LaunchPad Lab

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP of CBRIZ Gilbraltar, a real estate advisory firm based in Chicago. We help companies evaluate their options and take them through the searching, negotiating, signing, and design process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kohactive?

Our website was outdated and needed to be modernized to catch up with our competitors. We wanted the platform to serve as an online brochure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided Kohactive with a list of 5–6 sites we found appealing and expressed specifically what we wanted. From there, Kohactive created the first draft for the platform and we submitted our changes and feedback. They modified their designs mockups and, once we approved the wireframes, they began development for the WordPress site. Then, we supplied their team with content and they made minor edits for brevity and clarity before finalizing the site.

What is the team composition?

Kohactive supplied a team of 3–4 people for the project.

How did you come to work with Kohactive?

We reached out to several large and medium firms and interviewed between 5–6. We chose Kohactive because their bandwidth to support the project and price-point matched our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000—$15,000 during the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Kohactive from May 2017–February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The improved platform is a crucial asset for our marketing and business development efforts. We are now excited and willing to direct potential customers to our site, which is a fantastic success for us.

How did Kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Kohactive was highly responsive—every email was answered immediately. Whenever we asked for something outside of the initial scope, they were transparent about the extra costs. Their team finished the project in a timely fashion and kept us informed throughout.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We valued that Kohactive created a final product that perfectly matched our vision. They also provided valuable insight during development and gave us creative ideas to help convey our key message, which we appreciated.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to Kohactive and value their input—they know how to help you and when to offer their opinion.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the SVP of sales for TopBloc, a professional services company that provides software consulting services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kohactive?

We engaged Kohactive for web design support. Our previous site was very basic and needed to be upgraded.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kohactive redesigned our website, adding new branding elements, features, and functionality to our original landing page.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a couple designers, and a developer.

How did you come to work with Kohactive?

In addition to being located in the same building as our company, we compared their rates to other firms and found that they were more competitively priced.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from around January–May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Kohactive took our company to the next level, significantly improving the professionalism of our branding and website. Their work has improved our credibility in the eyes of both potential clients and employees.

How did Kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very accessible, met deadlines, and documented their work well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The combination of their technical and creative expertise sets them apart. They also educated us throughout the engagement and provided a lot of valuable feedback to help us improve the outcome of the website.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of the project goals beforehand, so the scope of work doesn't change as design and development take place. Our website ended up taking a little longer than expected, because we weren't as prepared going into the relationship as we could've been.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

FanMatchup.com is a startup gaming site that combines daily fantasy sports with confidence pool rules. I have arranged it like DraftKings and FanDuel where users can create contests, and the site makes money by taking a percentage of the entry fees. That's the long-term goal. Right now, I'm doing free contests to try to increase interest.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kohactive?

I'm trying to break into the industry. I have an original intellectual property concept that I designed over the last few years. I chose Kohactive to build the site. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I spent a lot of time putting the design together in Photoshop and other programs. Kohactive took my design and built it exactly the way I wanted. They're always adding and changing things. They had to create a home landing page. Kohactive used Ruby on Rails and Ember to build the app and deployed it on Heroku. We do Facebook and Twitter, but they're not really doing much of the marketing.

They built the platform for football. After football season ended, we wanted to continue, so they added baseball. Right now, we're doing baseball contests, but the main goal is having the site primed for football season this upcoming year. In the daily fantasy sports world, football is the dominant participation. Eventually, I would like to do football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and golf, but getting the stats for all of those is pricey, and I really want to have clients first.

How did you come to work with Kohactive?

I interviewed a number of companies when we were deciding how to build the site. Kohactive came up through my searches for firms in Chicago. I met with 5 or 6 people in the area, and they seemed to be the most reasonable. Other companies said they couldn't take on a project like this, and 2 others asked for higher prices. Kohactive had a whole startup section targeted at building a minimal viable product (MVP) within my price range.

How much have you invested with Kohactive?

