WeAreBrain

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Ginkgo is a strategic content format agency. Ginkgo creates and executes a wide range of content from biographical exposé to documentary journalism and brand content. I am a director at Ginkgo.

What challenge were you trying to address with WeAreBrain?

Beautiful News is a global independent editorial platform that releases one short film telling a positive story every day of the year. We wanted to create a user-friendly website with multiple features and functionality. We needed to attract multiple audiences to engage with Beautiful News. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided a brief and from this WeAreBrain defined the scope and a project team was involved from the beginning to end. They used our existing brand CI and interpreted it into the front end website design. They created the UI/Front end design as well as the back end tech and database design. They also set up the hosting and email integration and provided CMS training and documentation. They even went the extra mile and provided an app at no cost. They continue to provide ongoing maintenance for our websites. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Mario (Co-Founder), Tetiana (Project Manager), and Sergey (Tech Lead), as well as their technical team.

How did you come to work with WeAreBrain?

We were recommended by a colleague who had worked with them at her previous company. We worked with Mario and his team previously on our original Beautiful News South Africa Website, as well as our Ginkgo Agency Website. Both of these projects were a great success, and they were therefore an obvious choice for the bigger Beautiful News Global Website project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €30,000 (approximately $35,600 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We first started working with WeAreBrain in 2017, and have worked with them on various projects since then.

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

We have been measuring audience engagement and audience growth since launch and have seen a great improvement.

How did WeAreBrain perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good. Our project manager, Tetiana, was very efficient, even though there were certain language barriers. She created a project plan and managed deadlines and although there were some delays that were mainly from our side, we made our target launch date. Their team has been very responsive and accommodating to our requests. They used online communication and approval systems such as Slack which were very effective.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very professional and go the extra mile. Even though it is expensive for us in South Africa to pay in Euro's, I feel that we receive a lot of extra, added value. Mario has often given proactive advice or ideas on other aspects of our business. They even built an App for us at no cost! The projects have been well-structured and well managed in a collaborative way. They are also all really nice people to work with, which makes a big difference.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think that a maintenance proposal could have been included/scoped in the original proposal. Sometimes the language barrier gives rise to confusion.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think I have said it all. They are professional and go the extra mile. They will be your partner and trusted advisor.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our foundation is a transformer in business education, located in Switzerland

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

We wanted to create a meeting space for changemakers, featuring a number of elements including a community, a helpdesk, a consultant page, tools, course overviews and more

How did you select WeAreBrain and what were the deciding factors?

Mario Grunitz was an incredible partner in defining what we wanted and his amazing team did an incredible job in translating our vision into concrete and workable segments that were implemented in a highly professional manner

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

After defining the scope, WeareBrain put together a project team with a project leader who managed the complex 1.5 year development process into clear segments with dedicated outcomes and deliverables. The team used a large list of associated and tailor-made technical solutions and found ways to integrate these seemlessly.

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

the owner, the project manager and occassional a tech persons.

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

The website was successfully soft-launched and then also launched, additional features were added as new needs emerged. We are extremely happy with the quality of the work delivered and the cooperation of the team.

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

Mentioned above

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

They are highly professional and always exhibit a cooperative spirit.

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

Not that I can think of.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder & CEO of RiskDesk, an insurance intermediary. We deliver insurance solutions and products provided by partnerships with insurance companies that our customers, the policyholders, purchase.

What challenge were you trying to address with WeAreBrain?

We have a couple of different distribution funnels. One that I was particularly interested in was a direct to consumer business or distribution funnel whereby a prospective customer can access an insurance product through an online platform.

I needed someone to develop that online platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team developed our custom online platform. From a technology perspective, all we did was rework the process flow a little bit. The first iteration of the solution was a combination of the off-the-shelf technology solutions, a framework they had in place, and customer development software. They put everything together, using the LAMP tech stack, and we collaborated on it. They were able to understand my requirements very quickly.

There’s an opportunity for a mobile app, but we were just focused on that MVP for now. The first iteration wrapped up in August 2018. We just finished another iteration of the platform that represented a product shop expansion. We integrated another insurance solution into the platform.

Without going into too much detail, the core platform is kind of geared towards part-time, freelance, independent contractors who provide services to clients. In the event that they get sued, this insurance product covers them. It’s also referred to as malpractice or professional liability insurance. That was the original product that was backed by Nationwide.

The most recent iteration of what we did with them was we expanded to include cyber liability in an event the small business gets a breach or ransomware attack or wire transfer fraud, that insurance product will cover those types of losses. We integrated that product into the online platform too.

There was a bunch of other sorts of maintenance items that we were working on and minor upgrades as well. The next set of projects or initiatives that I have is another product shop expansion and another project that I’m waiting to get the green light on. We’d use the same framework but apply it to a completely different brand and product.

