Codal

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a board member of an aviation and aircraft company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

We wanted to rebuild and modernize the frameset of an existing database, taking advantage of e-commerce and other new technology platforms available nowadays.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codal rebuilt the platform from scratch using Django and Python. They recently deployed the final version of it, which ended up being a redo of an existing marketing site and an existing SaaS platform. They also upgraded the UX/UI for the website as well.

They corrected every issue we initially had with the platform and worked with them to correct everything. 

What is the team composition?

We dealt with a project manager, and he managed his internal team of developers and designers.

How did you come to work with Codal?

We did extensive research and interviews for developers; we decided on Codal because they were based in the same city we’re in.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $300,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked from August 2019–April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just implemented the new items to the platform and website, so we’ll be able to provide that kind of data in a couple of months. What I can say is that they did a large upgrade; we now have SEO support for our site and a proper backend to handle our CRM — now everything’s running the way it should.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed the project seamlessly; they listened to all the issues and implemented a game plan to ensure that everything would be done quickly and correctly. In terms of communication, we used GitHub, Slack, and several other services — there was no shortage of communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very talented; they work hard and are eager to please their clients at the end of the day. They also implemented the required architectural and design changes to allow a seamless transition to our in-house IT, which they were unable to provide before. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that the expectations for your project are in writing and that there’s a clear delineated schedule for the engagement — that would be a good plan to ensure successful completion of the project.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on January 25, 2021.

Board Member, Aviation Company

Manufacturing

1-10 Employees

Des Moines, Iowa

$50,000 to $199,999

Aug 2018 - Jul 2020

Project summary

Codal was hired to rebuild the client’s website using a modern coding language.

Feedback summary

Codal never delivered the final product, created service outages, and caused the client to lose business. Disregarding their contract, they outsourced the project overseas, creating communication issues that impacted the timeline. Eventually, the client was forced to sue for access to Codal’s work. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m on the board of a subscription-based company that tracks aviation values. Our platform uses an algorithm to calculate the fair market value of an airplane based on the year, make, model, and hours on the plane.

Our subscribers include financial institutions that lend money for aircraft acquisitions, lawyers that represent clients that are buying or selling their aircraft, or insurance companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

Our website was originally built in 1993, so the code was archaic and would no longer be supported come January 2021. We engaged with Codal to rebuild our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were supposed to modernize our website by rebuilding it with a new coding language. Our team brought them comments, complaints, and issues on a regular basis, and they always assured us that they would handle it.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager.

How did you come to work with Codal?

After interviewing several companies, our president decided to work with them because they’re a locally-based company. We thought it would be easier to work with them because we wouldn’t be dealing with a time difference.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2018, and we terminated our agreement in July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The initial delivery date was supposed to be November 2019, but they never delivered the final product. We had to terminate our partnership with them and hire someone new to complete the project.

Eventually, we had to go to federal court to get the assets that Codal had completed. Then they changed our access passwords so we couldn’t access everything we needed. Again, we had to get lawyers involved to force them to give us access to our site again.

They were deceitful, unprofessional, and unreliable.

In addition to losing the money we paid them, we lost many clients. I also had to spend a lot of time trying smooth things over with our clients because they rely on our data for their businesses.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

We wanted to work with a US-based company because of time constraints, and Codal committed to using local developers in our contract. However, they outsourced the project to people in India. Although we understand why overseas companies can be a great option, it quickly became a problem for us. When we asked questions, it took over 24 hours to get a response from them, and when our system crashed in took 24–36 hours to get it running again.

Then, one day, we stopped hearing back from our project manager. It was like he disappeared.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re not happy with anything they did.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their management needs to change. I’m sure there are decent people working there, but they don’t have control over situations like this, their bosses do.

Star Ratings

Overall rating: 2.5

Quality: .5 We have to redo the entire project.

Cost: .5 We lost six figures and will have to spend another six figures to fix the issue. They cost us a fortune and we lost business.

Schedule: 1.5

Willing to refer: .5

This review was published on January 11, 2021. 

President, Aviation Company

Airlines & Aviation  

1-10 Employees

Des Moines, Iowa

$50,000 to $199,999

July 2018 - July 2020

Project summary: 

Codal was tasked with incorporating a new software language into a legacy software rebuild, as well as deploying a fully functional product.

Feedback summary: 

Codal did not meet timeline or deliverable expectations. They outsourced the work instead of completing it internally as promised and crashed internal servers and databases. The team managed the project very poorly and couldn’t code the required elements, which cost the business money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of an aviation company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

We wanted to rebuild and modernize our legacy software. It was a full ground-up build with brand new UI/UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codal was supposed to build in a new software language and deploy a full, working product within 12 months. 