The original MVP was $30,000. Since then, we've added close to $6,000–$10,000, so I could be at $40,000 pretty soon.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the work in last September. It took few months to get everything running the way I wanted. The site is currently live. I post new contests every day to get people interested. It really is going to be an evolving process. Right now, the startup is just me. Hopefully, Kohactive will maintain responsibility for changing and adding to the existing site until I can hire a CTO or bring in some coders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The website looks the way I wanted it to look, and it's working the way I wanted it to work. Kohactive did a great job with the coding. Their MVP met my goals and can accommodate add-ons. I want to add 5 new things to the site already, as well as continual adjustments.

We've been testing the site with about 50–60 people. During the last 4 weeks of football season, we had about 20 people enter. Since we went live 2 weeks ago, we're pushing it on Facebook and Twitter and trying to get more users. 

How did Kohactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They responded to emails quickly and did everything they could to make me happy.

What did you find most impressive about Kohactive?

Overall, I'm happy with Kohactive; they did what I needed. This was their first time doing a daily fantasy sports site, and they have been helpful when something needed to be changed.

Are there any areas Kohactive could improve?

A minor negative is their design abilities. if you want to build a totally original design or concept, more preparation really expedites the process. When Kohactive had to design something like my homepage, it took too many hours. Besides that, I think they're bright coders, and the owner, John, is receptive to ideas.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Kohactive?

Try to be totally prepared with your design. The more prepared you are up front, the faster Kohactive can work. If you leave the design to them, the hours could add up.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at a nonprofit that does sexual assault prevention through live and online programming.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LaunchPad Lab?

We needed a new website. We had rebranded and our old site wasn’t mobile-friendly. Also, our previous site was all built on Flash, which means you can’t measure or track anything. It was chaotic, and we didn’t really understand what was being communicated on the site, so it was time for a change.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

LaunchPad Lab created the framework and the look and feel using branding we provided. We gave them information about what we wanted on the site, and they restructured the entire setup. They built it from scratch using the Locomotive CMS. We do the SEO and content marketing ourselves, but they built the site to allow everything to be tracked.

We wanted a clear and fresh look. We have different sexual assault prevention programs for military, college, and corporate audiences, so we wanted a clear message about the programs that are good for each group. LaunchPad built a way to see all programs together, but also filter the programs for a specific audience. It’s an easy way for a user to see programs based on individual needs, instead of browsing through the entire website.

We already had a blog page, but it was very chaotic, so LaunchPad put an emphasis on being able to find all blogs within a certain topic.

How did you come to work with LaunchPad Lab?

I checked out a couple companies at the time. I felt that LaunchPad really understood our ideas, and they were in the right price range for us.

How much have you invested with LaunchPad Lab?

I think it was $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started January 1^st, 2015, and the site launched in July of that year. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I don’t have the stats available. As we couldn’t track anything on the old site, we didn’t have a clue about how many visitors we had. However, I believe there was a 225% increase in usage over the first couple months. I think people are staying longer on the site now.

How did LaunchPad Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great for the first six months, but they’re not as fast in responding now. Sometimes it takes them a while to get back to us.

What did you find most impressive about LaunchPad Lab?

They’re easygoing, and it’s pleasant to work with them. They give us great advice. They have a lot of ideas on social media and how to track our numbers.

Are there any areas LaunchPad Lab could improve?

We chose Locomotive based on their advice, but I don’t think we would make that decision again. We’re not really excited about the system. Their response could be quicker. But I do think they’re a great company with super-nice people. They deliver nice work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

It's a book and a reform movement effort called "Unlock Congress." I wrote the book and created a website for it. It's centered on marketing the book and getting folks to sign up and learn more about the reforms I propose and how they can be involved. That's the overall goal.

What is your position?

I am the author and head this movement.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with LaunchPad Lab?

I wanted to sell copies of my book but, more importantly, get people involved by having them participate and interact with me and others online.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It was for website development. LaunchPad Lab trained me on how to do various things on the site and helped me learn about analytics and how to compose email marketing messages on MailChimp and send out newsletters and create and design elements. They've been terrific all the way around on those tasks.

How did you come to work with LaunchPad Lab?

