Full Cortex, a Rocketfarm Company

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a healthcare delivery service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Full Cortex?

We were originally worked with another development company, but once we reached a certain point, they started to struggle. We just needed a little more advice on developing the platform. Full Cortex really listened to what we needed. They were able to pivot quickly and make adjustments as our needs changed. It became clear that Full Cortex could help us continue development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Full Cortex to develop a platform that connects patients, laboratories, and testing companies. Then it helps organize testing and personalized healthcare. Full Cortex helped us make adjustments to the software and created that platform. 

What is the team composition?

We had a team of about three people working on this. There was at least one programmer who I believe had some help as well as a design person. Daniel (CEO) did a fair amount with us early on, but he oversees the project and steps back and leaves us with the programmer and his design person to continue. He pops in here and there, especially if where we hit a snag and he tries to clarify what is going on from both ends.

How did you come to work with Full Cortex?

The company we were working with wasn’t very responsive and was very expensive. Full Cortex was more responsive and more reasonable for our budget and for what we needed to do all together.

How much have you invested in them?

It’s in the ballpark of $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It has been at least three years. The work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Altogether, our sales have grown over the last few years. One of the things that was very important for us, because we are in healthcare, is HIPAA security. As we continued to have requests for buildouts, the programmers and developers would alert us to areas where there could be some HIPAA issues that were not well defined even in the legal system.

I appreciated that Full Cortex recommended that we err on the side of caution so that what we were truly HIPAA-compliant.  

We continue to pivot based on the markets and aren’t building everything out that we foresee for the future. We’re purposely moving slowly on the build-out in order to maintain our budget.

We see them as a long-term solution to what we have because there are so many adjustments that we will need to make over time. I think we will have a long and healthy relationship with Full Cortex.

How did Full Cortex perform from a project management standpoint?

We've had a few heavy deadlines and they were completely on top of them. When we pushed those deadlines up, we saw them move rapidly to try and help us deliver on time. They've been extremely responsive; I would give them an A on that.

We settled into a system of weekly meetings at a designated time. We would bring a wish list of capabilities. We learned that half the time, some of our ideas weren’t fully fleshed out and would have been problematic. With suggestions from Full Cortex, we were able to move ahead.

They are very good at describing pitfalls and snags associated with some of the ideas that we had that we hadn’t considered. That helped us save time and avoid problems later. 

They put a lot of thought went into our meetings with the programmer. Each meeting included a designer who moved things along and tried to clarify things so we could avoid any miscommunication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by their responsiveness to little things. They respond almost instantly. For example, if there is something we can’t do in the portal, they jump on it and give us an answer in half an hour. We can reach our go-to people at any hour of the day.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the beginning of the project, we didn't have a designer and met directly with one of the managers and our developer. We became very accustomed to working directly with the developer, so now we're still figuring out how to work with a liaison. It is all for the better, though, because we do need to think through some of the changes we're requesting.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any particular recommendations because they really will create a design for what your needs are without a problem. They are a good team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of ChangeUp, a player-centric mobile baseball and softball pitching safety and performance management solution that enables coaches and players to track all pitching activity that a player performs across multiple teams and seasons.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Full Cortex?

ChangeUp was a concept with some high-level requirements at the time that we partnered with Full Cortex to design and build the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Full Cortex designed and developed the entire ChangeUp platform, which consists of a native iOS application, a front end admin console, and backend services and analytics engine.  Full Cortex used modern, scalable technologies and frameworks to build ChangeUp, and the architecture and approach were validated by a third party application review at various points throughout the project.

What is the team composition?

We worked with upwards of ten people, maybe more, as Full Cortex scaled the team accordingly to accommodate our needs at various phases of the project (subject matter experts, designers, testers, etc.).  While turnover on software teams can sometimes prove challenging, the core team involved in day-to-day interactions has been consistent throughout our relationship (senior architect, project manager, business analyst, domain expert, and Daniel (CEO)).

How did you come to work with Full Cortex?

We were initially referred to another company through personal networks, and after talking to them about what we were looking to do, they (despite being willing and able to take on our project) referred us to Full Cortex as a better option. Once we met with Daniel, it was clear that Full Cortex was the right partner for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked things off in November 2019 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is available on the Apple App Store. We’re happy with the quality of work. We’re engaging with them on a new initiative on the marketing front, and we wouldn’t have done that if we weren’t pleased with their work.  We’ve entrusted them with our business and have chosen to do so again.

How did Full Cortex perform from a project management standpoint?

I really emphasized project management in terms of hitting their deliverables, staying on schedule, and producing high-quality work. We gave them really aggressive timelines and they still managed to hit our deadlines. We launched in  late November and wanted to be live in time for the 2020 baseball season, and they delivered as we hoped.

My partner and I know that if something goes wrong, we could shoot a text, pick up the phone, or shoot them a message on Slack and they will get back to us right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very flexible in terms of understanding how we wanted to work and picked up on our business goals and what we're looking to do. They learned pretty quickly.

On top of that, they supplemented the team with people who understood sports and were able to speak the same language. Their team morphed as necessary to accommodate our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Did we hit some bumps along the road? Absolutely, but that’s to be expected. The did the right thing by us and we truly look at them as a partner.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They know what they’re doing, so trust them. Transparency helped us a lot. Making sure that either side of the partnership was trying to communicate really helped. We found success in communicating our requirements back to them, absorbing, digesting, and iterating our requirements so we were successful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Neural interface tech startup, COO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a website overhaul / development and needed Full Cortex to design and develop a world class website in a short period of time.

SOLUTION

How did you select Full Cortex and what were the deciding factors?

We selected them based on reasonable rate and experience / knowledge, along with how lean their team is and development velocity.

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

Building a website, using components like React and other modern day website & design methodologies. End to end system, including backend.

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

3, the founder, the head of web development, and a product manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Website was built with great QA revisions in a very timely manner. Everything built to spec and worked!

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

Very communicative, experienced in the space and know when / how to push back with expert opinion that needs to be considered. They are very professional and we would love to work with them again.

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

How fast they develop and the attention to detail given their experience coupled with how reasonable of a rate they charge.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Owner of Chris Costa Media. My company specializes in video marketing for start ups and small businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Cortex?

We had to redesign my website from scratch. I started with a very basic website that had no way to collect leads.

What were your goals for this project?

To increase my inbound leads and have a site that effectively tells my story.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met Dan through a friend.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed a completely new website, rebranded me with a logo, font and color scheme and set me up with applications like hubspot, google analytics, MailChimp and more.

What was the team composition?

I communicated with Dan and his team of developers. The head of the development team was Abdul Azeem.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I've started gaining inbound leads and can now track conversions. It's been a game changer.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management was good, we communicated mostly through Slack. We were kept updated throughout.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I originally wanted a new website, and they went above and beyond with the logo and branding. They taught me a lot about marketing and how to use my website to attract leads.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything was great.