StartupSoft

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

B-Stock Solutions is a secondary market for excess inventory in the B2B space. Out platform creates a marketplace for Buyers and Sellers to transact on inventory by bulk. I am the VP of Engineering, heading all software development efforts and IT operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

There is significant new work (ie, new code) needed for the new Platform that required help from Backend, Frontend, UI/UX, devOps experts. We needed talented technical resources to allow us to build High Quality Enterprise Scale solutions with the latest software stack and Architecture. Our goal is to enable a next generation B2B solution for our existing and growing customer base.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

StartupSoft was a recommended vendor from the previous technical leaders who have worked with them before. The areas StartupSoft excels at are getting qualified candidates that work hard, delivers quality and is fairly compensated via market rates as well as caring treatment from the Vendor.

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

We are using Typescript for all Backend Microservices, React for Front End, MongoDB and Rabbit MQ. The scope of work includes delivering End to End experiences for our Registration Flow, Auction Flow and Post Order Flow. They will use the entirety of our Tech Stack. Each Flow, or experience will be integrated with our existing Platform one module at a time.

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

There are 2 DevOps Engineers, 2 Designers, 4 Front End Engineers and 6 Back End Engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch our Registration Flow experience successfully and is already realizing gains in conversions and stickiness of our new users. We expect this trend to continue as we roll out the other part so the platform in the coming months.

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

The vendor is very open to new ideas and highly adaptable to our needs in both managing expectations, resolving concerns and keeping the employees engaged and happy. We used Slack, Email and Google Meet as our primary communication tools.

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

The leaders of StartupSoft truly care about their employees' safety, wellbeing and state of mind. Also, they are very flexible in growing the team according to our needs.

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

We are currently working on better ways to streamline bi-annual reviews so they can be coordinated with our internal bi-annual reviews.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of product design for an entertainment company. We create digital interactive comic books across all platforms, mobile web, desktop, VR, and AR.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with StartupSoft?

We needed to build a team quickly and efficiently, so we hired StartupSoft to help us find developers in Ukraine.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

StartupSoft basically recruits development resources to work on our products, so we can focus on marketing, development, design, and so on. They also provide some HR functions.

Our platform takes comic books into our system, and we turn them into interactive comics. We then list them on our storefront apps where users can buy comics. Our app is on various platforms, not just solely mobile or web apps. We have backend services, Apple TV and Android TV apps, and then we also have our VR apps on Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Quest, and Oculus Go. 

To accomplish this, we needed a lot of developers and all kinds of engineers. Once we identify the position and what a potential candidate looks like, we would contact StartupSoft directly and ask them to fill the position. 

Initially, we give them a list of potential job openings, and their recruiters would then search for potential candidates. The team is in charge of the vetting process, which they do through technical assessments. They would then recommend a few candidates for various positions. 

The following steps are on our end. After the team connects us with the candidates, we schedule interviews with them. Aside from the interview, we also give personality assessments to assess if they’re the right fit. 

What is the team composition?

We regularly work with 12 teammates. One is the project manager, one handles QA, and the 10 developers they acquired for us. We also interacted with Alex (CEO) at the start of the engagement to discuss our needs.

How did you come to work with StartupSoft?

I was not involved when we started the engagement, so I honestly don't know how we initially contacted them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June 2018, and it’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

StartupSoft’s performance exceeds our expectations. They do everything we need them to do and deliver highly qualified developers. The product turned out to be a bigger project than expected, so the developers are working on it, and they’re doing a great job. 

How did StartupSoft perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated with the project manager over email and WhatsApp. For the developers, our company created Slack channels where we could interface with them. We also exchange emails. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the best things about them is they do most of the vetting beforehand, which has saved us a lot of time. The time I spent with recruitment went from 2–3 days a week to 1–2 hours a week, which is a huge boom. I’d rather be developing than recruiting, so they’re doing great. They're really easy to work with and personable. I’ve had zero problems with them. We’ve known each other for quite some time, and we trust them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I don't see much that they need to improve. Everything's worked out great for us. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The best advice is to talk to Alex personally — he'll do his best to work out whatever your needs are.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder/CEO of Flamingo

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

​From Greystar to AIMCO to ZRS, ​​Flamingo's All-In-One Platform is used by 400,000+ units to centralize resident engagement & consolidate tools​.​ For residents, Flamingo's Resident Engagement App means one app for everything they need - rent, maintenance, event RSVPs, rewards, access control, amenities, eBulletin, on-demand fitness, etc. ​ 

For staff, Flamingo means one platform to book events, survey residents, automate move-ins, monitor reputation, request reviews, communicate with residents, verify renter's insurance, etc. Flamingo also integrates with dozens of tools including Yardi, RealPage, & Entrata. ​

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire StartupSoft to accomplish?

• Build our MVP and then our full platform
• Ongoing platform development
• Manage typical engineering functions and issues

SOLUTION

How did you find StartupSoft?

LinkedIn

Why did you select StartupSoft over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Did MVP and test project that worked well

How many teammates from StartupSoft were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Our engagement started with developing all the designs and our initial MVP. But this since evolved to full platform development and ongoing addition of new features as we continue to expand the scope of our platform to make it enterprise grade. We don't have an in-house team so StartupSoft has managed all aspects of our platform development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Our platform is the best and most robust in the property management industry. And within 2 years, we were able to turn it into an enterprise-grade platform. Our users rate the platform 4.8/5 above on G2 and other review websites. And we have also been able to stick pretty closely with our roadmap because new features are delivered quicky and on time, so this has allowed us to grow our feature set much faster.

What was your primary form of communication with StartupSoft?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Flamingo's provides enterprise software to large apartment buildings that allows them to modernize their resident experience. This has meant various modules and features from a CRM to communication features to a mobile app. We have been able to scale the platform and features very quickly thanks to StartupSoft.

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

We have worked with basically the same group of engineers since we started with StartupSoft 5 years ago, which has been great been because they know our platform completely. Without any turnover, it's meant faster go to market and feature. I definitely think the most unique element has been the fact that we haven't had to worry about team turnover.

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

I think sometimes it would helpful to get more proactive suggestions from the team.