XOOR Inc.

Introduce your business and what you do there

I’m the CTO at a development company specialized in IoT.

What challenges were you trying to address with Xoor?

We developed a new product that required a mobile app for its use. We created the hardware, the product itself, and needed to outsource the development of the mobile app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used React Native to create our app. The team created both iOS and Android versions.

What is the team composition?

Three people worked with us since the ideation of the project and during the development, another 3–4 people were involved.

How did you come to work with Xoor?

They are based in the same city as us so I heard about them in the local technology scene. They seemed good for this project so we met up with them, we really liked their proposal so we decided to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2019, and our work is ongoing with the final details of the app.

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

The general results of the project are very good, we are even planning to continue with a second phase for this app and later on to work in a web app. They met our expectations even when there were changes the scope; the team was able to adapt perfectly.  

How did Xoor perform from a project management standpoint?

They adapted to our own project management tools, we used slack for communications and everything was very fluid. We also met in person a couple of times and the team was very timely.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am pretty happy with the results, so I couldn’t say anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head engineer of an ed-tech company in Los Angeles.

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

As a startup, we needed extra help on the engineering end. The main project they were tasked with was building out an internal tool that would allow us to quickly generate educational content.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our contact took on the responsibility of building the solution front to back. Developing entirely in React while using Polaris, he was focused on both the UI and the back-end of the work. The back-end work was handled through TypeScript and graphical API. 

What is the team composition?

We had one contact and contributor to this project. 

How did you come to work with XOOR?

I started after the engagement with their team began, but our COO knew of their company through another contract. We wanted to keep costs lower, and they seemed like a solid option.  

How much have you invested with them?

He worked with us for about 5–6 months, and his annual salary was $80,000. So, we spent around $40,000 in the end.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with him in August 2019, and he finished up in April 2020.

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

He built an internal tool that we can confidently say has increased the speed by which we can produce content. We were impressed with the speed at which they could tackle problems with academic tools. It was great to work with him. 

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

We brought him into our communication and project management systems. It felt like he was a team member from the beginning. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed by how quickly he was able to understand the tasks we assigned. Without much guidance, he was able to deliver a very functional product that perfectly met our needs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

He was more of a junior engineer, so some of his work required code reviews for quality. There wasn’t anything serious, though.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the product manager and owner of a lot of products we have. We're a mobile app development agency and we specialize in apps for healthcare, government, e-commerce, and consumer-based apps.

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

We needed an offshore development team for use in our ongoing projects.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Whenever we need additional resources, or if there's a special skill we can't do, for example, React Native, we look to XOOR as our React Native subject matter experts. We leave it to them on how to implement it on a mobile app project, and how to structure it code-wise and how to deploy it.

There are several projects that we're currently working on together. One was the BeanStalk App redesign. We took the app, which was really old and outdated, and it also wasn't optimized for the latest and greatest iOS version. We worked with them to help upgrade the app and update the design, to make it more modern, and sleek, and less buggy, and also to provide a seamless onboarding UX for existing and new users.

Another app they built was for a healthcare app for gynecological oncologists. We built the app from scratch and it's a mobile app that arms oncologists with tools, such as listings of regiments for a specific disease, with their associated toxicities, that a dozen medical calculators that users can access at the palm of their hand, instead of having to manually calculate dates.

What is the team composition?

Mauricio ( Founder & CEO, XOOR ) is my main point of contact. From project to project we typically have the same supporting team.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested at least $250,000 with them thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2015, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

We do a release retrospective, where we look at how many bugs we're having. When it comes to working with XOOR, I never have worries that there's going to be a lot of bugs, just from working with them previously. When we do go to launch, there's never really any bugs that get launched with the project. Of course, there's always some things we didn't think to check, but there aren't usually any issues. We actually had another vendor we worked with last year that delivered a project with a lot of bugs, and we had to take them off and XOOR came to the rescue to salvage that relationship with that client.