What is the team composition?

We probably worked with 30–50 teammates.

How did you come to work with Codal?

We interviewed about half a dozen developers. Codal was willing to agree to certain contractual terms, which is why we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in July 2018, and we terminated them in July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They breached every aspect of the contract. It was all supposed to be done in-house in Chicago, but they outsourced all of the work and sent it offshore to a foreign language-speaking country. 

They purposely crashed our website and our servers about eight times, and in 27 years, we had never gone offline one time, much less for a second. 

The team also took our monthly server chargers from $200 a month to $3,000 and extorted me out of $20,000 to turn over access to our own servers to a new development team after they were terminated, and we had to file a lawsuit against them in federal court for four criminal act violations. 

It appears that they don’t have the funds to fight the legal mess. Codal went into our database, blocked all of our admin, deleted all of the admin access, and blocked us from adding or changing anything in the database. They then crashed our database after they were terminated.

We had to redo everything. They didn’t meet any contractual obligations. Our entire website was supposed to comply with ADA, and they sent me proof that it did when it actually didn’t. We had to go ahead and pay a new designer to redo everything so that we are compliant.

They built an e-commerce portion of our website to allow us to facilitate online shopping and prevented anybody outside North America from going through the e-commerce system because they couldn't properly code zip codes and phone numbers for foreign regions.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was abysmal. I've never worked with a company that had such poor communication skills and then refused to acknowledge when there were problems. To them, the problems were always the client's fault. 

Because Codal outsourced the work, they forced us to align with a foreign country’s timezone and fired our project manager halfway through the project with no warning. They did not deliver any aspect of the project on time, blocked us from providing feedback, and prevented us from communicating with the developers. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

One of the things we sued them for was fraudulent inducement. Something they could do to keep themselves from getting in this position, to begin with, is not taking on projects that are beyond their capabilities internally or beyond their experience. 

Because it seems like they're so hungry for business, Codal ends up taking on projects that they have no idea how to architect much less get through from a project management perspective. They shouldn’t be taking on this scope of work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look elsewhere, unless you want to be disappointed and humiliated.

Star Ratings: 

Overall rating: .5

Quality: .5

Schedule: .5

Cost: .5

Willing to refer: .5

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO at a digitally native reinvention of the neighborhood corner store.  We operate both-brick and-mortar locations as well as an on-demand delivery platform.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Codal?

We hired Codal to build out our native Android application. 

What were your goals for this project?

Our primary goal was to port our existing iOS application to the Android platform, we wanted to ensure that we retained feature parity between the two platforms.  It was also important that we consider the expected differences in human interface guidelines between the two platforms. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We went through an RFP process and received bids from multiple companies.  After a throughout review process we believed that Codal's bid and experience were the best fit.

What was the team composition?

N/A

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Codal successful built the complete application and we were able to roll it out on schedule. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Codal setup multiple forms of communcation so we were able to provide feedback, and move quickly anytime there was a question.  

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We really enjoyed working with Codal on this project.  Would highly recomend them for any future app development work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of an internal startup. We’re part of a multi-billion dollar company in the food service industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

We were working with our previous developer to build an e-commerce marketplace that would connect specialty food vendors to the restaurant industry. However, we weren’t satisfied with the design nor the technology, and a lot of the setup was just done incorrectly. As a result, we approached Codal to help us overhaul our site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Codal redesigned and reworked our marketplace platform. They initially came in and assessed the site, delivering a massive code review that documented what had been done, whether it was done well or not, and how to fix it. 

We then went through a UX/UI redesign process. After conducting user research, their team worked closely with us on location to put together the site’s look and feel. Our main goal was to get down to the root causes of our previous design and remedy them.

Once we finished planning, they established a task list for the given timeframe and brought in a project manager to help execute. We’ve been working with them since to evolve the site on a sprint-by-sprint basis. The site itself is based on Magento, and the vendor marketplace uses Mirakl.

What is the team composition? 

I work with Rob (UI/UX Designer, Codal), Shannon (UX Designer, Codal), Matt (COO, Codal), Keval (CEO, Codal), a project manager, and an account executive. In the background, there are about 5–6 backend developers. I’m confident that their team will be able to grow with us as we reach an enterprise level.

How did you come to work with Codal?