What is the team composition?

I initially collaborated with Mario (Co-Founder). Then I was in contact with the project manager. There was also one day-to-day developer. There were two or three other individuals that were involved in the project including a QA person and a scrum master.

How did you come to work with WeAreBrain?

We had a mutual contact who introduced me to them. I spoke to a couple of different vendors and went through a vendor selection process. We selected WeAreBrain because of their understanding of the insurance industry, their understanding of my requirements, and their understanding of the platform’s requirements.

They did their homework, drilling it down to an MVP type solution.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with WeAreBrain started in April 2018.

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

The primary objective that I had going into collaboration with them as I needed to see the purchasing process from a customer’s perspective from start to finish. That meant I’m going to take the insurer’s product, integrate it into the platform, the customer can access the website, enter their data variables, the quote is returned, and they can execute on that quote by providing additional policyholder information, reviewing the legal terms, processing payment, and receiving a policy.

The number one success metric was if it worked or not. While there have been some bugs, 99 out of 100 times, it’s worked for our customers. That’s exactly what we needed.

The other element is how invested I felt they were into my success. Once the first development iteration had concluded in August 2018, I kept coming back to them and telling them what didn’t work or issues I came across. They were more than willing to take a look at those issues and help correct them. Even if it wasn’t a bug and represented a minor upgrade or change from the original scope, they set aside time and tried to work through that with us.

They were giving back to us rather than telling us the development effort has concluded and if we want something else they’re charging us. I wouldn’t be objective but it felt like they wanted to see the success of our platform.

The biggest success metric is the ROI on the actual software investment. We monetize our services through the sale of an insurance policy. Through that sale, that’s how we generate revenue and pay for the expenses. The biggest challenge that we’ve had is trying to get this to scale. It’s more of a social and SEO type of question or a strategic partnership type of questions where we have multiple funnels that provide traffic for business to this insurance solution. It’s something we’re working to optimize.

How did WeAreBrain perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of communication and transparency, I recognize that there was quite a language barrier. Their project manager did have excellent English skills. The developer took ongoing English courses to improve his language skills. From the offset, we all sat down together in-person and discussed some of the requirements.

One of the requirements on my end was communication is critical, and if you have a question, just ask it. If you don’t understand something that I’m saying or I don’t understand what you’re saying, we just have to address that. We operated in a very transparent and open environment, which sets us up for a successful partnership.

When things weren’t going well or we had delays and missed a deadline, it didn’t come out of the blue. Everyone was aware of it. There was a heads-up. The original 3–4-month timeframe, we pretty much got everything in place that we aimed to achieve. Even though they did their homework and understood the requirements, there were certain tasks or parts to the project that were underestimated, and they missed a deadline. In the long-run, it didn’t impact the ultimate result.

When we sat down to scope out the requirements, we established a week-by-week, day-to-day kind of approach on how we wanted to address and handle the project. We had daily standup calls, and at the end of the week, there was always a demo.

While we established something on day one, at the end of the project, we revisited the process to see if there’s a better approach to help everyone. They were willing to make adjustments. In the next development iteration, we took a slightly different approach. We didn’t have daily standups. We didn’t feel it was necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their transparency and communication are great. We established a trustworthy relationship between the different individuals and the parties, which was important to me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were some missed deadlines. It didn’t have an impact on the overall success, and it’s clearly a function of this being a new project to them in a new industry. We had open communication about it.

The other element was on the SEO and marketing side. They provide some good intel into it. I would’ve liked to have seen more active involvement. Part of it may have been outside the scope of the project, but some of those SEO initiatives tend to be low-hanging fruit and some guidelines they could’ve at least provided.

They could take more of an initiative of recognizing it’s an online platform and how to improve on Google with keywords rather than having to figure it out ourselves.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder of TheOptimal.me, a digital solution for people 50+ that helps mitigate the negative effects of ageing, sitting and stress.

For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?

WeAreBrain was selected to develop our custom-built SaaS video streaming platform with native website and iOS and Android apps. The biggest challenge was developing a user-friendly UX for our 50+ target audience. We required both technical & UX design services. We provide content flows and visual design inputs.

What were your goals for this project?

The platform needed to be accessible - working on any device, any time, anywhere. Audiences with lower bandwidth needed to have a good experience, it needed to be adopted for specific UX requirements and privacy concerns. The platform needed to be scalable, secure to allow e-comm and payments through Stripe and PayPal, compliant with PCI & GDPR requirements.

Added to this, we needed to create an affordable MVP using off-the-shelf technology solutions. The architecture needed to be flexible allowing vertical extensions into e-comm, a B2B offering and other on-demand services. Our team had limited experience and needed to find an experienced and trustworthy partner for our build.

