Woolly Mammoth

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a technical lead at Equitise, an equity crowdfunding platform. We allow companies to put up capital on our web application, and then the crowd can invest in those fundraising rounds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Woolly Mammoth?

When we hired Woolly Mammoth, we had a lot of technical debt and UX issues. We needed a one-stop-shop that would help rebuild the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Woolly Mammoth was acting as a technical arm. They started off working with the founders on tech strategy and high-level solution design. They then did some UI designs and rebuilt the platform. When they started on the actual platform, I came into the picture with two other developers. They wrote a lot of the code and QA with us.

We have four applications. Primarily, they helped us with our marketing pages, which use JavaScript technologies like Gatsby. We also have another platform for investing that uses Next.js. Our API is in PHP Laravel, which I wrote a lot of.

What is the team composition?

We work with their director and two developers.

How did you come to work with Woolly Mammoth?

I believe it was word of mouth. It was before my time. One of our founders wanted a one-stop-shop.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Woolly Mammoth in February 2020, but they came on a few months before me. They still work with us on a retainer basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been extremely happy with Woolly Mammoth. We’ve received a very pragmatic solution. We still have plans with them in regards to our API and architecture.

How did Woolly Mammoth perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of the communication comes through their director. He is part of our Slack channel. Whenever we go to build a feature, we hop on a call.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their wealth and breadth of experience stand out. They’re quite strong when it comes to communication, strategy, and technical aspects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s been a positive experience. They’re a bit expensive. But at the moment, it makes more sense to use them than hiring someone in-house.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be shy about making the most out of their team. They’re quite happy to have an informal chat to get an overview of how everything is going.