I sought them out to replace my previous vendor.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $350,000 in total. Now that they’ve ramped up, they bill us about $75,000–$100,000 monthly. Their hourly rate is really affordable for the quality delivered.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work started in December 2017 and is still ongoing. We’ve been so happy with their performance that we’re building our overall strategy for the next 16–18 months with them in mind. We plan to have them be a part of this project for the foreseeable future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Considering how far into our old platform we were, Codal has really dug us out of a hole and proven that they can grow with us. The biggest benefit of working with them is their proficiency with both technology and UX/UI design. It’s hard to find a team that can do both well. Usually, people outsource that work to two places and coordinate between them, but Codal has done a phenomenal job at both.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

Even though we’re not as big as some of their other accounts, they’ve done a great job of engaging us. Keval has been especially hands on to make sure that they hit every timeline or deliver before. His availability for the amount of work produced outside of ours is just astonishing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed at how they approach unknowns. Because Mirakl is not a widely used technology, Codal had never had any experience with it before. So, Keval stepped in to make sure that everyone’s skills were up to date. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
Trust that they’ll bring solutions to you rather than vice versa. They have a lot of experience in their industry, but, more than that, they employ smart people who excel at problem-solving.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a CRM system aimed at the self-storage industry. We handle communications and customer relations for our customers. I'm the company president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

They've been our contract developer for the past six or seven years and are a core part of our development team. They help with our various needs and augment our internal developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're integral to everything we've built over the past several years. They helped build out our call center module, and, as we upgraded our platform from a monolithic system into microservices, they were responsible for our entire backend. They made sure everything was properly partitioned, scalable, and built around our new approach. They sat with us through architecture meetings, helped us develop and test solutions, and they stood by us as we released the final products.

They assisted with a website redesign a few years ago. They asked us what we wanted to include and what we wanted to communicate. Once we approved their designs, they built out the site and released it.

They also designed an iPad app for us. We had a tablet-based interface we wanted, and they helped with requirements, design, and developments. Their UI/UX team walked us through functionalities, and they went through a lot of user acceptance testing to make sure the UI was strong. Then, they continued to add features as we progressed through development.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is their CEO. I speak with him about bigger issues, or members of my team interact with his team for day-to-day needs.

How did you come to work with Codal?

Another developer we worked with couldn't keep up with our needs as we grew. Our initial MVP was built as a proof of concept, and we were outpacing that existing development partner. I reached out to some of the people I knew in the community, and they recommended Codal. After speaking with them, we started working together. It was the right decision, and we've worked together for years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around 2012, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They are a critical part of our team whenever we have a temporary need. They have a significant pool of resources and are happy to scale resources as we need. Everything we build involves them in some degree. We don't keep metrics of their work, but we depend on them for a variety of projects.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

They're always reachable if we have an issue or questions. We're one of their longest-running partners, so I have contact with most of their hierarchy. I don't abuse my connections, so they never try to temper me. They're involved in everything we do and constantly make suggestions for ways to improve or for technologies we should try.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very flexible and invested in our success. Even though they're a contractor, they act like an employee.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, finding rarer skillsets is difficult, but they always manage to find someone who suits our needs. I don't really have any major issues they should improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the partners at a company that provides a chiropractic electronic health record (HER) software for practices. Our software is used by chiropractic offices to manage patient profiles, notes, and charts and to manage healthcare billing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

We wanted to develop a new billing software and enhance our billing module. We received a lot of feedback about the platform and had some challenges coming up with ideas to make it more user-friendly and streamlined. We wanted to improve the UX/UI. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Codal to enhance the billing module for patient accounts, including collecting copay, processing credit cards, selling products to an office, or billing insurance claims. Our platform already had sections for these tasks, but we needed fresh ideas to pull all the moving parts together. The parts on our platform were disconnected, and we wanted a more streamlined flow. We brought Codal in to give us some ideas on better processing transactions and having smarter flows in some areas.

The platform was challenged to differentiate between a single process and bulk processing, and we have pages that require multifunctional aspects. Codal was able to bring ideas from their past experience, including bulk functions. Now, when managing a patient’s account, users can identify everything they want to include first. We changed many of the drop-down menus and implemented an icon-style feature where someone can select all the functions they want to perform, collect a bulk set of items, and execute by clicking on an icon. Codal implemented bulk transactions and functionalities to many pages that didn’t have those before.

We’re currently using them to redesign the billing module from the ground up, but we’re also going to use them on other parts of the software to enhance and better improve other areas with better flows and functions. The project we’re working on is massive.

How did you come to work with Codal?

We found them online by searching for companies that did UI/UX design. We narrowed it down and contacted a few companies. Codal had good reviews and ratings. We had an initial meeting and gained comfort for what their expertise was. We talked about what the project would entail. Based on Codal’s online presence and reviews, their meeting with us, what they bring to the table, and the code they provided, they became the frontrunner.

How much have you invested with them?