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

Usually, they take initiative upon themselves and assign themselves tickets, or if there's a bug or an issue, they'll create a ticket for themselves for us to review. Of course, before they start working on anything, they ping me or ping whoever the project manager is at the time to get approval. For the most part, they're very self-sufficient and autonomous. They're very reliable in making sure that if something's left with them, they take care of it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a unique tech stack, with the capabilities to work on a wide variety of projects, whether it's mobile, React Native, or even web and dashboard-type projects. Every time they work on a project, they also keep attention and detail to quality control, which is something we like. Unlike a lot of other offshore development partners, where there might be language barriers, everyone does speak English very fluently and they're really good about communicating the problem that they're having. They're very transparent about conveying progress, cost, and timing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish I could clone Mauricio and his team so we could have more of them. We have a lot of projects and there's always a lot of work to get done. Other than that, there's nothing I would have them improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Because XOOR is a development shop, when you come to them, make sure you have your product specifications written out clearly as far as what you want and what you're trying to achieve. That way you can quickly execute and save on time and money, on the budget and project scope. Additionally, if you have a project, and you're working with them, make sure you have all of your assets and your copy all ready to go because it might result in a delay on your project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO at Central de Ofertas, a software solutions company in Argentina.

What challenges were you trying to address with Xoor?

We only had a native Android app for our clients, which was leaving us out of many business opportunities. We looked for an agency to develop a multiplatform app so we could attract iOS users and use the same code base across the apps.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built an iOS app and worked on Android, both in React Native.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three or four people.

How did you come to work with Xoor?

I found them through Clutch. I contacted four different companies, and among the proposals, the one that best fit our requirements was Xoor’s.

How much have you invested in them?

We expect to spend about $20,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

They started working on this project in June 2019 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

The project isn’t finished yet, so I couldn't mention any metrics. It was very important for me to find a company that could work with great autonomy and keep the various projects flowing and they did it. Working with them has been a great experience.

How did Xoor perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Slack, which has worked very well. We also have weekly meetings to discuss the project’s progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very good at understanding Android behavior. They exceeded my expectations on that. I thought that in changing technologies, some things would be hard to explain, but they have done incredibly well.

We still have to see how the app reacts on an operational level, but so far, I am very happy with their technical abilities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We haven’t had any issues so far.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and creative director of a digital design and branding company.

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

We hired XOOR to develop a custom web application that we had designed.

What was the scope of their involvement?

XOOR used React and built the frontend with HTML and CSS. The backend plugged into an API for text messaging and used Twilio SendGrid for emails.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager and three developers.

How did you come to work with XOOR?

A company that we had contracted highly recommended XOOR as one of their best partners.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018 and the partnership is ongoing. We finished the development phase for the web app, but are still working on additions.

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

While our team doesn’t have formal metrics, we commend XOOR for always being on time and budget.

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

The engagement has been a positive experience. The team is available and communicates well via Slack. They’re comfortable interacting with a range of people and remain level-headed whenever we submit a change order or request a different approach.

What did you find most impressive about them?

XOOR demonstrates great attention to detail. Whereas some vendors claim to be full-stack developers but perform unevenly between frontend and backend, XOOR has a comprehensive skill set. For example, the team gets very close to the pixel-perfect mockups we provide. Our side only needs to review their work and finesse the final details.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of a company called Metadata. We're a marketing technology SaaS startup based in San Francisco that's been in business for about three and a half years. 

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

XOOR supports us with the development of new apps, tools, and capabilities. They do their work on the side without interrupting or disrupting our engineering team's ongoing efforts. The major value they offer is a way we can develop new features without jeopardizing existing items. 

We chose a nearshoring option to accelerate development without disrupting our internal engineering team. Hiring a contractor gives us a way to accomplish projects outside of the regular development efforts much faster. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

XOOR helps us develop both the frontend and backend of software. They are full stack developers who can work with multiple programming languages including JavaScript, Python, Java, and Ruby on Rails. They work a lot with APIs. 

All of our projects together are web apps. One allows users to convert names of companies to domains. Another shows a lot of information about a person based only on their email and their first and last name. The third web app automatically sends e-mails to companies who are currently researching our customers’ products and services in a very timely manner. 

What is the team composition? 

XOOR assigned two developers to this project. 