I know one of the principals of the company. I met with him and he actually connected me to a developer separate from LaunchPad Lab to work with, and then that developer actually ended up partnering and becoming part of LaunchPad Lab. I was glad to work with them because the principal, Scott Weisman, and I are friends. I knew I could trust him, and he's been great.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was $10,000 to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's mostly completed. They help me now and again when I need assistance or have a question related to my website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I'd rather not share the statistics. It's a practice that I maintain to be confidential. The anecdotal evidence I hear mostly from people who see the site person to person is the site looks clean and beautiful and they love it. I've also had media coverage and producers on television and radio and also print journalists that have come and covered "Unlock Congress" and the website was a portal for a lot of them. My strong website has built credibility in "Unlock Congress" so that I can attract media coverage and, hopefully, sell more books, this is attributed to LaunchPad Lab's work.

How did LaunchPad Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

I'm more than satisfied. The design of the website is beautiful, and they worked with me on changes I wanted to make to optimize it. The accessibility of it for users and the ease with which I can post items and improve it is fantastic. They've been responsive when there are things that I need them to do whether it's a small change or something that's larger. LaunchPad Lab is extremely fair and patient with my needs. I'm a specific detail-oriented person, and they haven't let me down once. I love the site.

What distinguishes LaunchPad Lab from other providers?

I would just say their whole team is really friendly and easy to work with. LaunchPad Lab works with you in a way where you identify designs that you like, and then they pare it down and create choices for you and that's exactly what I wanted. For me, one of the biggest parts was developing the design and getting the feel and look of it right and then the functionality also. If I chose a web developer again, I would choose LaunchPad Lab in a heartbeat and have sent them to other people, too.

Is there anything LaunchPad Lab could have improved or done differently?

Not that I can think of. They were truly great. It's my pleasure to talk about these guys. They're awesome.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're an aluminum bunk bed and loft bed manufacturer. We built loft beds and bunk beds out of aluminum for adults. Loft beds usually go to larger cities that have tiny living spaces. The bunk beds go to lake houses and resort-style homes. They're great for when you have a lot of adults in a house. We sell all of our beds online. 

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the co-founder and president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with LaunchPad Lab?

We started with a Shopify template. Our website was not mobile friendly. We need to make the user experience better. I hired them to make a custom theme for us that was mobile friendly for Shopify.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They designed our website, coded it, and incorporated SEO [search engine optimization]. They ran the whole gamut.

What was your process for selecting LaunchPad Lab?

I hired them because of their user experience and design abilities. They had a good focus on being mobile friendly. I looked at other shops. I was familiar with them, and I looked at cost and quality. I looked at their portfolio on what they've done for marketing sites, and I felt their design was closer to what I was looking for. It was more modern than other firms. 

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

It was from $10,000 to $50,000

When was the work completed?

We started in 2012. It's ongoing work. It's live now, but there are some things that we're still working on.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics on the project?

I saw an increase in conversion rate for the first month after it was launched. We saw a 15 to 20 percent increase in the first month. That's important for an e-commerce site. We saw a much larger retention of mobile visitors, which was what I was hoping for. 

We saw a 20 percent increase in average time spent on the site. All the stats were good. We saw an uptick in sales. People have reached out to me and asked about where we got our site built, and I'm happy to refer them to LaunchPad. 

Are you satisfied with their performance?

Their quality was so good, so I'm satisfied.

Is there anything unique or special about LaunchPad Lab that really makes them stand out?

What I was mostly surprised at was how quickly they grasped our business. I was concerned that the design would fall short, and they took on the whole thing as if it was their own company. They understood our target market and built a whole design that centered on that kind of person. Nothing was going to prevent them from making the site awesome. They Photoshopped pictures if they needed to.

What advice would you give to future clients of theirs?

Trust their professional input. I think they really did well with design freedom. Don't try to direct too much of the design. Let them ask the questions and figure out what's best. They work well with an ambiguous starting point. They had a good strategy to figure out the best branding.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

We made a Shopify theme. Since we customized it so much, I think I would have spent more and just had them customize the whole thing instead of using a Shopify site. That was more my fault. I would reevaluate that. I know they had to fight with some things with Shopify because of what we customized.