We took them on as an independent contractor with a set team and a monthly rate for the allocated hours. We’re keeping them on for a year and a half, and the total cost will probably hit six figures.

They were willing to negotiate to come up with something that worked. They wanted to work with us, and they accommodated us. We never felt taken advantage of, or that it was too expensive. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Codal in May 2018. The project is set to be complete by early summer, and we’ve decided to keep them on to work on phase two, which is going to be in the latter part of 2019. Then, we’re going to use them on the other part of our system. We’re planning to work with them for a year and a half on various parts of the system. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the beginning, we were only going to bring them on for a small part of the project for eight weeks maximum. We were planning on using them for maybe one-tenth of what we’re using them for now. We were only going to have them design a couple of pages and then do the rest ourselves. Once we brought them on and they started to present all the valuable information they knew, we realized that we wanted to make them a staple part of the project and use them for the entire interface. They’re well versed and bring a lot of value to the clients they work with. 

They have eliminated a good 75% of the work we would’ve had to do ourselves. They took on a project that probably would’ve been a three-year project on our own, and they helped us make it an 18-month project. They cut the time in half.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a designated project manager, and they’re always incredibly responsive. We usually get a response within the same day in a couple of hours. We have weekly meeting schedules, so there’s never any guessing about where we’re at. We’re in constant communication. 

We also have a financial contact, like an account manager, that oversees us as a client. It took a bit of figuring out who the players were, but, once we got situated, we’ve always had a good flow of communication. We haven’t had any issues since we got organized.

We started slowly until they gained comfort in how the system works. We’d tackle a different page or part of the system every week. Codal was ready to learn. They were like a sponge, ready to go, and they were open to receiving whatever I offered them.

It is such a big project, and I needed to have more insight on how they tracked all of their work and how they were going to bill us, so we created a project platform on a separate software to track our project. They’re willing to use the platform that we’re using to track the development, which is great. They gave us full, candid insight on their daily tracking of hours and made the project a lot easier. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated the fresh ideas they brought to the table. The most impressive thing was how easy it was to give them directions. They immediately understand what I’m talking about. I can explain something, and I don’t have to overexplain it. They also bring me 2–3 options. They’re always two steps ahead. They’re immediately able to pick it up and bring it to life. They provide sketches, and, once we’re okay with those, they’ll take it into the wireframes. I liked how intuitive they are and how quickly they’re able to understand something and turn it around.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re good. They’re easy to deal with, and I don’t have any complaints. They’re an easy follow, adjusting well to my work style.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Let them understand the product and learn what they’re working with, inside out. We made them videos, walked them through pages, and gave them our user manuals. After the first month, they became comfortable with how the system worked, and it started to move much faster on the additional pages because they’d already started to understand how the program worked. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the advisory CTO of a health solutions business. We provide a platform for athletic organizations to track current injuries and collect relevant medical data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

We needed developers to create our software, mobile app, and website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we sat down with Codal and walked through the idea and concept of what we wanted to do. Possessing a lot experience, they advised options to consider and examined points of the initial concept that we missed. They produced our software and tracked project progress through an Agile development approach. Additionally, they developed our website and the mobile app for iOS and Android. The product has launched, but we’re continuing to work with Codal on subsequent updates and releases.

How did you come to work with Codal?

I came on board after our CEO had started this engagement with Codal, so I don’t know.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’m not sure when our relationship started, but we’re currently still collaborating with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They produced a product that’s resulted in our first customers and revenue stream. Coming from a software development background, it’s an excellent initial product. There’s always going to be bugs with a first release, but I was surprised at how minimal those issues were. They responded quickly to fix what problem did exist and got us to a very stable product.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a great technical platform that gives us full visibility of what their teams are working on. They also have an effective project management tool-suite that all communication funnels through. Having one digital point of contact to get information, post questions, and have discussions keeps everything organized. I also pick up the phone and call them quite often. They’re very responsive that way as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with a lot of large contract developers and they’re often not available. Processes take a long time due to the bureaucracy that comes along with a large company. We don’t have that experience working with Codal. You can call their CEO or anyone else on their team at a moment’s notice. They’ve even helped us work with customers to better understand and resolve products issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any specific recommendations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you reach out and give them a chance, it’ll be a beneficial relationship.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in the marketing department of a home and housewares company that sells products through Brick and Mortar, eCom, and private label partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

Our website was built on a platform that didn't support direct-to-consumer business. We wanted to build a more consumer-friendly website that people could easily use to shop, so we found a new platform – Shopify Plus. We needed a company to do UX work for our website and help us maximize our Shopify Plus consumer experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a twofold objective: the first one was to get the site live and the second one – to connect the backend to our system (our system is Apprise). We're still working on the second goal. 