How did you come to work with XOOR?

I found XOOR through a mutual friend who is also an entrepreneur. He recommended them to me as very skilled and fast developers. Once I met them, I proposed that we start a working relationship. We tried a pilot that worked very well. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we've spent about $5,000. We have them on a retainer and just started working together.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our collaboration about a month and a half ago in January 2019 and are still actively engaging with them. If they get more people on their team, I will hire them full time. 

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

XOOR is affordable, fast, and very easy to work with. We have minimal back and forth because they always understand our requirements. 

They make projects very simple for me. I don't even have to involve my product manager. Once I send them screenshots and describe the idea, they take it and run with the project. 

As a result of their work, we have many new features we wouldn't have otherwise. One of them has gained us a few customers. They also created a plugin that connects to our existing product. We really should have built that functionality earlier, but we just hadn't had time. XOOR had the capacity to build it very fast. 

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

XOOR is very responsive. They answer emails and fix bugs very quickly. I'm very pleased with their project management. We only use email to communicate. Every time I ask them to send an estimate for the price, it's always accurate based on the number of hours they worked. 

They never go over the budget, and the documentation and costs are fair. If they ever need to increase the price, they let me know ahead of time and ask for my approval, which I appreciate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

XOOR gives me insight I didn't even realize I needed. When I need an answer, they’ll conduct an hour or two of research and come back with an informed recommendation that’s the right thing to do. This aspect of our collaboration has made our work together much easier. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. I just hope they add more developers so we can grow together. They've done such great work that I am honestly planning on hiring them full time at some point.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of a racing app company. The app monitors fluctuations in the market across a range of horse racing, greyhound racing, and harness racing events. It’s specifically focused around Australia and New Zealand, but also covers the United Kingdom and Ireland.

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

We had an archaic platform that was hard to work with and not really suitable for a modern developer. It needed to improve to ensure scalability as we move into many more locations and different types of sports in the future.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had launched an MVP in late 2016 for our Android and iOS apps but needed a lot of rebuilding and refactoring of our systems. They moved everything to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to have a more robust and scalable hosting solution. A lot of it has been custom built as opposed to previously leveraging third-party platforms. They used more modern technologies, such as MongoDB for the databases and React Native to build.

What is the team composition?

There’s been one consistent person throughout the project, and three developers in addition to solution architects.

How did you come to work with XOOR?

I was a bit reluctant about going offshore, but they were recommended to us. I have a pretty good eye for weeding out those that can only talk the talk, so I had a lot of interviews. From day one, Mauricio (Founder, XOOR) was very open, honest, transparent, and I could tell he knew what he was doing. They provided relevant information so that I would know the experience they had and I found that they’re good people to work with.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2018, and the work is ongoing.

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

We have confidence in our system now. It’s saved us many working hours on our end that would be spent fixing things. We have the confidence to roll it out to a lot more locations.

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack, Bitbucket, and TestFlight. English isn’t their first language, but their communication is completely fine—we just spend a bit of time making sure we emphasize the importance of getting daily updates to manage the time zone situation. They’ve been very responsive to all of our requests, and there is always someone available to assist us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have good technical aptitude and experience at the senior level, which makes them very strong for an offshore option. From a solution architect perspective, we know we’re in very safe hands. There’s never been anything too challenging for them, so we have great confidence in them identifying root causes in a very timely fashion.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can't name anything specific.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a cryptocurrency education firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

We're building a platform to onboard users into the crypto ecosystem. We needed a development team to help us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're using PHP on the backend and React on the frontend to build a platform for us. They're also helping transition our website to WordPress. We want to make it easy and engaging for our customers to understand cryptocurrency and blockchain. We also want to be able to address any questions about cryptocurrency within the platform.

What is the team composition?

We work with two developers and their CEO, who is managing the entire process.

How did you come to work with XOOR?

