Nova Pursuits

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and owner of Valet Hub. Our service helps valet companies provide better and more efficient service to customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nova Pursuits?

We hired Nova Pursuits to develop a prototype our company could use as a tool to gain interest from potential investors and customers.

What were your goals for this project?

My goal for this project was to create a product with a simple and excellent visual appearance. We needed it to be easy for potential investors and customers to understand.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Nova Pursuits was referred to us by a friend of mine.

Describe the project in detail.

I described the goal I had in mind to Nova Pursuits. The team was able to comprehend the concept. They built an app relative to my business model. We had weekly calls about progress updates over the period of a few months.

What was the team composition?

I am a solo entrepreneur with a few advisors who are also investors. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Nova Pursuits created such a nice and simple design that my app became a great sales pitch. It’s a useful asset to show companies who might be willing to try our services once we have a fully functional product. They worked efficiently and even delivered ahead of schedule.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been tremendous between my company and Nova Pursuits. We saw solid communication and a high work ethic from Nova Pursuit's side of the project. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was most impressed by Nova Pursuit's ability to comprehend what I wanted to see in my app. They had the ability to build precisely what I wanted in a timely manner.

Are there any areas for improvement?

When the opportunity comes, I think Nova Pursuits should hire more coders.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of a Merge Apps Inc. I’m building a mobile application called Merge that will combine feeds from multiple social media channels onto one platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nova Pursuits?

After a previous developer failed to meet my standards, I engaged Nova Pursuits to complete my app for iOS.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted to bring my envisioned app to life.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After an extensive search on AngelList and LinkedIn, I settled on Nova Pursuits. Neil (CEO, Nova Pursuits) showed a strong background in iOS development and responded quickly to all my questions and concerns. He also offered a more reasonable quote than his competitors.

Describe the project in detail.

I first provided pre-existing wireframes and less-than-stellar code—written by the prior developer— to Neil. He then rebuilt the app essentially from scratch to be as lean as possible. At several stages throughout, he checked in with me for feedback.

What was the team composition?

Neil was my primary contact throughout the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The app has yet to launch, but Nova Pursuits met all requirements, and I’m highly satisfied with their work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Neil was highly responsive from start to finish. We had weekly calls to discuss progress, and he accommodated schedule changes with grace. He never missed a deadline and always offered a solution to any issues that arose.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Nova Pursuits found solutions to every challenge we encountered, no matter how large or small. Sometimes it would take Neil many hours of research and testing, but he’d find a way to overcome our current obstacle. His dedication and knack for problem-solving deeply impressed me.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I’m highly satisfied with their work and look forward to engaging with them for future projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a blogger at doitanywayproject.com.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nova Pursuits?

I wanted a productivity app created.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted the app to coordinate a group calendar with editable agendas.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Nova Pursuits claimed they could do it.

Describe the project in detail.

The app was to allow groups of people to stay informed and keep up with weekly meeting agendas to which everyone in the group could contribute. It was to be called Third Hour.

What was the team composition?

I have no idea. As far as I know there is only one person working there, Neil.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Nova Pursuits claimed it would be done April 1, but the vendor has not delivered and won't return my phone calls or emails. My point of contact hasn't responded in any way since April 12, and today it is July 10.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I am the team and as far as I know the Nova Pursuits team consists of one person. Since Nova Pursuits hasn't communicated, even when their team member said they would, I would say the workflow was entirely inadequate.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Only Nova Pursuits' salesmanship is impressive. They haven't delivered a thing except a few wireframes that look exactly like the wireframes I sent.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Absolutely! Communication is Nova Pursuits' weakness. They don't do it. They took my money and have now disappeared.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on February 5, 2020. New content is below.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a blogger at doitanywayproject.com.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nova Pursuits?

I contracted (Dec 19, 2018) with Nova Pursuits to create a productivity app.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted the app to coordinate a group calendar with editable agendas.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I talked to 6 or 8 app development companies, received several bids, and Nova Pursuits claimed they could do it the most economical way.

Describe the project in detail.

The app was to allow groups of people to stay informed and keep up with weekly meeting agendas to which everyone in the group could contribute. It was also to archive those agendas and have a chat feature.  

The part that Neil couldn’t do was the shared agenda part. Once the project was due (April 1, 2019), I waited a couple of days in case he needed more time and then contacted him (April 3, 2019).

Once I finally got him on the phone (April 12, 2019 which was the last time he answered a phone call from me, and it’s now February of 2020) he asked for more time to work on it, but then never figured it out, never got back to me, never answered or returned a phone call.  

What was the team composition?

There doesn’t appear to be a team at Nova Pursuits.  As far as I could tell there is only one person working there, Neil. I expected someone to contact me about UI/UX during that stage of the project, but it turns out that it was just Neil giving back to me the wireframes I provided, only in a different program.

Although he referred to a “design team” in an e-mail to me, no one ever contacted me about what it should look like. I sent specs, though, which were never incorporated in any way. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Nova Pursuits claimed it would be done April 1, but he has not delivered and won't return my phone calls or emails. Neil hasn't picked up a phone call from me or returned a phone call from me in over nine months (from April 11, 2019 to today Feb 1, 2020). I called him 15 times during that period.  

As for e-mails, the project was due April 1, but I hadn’t heard from him since March 11, so on April 3 I e-mailed him.  He asked me when I was available to talk the following day, but I asked him to pick up the phone and call me immediately. He refused, but was able to schedule a time for April 12 that I could call him.

At that time he told me about the difficulty he was having with the agenda/calendaring piece and claimed to need 21 days more, which I allowed.  

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Since Nova Pursuits hasn't delivered my job after over a year, the workflow appears nonexistent.  The only work that I’ve seen was a copy of 7 of the 16 of the wireframes I had provided at the start.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing about Nova Pursuits is their ability to ignore paying customers for months at a time without a word, an e-mail, a returned phone call, nothing.  

Neil also has an impressive amount of nerve.  He is currently conditioning my refund on my removing reviews I have posted about his company on the internet. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

Absolutely! Communication is Nova Pursuits' weakness. Neil doesn’t do it. Once I contacted the Better Business Bureau (September 11, 2019) Neil finally responded (October 3, 2019) to an e-mail of mine, which was 5 months after the last response I got (April 12, 2019) and 5 ½ months after the due date (April 1, 2019).

All he told the BBB was that he was consulting with an attorney. He claimed in an e-mail to me that he thought I didn’t want him to finish the project. However, the last time we spoke was when he said he needed more time.  

When I explained that it was fraudulent to represent that he was capable of doing a job and contracting to do it, and that it was a breach of contract to never produce the contracted-for app, he understood that he needed to give me my full refund and said (Oct 23, 2019) he would send it. However, it wasn’t until January 13, 2020 that he sent over less than half of my refund.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of my startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nova Pursuits?

I needed someone to build my landing page.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the page to serve as a brochure/introduction to our application.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found Neil, the CEO, through an online search.

Describe the project in detail.

Nova Pursuits built my homepage.

What was the team composition?

Neil was the main point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The site served as a great starting point from which we were able to develop a brand and introduce our product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Neil was accommodating and incredibly easy to communicate with. He managed his team well and quickly implemented new changes.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The ease with which I was able to reach them and communicate any questions I had stood out. Because my company is young, things change quickly, and Neil was able to handle both large and small change requests.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can’t think of anything.