How did you select this vendor?

We had identified a business whose offering was in a totally different category, but had similar capabilities. Senior team members at WeAreBrain had worked on this project and were recommended to us. We had high-level discussions with 3 companies, and whilst WeAreBrain's estimates were slightly higher, they way out-scored the other vendors in terms of thinking, strategy, experience.

Most importantly, they LISTENED to our brief, as opposed to proposing a totally different model and offering they thought would be better. The Board of Directors unanimously agreed with their selection.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We provided the basic requirements from a consumer perspective, and all content follows. WeAreBrain took our initial design and provided a full 360 service: Web & App design and development, including selection of fit-for-purpose off-the-shelf technology, custom CMS, UX & a level of visual design.

They became and are an integral partner for TheOptimal.me. They continue to provide consulting services at executive level, from technology to e-comm and digital marketing. One of the most pleasing aspects of working with the team is that new releases / updates very seldom have bugs and problems, and in fact, throughout the build, we have been hugely impressed with the almost seamless and robust process the tech team delivers against.

What was the team composition?

The team has varied over time, depending on the resource and expertise needed in various phases. Initially a small team built the web MVP, and changed when the App build began. WeAreBrain has been flexible and responsive, depending on our needs.

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

TheOptimal.me is a new offering and is creating a new category. We were extremely proud when the platform was selected a finalist in the 2019 Drupal Awards. We are only getting started, but WeAreBrain will continue as our technology partner for the foreseeable future. We are constantly complimented on our site, our UX, and the ease of use.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

At the start, as newcomers to building technology, our team wasn't very efficient in terms of review, and we went a few rounds before we learnt that we needed to take a far more robust approach to approvals, as opposed to getting excited about how beautiful things looked.

We found ways to overcome the language barrier without impact on workflow and over time, our team communications have worked effectively on Slack and other approval platforms. The team have been very responsive to urgent needs and fixes, and after a few initial hiccups on timing, have delivered against reasonable deadlines, within budget.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their leadership and transparency stood out to us. At an executive level we have been able to communicate openly and honestly to find solutions to problems, and to map out next steps. There will always be small issues to overcome, especially at a project management level, when language and culture aren't always the same. But these have been overcome with humour and patience.

Mario has become a trusted advisor, and the team always have our best interests at heart. From a financial perspective, I believe we have had and continue to receive great value for our spend. Most importantly, the company culture is one of living in the extra mile.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The one area I would say there is room for improvement is in the day to day comms a project management level - this is partly due to language differences - but the effort put into reducing misunderstandings has been excellent.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We operate a niche job board and marketplace for the professional services sector. Via our platforms, you can search for jobs and professional service providers in the professional services industry. I am the founder and owner of the company.

For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?

Back in 2015/2016, I came up with a business idea for my current business, but I had zero experience in web development. A friend of mine recommended WeAreBrain and after some further market research, I decided to hire them. They built my online marketplace (and later on my job board) from scratch and since then I have been using WeAreBrain on a continuous basis for new development activities, further improvements, and maintenance types of activities.

What were your goals for this project?

I had a business idea and WeAreBrain translated this idea to building a full-blown platform thereby taking into account all sorts of technical aspects like database choice, responsive design, mobile-friendly, payment infrastructure, and also the web design aspects.

How did you select this vendor?

A friend recommended them and after that, I did some further market research

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed, developed, configured, and launched my online marketplace from scratch. I wrote my business idea in a 50+ page business paper and they translated this to workflows and wireframes. Once we approved the workflows and wireframes, actual production began in the form of 2-week sprints. In the meantime, functional versions were ready for user testing and feedback. Key improvements were also made during each sprint thanks to helpful suggestions from the development team.

What was the team composition?

The project team existed of about 6 people, but certain individuals would come and go depending on the skills needed. The project manager stayed involved on a continuous basis while he did a great job of translating business ideas to the technical team and vice versa.

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

My platform was launched in April 2016 and since then it has been operational on a continuous basis without any bugs or technical fallouts.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was top of the bill. Clear and fast communication, deadlines were always met and budget was monitored and communicated on a regular basis. I would not know what to improve here.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They deliver what they promise and if there are any hick-ups they tell it straight away and try to get it fixed without any additional fees. Short and fast communication lines. The owners of the company are also personally involved and they take the time to think with you and come up with valuable suggestions and improvements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Could not think of any.

Please describe your company and your position there.

SidelineSwap is an online marketplace where people buy and sell sporting goods.

For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?

Initial website development, including allowing users to create accounts, list products for sale, search / browse, chat, purchase, and track their orders. Ongoing website maintenance, including bug fixes, new feature development, and supporting growth as we scaled.

What were your goals for this project?

Provide a best in class, mobile-first marketplace experience for buyers and sellers in the sporting goods category.