They were recommended to me by a colleague. We were transitioning from another development team, so we needed to find new development resources fairly quickly. It was important for us to find a company that was in the same time zone and could become an extension of our team. I talked to about 10–15 vendors and XOOR was the best fit for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2018 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

We're exceeding our expected deadline. It's a collaborative effort and we have a very good working relationship with them. Their CEO knows how to manage his team effectively and goes above and beyond to make sure they meet all of our needs. Also, they've provided valuable recommendations and guidance on what technologies we should explore in the future.

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very responsive and have exceptional communication skills. Their entire team is fluent in English, so we haven’t had any issues. They have a ticketing system, and we also use Slack to keep in touch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very committed to our project and make sure we always have the resources we need. (When someone goes on vacation, they always provide another team member based on our needs.) They've made our transition to a new development team very smooth.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They have an incredible team. We had a lot of challenges with our previous vendor, but XOOR has been perfect.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the lead UI/UX designer at a software analytics company. We are based in Israel with additional offices in San Francisco and New York. Our product helps developers fix bugs and handle production events in real time.

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

We wanted an attentive and open-minded development partner with the appropriate capabilities to quickly revamp our website. Additionally, we were looking for an agency that spoke our same language.

What was the scope of their involvement?

XOOR helped us update our website and WordPress blog using CCS, HTML, and JavaScript and integrated necessary Zendesk software. The team also designed and produced animated content, additional plug-ins, and they continue to maintain our support center.

What is the team composition?

I mainly worked with the founder, a full-stack developer for the blog, and a developer for the website.

How did you come to work with XOOR?

Our company had worked with XOOR’s founder in the past. We were happy with their delivered quality and price, so we didn’t look elsewhere.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2016 and the partnership is ongoing.

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

Our customers reacted positively and we saw an increase in engagement on our mobile site. XOOR is responsible for replacing our unresponsive screens with fully functioning interfaces. The team patiently explained how each element worked and consistently provided valuable feedback and suggestions.

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

We handled general communication via Slack and took care of technical issues through GitHub. The workflow was governed by scheduled timeframes for each task. They were accommodating of our needs and requirements throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As a startup, their team was exactly what we needed for this project. XOOR is quick to resolve issues, available for questions, and genuinely care about the work they do for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The time difference can be hard to manage.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a branding and design firm. We do both branding and digital product design. We also do development once we have everything designed.

What challenge were you trying to address with XOOR?

We needed help with multiple web developments for our firm.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Recently, we worked on a web app project which is a transaction management platform for real estate agents. There are a lot of documents and scheduling with any real estate transaction, and we are creating an app similar to Dropbox for real estate agents and clients. It’s a hub where they can have their information, scheduling, and documents that need signatures. XOOR is building both the frontend and backend. On the frontend, they’re using React. On the backend, they’re using Node.js accompanied by a MongoDB and Amazon Web Services.

We’ve done multiple projects with them, which are normally web-based solutions using WordPress, React Native, and a number of other technologies. We are doing a React Native mobile app with them currently, which will be iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We work with three developers.

How did you come to work with XOOR?

They were recommended to us by someone I know at a similar company. I looked at about four other development companies. They’re a good fit because their CTO has a very strong background in building robust tech platforms. I knew I could trust him. He speaks intelligently about technologies. Also, it’s nice having someone who is close to my time zone and is affordably priced. They’re always flexible whenever we need someone.

How much have you invested in them?

We invested over $20,000, which will probably increase.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in October 2017 and it’s an ongoing collaboration.

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

The code has come back very clean. There haven’t been any major bugs or hurdles. Their work and animations are very close to the design we delivered to them. We have happy clients. We haven’t had any hiccups or compromises along the way. It’s been pretty straightforward with what was agreed upon in the initial contract.

How did XOOR perform from a project management standpoint?

We share a Slack channel which allows for ongoing communication. Whenever we work with them on a project, a developer and a project manager make sure deadlines are met, the assets are gathered, and communication is flowing. Their communication is excellent and they’re very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with their responsiveness. They’re willing to scope out projects and do upfront work to see if it’s a good fit to work on projects that might come their way.

One of the nice things is that you don’t have to give them a lot of notes once you have handed them a design. They are good at getting it right. Having built a lot of platforms, it can be a frustration that designers run into, but with XOOR, we don’t need to give them too much feedback.