We had hired numerous web design companies and technology companies before Ventive, and never had a positive experience. The past companies wouldn't listen carefully to what we were asking for, would launch things that weren't ready, and make all kinds of mistakes. After years and years of trying, I got to have a very negative view of the industry. Hiring Jon [CEO, Ventive] made a big difference.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ventive was originally hired to do a completely new website for us that involved some very complex pages, which are very innovative and different from what other companies are doing in our profession around the country. Jon and his company have done a fabulous job with that. They have also set up a custom CRM for sales purposes. They are involved in a lot of our technology decisions besides just the website.

I have limited knowledge on the specific technologies they used, but I do know many different software platforms have been involved. Ventive built this particular website using Drupal and they used a lot of background software pieces.

How much have you invested with Ventive?

They bill us monthly and it's ongoing. I would like to keep the cost confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

I don't know how many years it has been. I know we got started with them fairly soon after they got started. We were one of their beginning customers. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the problems I had with my company was that my colleagues were reluctant to try new business methodologies that Ventive would recommend. I firmly believe that Ventive's recommendations, had they been followed, would have resulted in a lot more sales and a lot more efficiency, but my colleagues didn't follow everything that Ventive suggested. That's pretty typical of a company. They're not going to drop everything they're doing and start from scratch, but the things that we did do, resulted in very positive results.

Ventive moved the website to servers that were very reliable and cost a bit more money. Nevertheless, by moving it, we avoided a lot of the problems we saw our competitors dealing with, such as security issues. We never even had a slow website. That was great. They set up email campaigns and were very intelligent about the way they structured that. They took great pains to make sure that the content, the design, and the delivery resulted in good email campaign results. They designed the email campaigns so that they were not reported as spam, and ensured they were more informative. This resulted in positive results which led to gaining customers. I don't have the actual metrics, but I can tell you that it was extremely helpful to the business, especially in the name recognition aspect.

How did Ventive perform from a project management standpoint?

They kept us up to date using Basecamp and other methods of communication that informed us about what was going on and who was responsible for which tasks. When you're designing a website, a lot of tasks can fall upon the business owner, so it’s very important to delegate those. Ventive did a very good job keeping up and managing the people running our business.

Companies don't always make their service providers' interests a priority. As a result, they can make it difficult for a service provider like Ventive to obtain things from the company, but I thought Ventive did a really good job managing our people to get what they needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

When you work with a business owner like Jon who understands the problems that surface when your website or company is down and takes the extra pains to make sure those kinds of problems don't occur, that makes a huge difference in the process.