How did you select this vendor?

After working with several vendors, we selected Brain4Web based on a strong referral and satisfactory conversations with their team. We continued to work with Brain for 7+ years because of the quality of their engineering team and product development.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

1. Software engineering
2. Some product management

What was the team composition?

At most times we've leverage 1 - 4 resources to supplement our in-house teams. For special projects, we've scaled up to as many as 10 engineers, product managers, and designers.

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

Brain played a critical role in the success of our business. They allowed us to quickly and affordably launch our product, and then scale while maintaining a great user experience through rapid agile development cycles. We currently support millions of users and were ranked the 13th fastest growing marketplace in the world in 2019 by venture fund a16z.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

A project manager on our team works closely with the Brain team (typically engineers, but sometimes a PM on their end as well.) We work in 2 week sprints. We leverage many collaboration tools, including Slack, Jira, Confluence, GitHub, Google Hangouts, etc. All teams communicate effectively in English. Time zones are rarely a blocker (Boston / Kiev).

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Brain team stood out because they understood the problem we were trying to solve, and how we aimed to solve it. They are not just a software development shop, they've been excellent partners who provide thoughtful feedback as we execute on our vision. And are always highly accountable and trustworthy throughout any project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing noteworthy.

Please describe your company and your position there.

ishipit.nl is a platfom for delivery gigs. Companies can hire "shippers" per hour (for a number of hours). Main target currently: delivery restaurants, soon also retail. Complex fiscal rulings in place preventing "shippers" having to declare VAT and having to register @ Chamber of Commerce. My role is founder and investor

For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?

WAB: delvelopped all from scrach: API, native mobile (shipper) apps, web app (mobile coming) for merchants, etc.

What were your goals for this project?

Develop 1.0 platform from scratch while pilotting and being able o adjust development roadmap quickly based on day-2-day learnings and experiences. Maintain budgets, and quickly shift resources (monthly) based on chaging requirements! Never exceed budget!

How did you select this vendor?

We worked with a different development company earlier. A "befriended" development company even. However communication, performance, quality of output was not in line with demands. Almost a year we made the drastic decision to start all over again and do a complete write-off of the old platform. We selected WAB based on talks we had with another client of WAB whose platform we were considering to use as a temporary solution. We expercienced first hand the level of quality of WAB. That made us decide to try to come to an agreement ourselves with WAB. The rest is history.............

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project consisted of creation (100%) of: 1. API 2. web (mobile soon) portal for merchants 3. mobile (native) apps for shippers 4. admin control panel A tremendous amount of business rules are applicable as well as many business settings and filers in order for merchans to find the perfect shippers (including favourites, blacklisting, automated or manual selection, fines for late cancelation, ec). All finance and invoicing is handled via the platform in line with Dutch regulations! Soon we will integrate pay-per-use insurances as well additional services will be provided!

What was the team composition?

2 fte backend developers 2 fte mobile developers 1 fte product owner 0,5 fte project manager 0,5 fte Q&A + myself (product owner) => the size of the team as described above is flexible. Whenever in a monh there are more backend related taks, the budget is moved a such. Total flexibility!

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

We have a working platform functioning better then expected and was developed in line with set budgets and timelines. This platform IS our business and is therefore not meant to optimize certain parts. Currently we are adding some more features and then will start to scale up quickly. Our platform is ready.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I worked on a dail base with Ana Gritsenko, a Business Analyst, Product Owner and UI designer in 1 single person. Per month we defined the roadmap (requirments, urgency, team, budget) and together we defined to reflect requirments from an automation point of view. Anastasia created all wireframing, described all usecases into detail and once agreed I merely (most of the times) could only agree and provide text (easy). She then briefed the dev team (daily stand up).

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their speed and their attitude were impressive — the speed of their work is limited by your speed only!

Are there any areas for improvement?

none (really)

Please describe your company and your position there.

MyTinyStars is a leading French Kids Concept Store known as Les Petites Barboteuses. As the founder and CEO of the company I am responsible for the entire product selection and branding of our online and retail presence.

For what projects/services did your company hire WeAreBrain?

We hired WeAreBrain to develop our new online identity and e-commerce webshop for the MyTinyStars label.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking for an experienced, reliable and affordable e-commerce partner to build our new platform for the new season.

How did you select this vendor?

We conducted a lot of online research and WeAreBrain came recommended.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

- Onboarding workshops - Design workshops - Requirements documentation - Website development - Migration - Graphic Design

What was the team composition?

Team Lead Developer Designer Tester Graphic Designer

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

MyTinyStars will officially launch in Q4 and is our first international label outside of our homemarket in France.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I had a dedicated project lead and we communicated daily via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their organization and efficient structure stood out.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The Graphic Design output could potentially be faster.