I worked with them on identifying a Shopify theme that would most successfully sell our products. We wanted to go live in the U.S. and, eventually, expand internationally. They analyzed the themes on Shopify Plus that they thought would work best for us and provided recommendations. Then, they provided an architecture that we approved and they built the front-end of the site. They delivered the product in a very short timeframe – we wanted to be live for Black Friday, so we had to turn that around in 6–7 weeks. 

What is the team composition? 

We worked through our project manager who had a team of resources at his disposal to complete the project. 

How did you come to work with them?

We asked Shopify Plus for recommendations and they sent us 5–7 of their preferred partners. After making some phone calls, we narrowed them down to Codal and a couple of other companies. We talked to a larger agency and a much smaller one, but Codal was a perfect blend, offering the expertise and the resources without the hierarchy of a large business.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in September 2017 and the relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our site is live and we are effectively selling through it as a new sales channel for our company. We are additionally leveraging it to build brand presence in the marketplace, which will help our .com sales channel as well as aid us in selling through our B2B e-comm customers. 

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They were extremely easy to work with and made progress quickly. This was new waters for us as a company but they effectively communicated all the options that were in front of us, guiding us along the way. 

Our first project manager left Codal when we were 60% through the project, but they jumped in at the senior level and took the project to the completion without much interruption; meeting our expectations and deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We liked their personal touch and the way they structured their account team. Our dedicated account manager was always there for us if we needed anything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did a top-notch job launching the frontend of the website. We were extremely happy with everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep up with them. They were able to move quickly, and the whole project was able to move quickly because we were keeping up with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our business is a platform to help users manage almost every aspect of personal outreach and gift giving associated with important events in their family and friends' lives. We track those events and help them identify the appropriate type of outreach for them. We then walk them through the process of finding the right products services that meet those outreach desires, and the actual purchase and delivery of those items. I am the Founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

I was looking for a provider who could help me create an MVP product of the platform. I'm a chemical engineer, so I have knowledge of certain technical aspects, but I'm not specifically versed in many of the programming languages. I was looking for a vendor who would be able to provide project management services where I could work directly with a project manager who would actually manage the technical individuals. I also wanted somebody who had the capability to develop the web application for the near term, but in the long term would be able to provide other services, such as mobile services and the like. The development partner needed to have varied skill sets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a very specific vision for I wanted the product to look like, and I needed someone to build an MVP based on a certain set of requirements. These included the web application, certain tracking features to track specific events and recipients, what those different events were, and how people wanted to celebrate them. The product would also have a reminder system for those different events, as well as a type of identification portal.

I had done a very basic set of wireframes on my own, so I knew the features I wanted to include in the MVP product. However, I needed to take it from basic to more advanced wireframes, which were more interactive and thought through how each one integrates with the other side. From there, we would do the UI/UX development, and create mockups that had a visual appeal. We converted those ideas into the development and the backend work to make it real. The development needed to happen in multiple phases, and my biggest role would be pushing my desires from a product feature standpoint. I would provide less input regarding visual appearance and function, which I wanted Codal’s input on as well.

I looked at different providers based in the U.S. versus offshore. It was critical that Codal be located in Chicago and Madison because I wanted the UI/UX team to be able to walk me through the different features that we wanted and how to prioritize some of those features. They were very good in that respect. I really enjoyed working with the UX team and learning from their perspective Although I had very specific ideas, Codal still gave me appropriate feedback and pushback. We had good conversations on the various features, what they should be, and how to prioritize them.

How did you come to work with Codal?

I found them through Clutch. After doing enough work with alternate vendors, I think that reviews are a good place to start. Clutch does a good job of getting solid feedback and reporting actual statistics. From there, I reached out to each of the companies that I was assessing and had conversations with a number of them. I asked the companies for references and spoke with them as well. For Codal, I was able to get in touch with a few different individuals and they were very interested and willing to showcase their work, as well as give referrals that I could talk to directly. I felt confident that they would be a good partner. From a cost perspective, I was also looking for a company who could provide a project manager to oversee the actual technical work, and UI/UX team that was U.S. based, and close enough that I could meet them in person. Additionally, it was important that the backend development and other aspects were offshore, but the project manager was local and could help me manage a lot of the backend development.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2017 and the collaboration is ongoing.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $25,000 and $30,000

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have not launched the site yet, or undergone the actual beta testing. We will gain more feedback going forward. However, just from some of my technical advisors' initial reactions, they really like the layout, the flow, and the functionality currently in place. I think users will be receptive to many of the features. I'm expecting that certain feedback will open up opportunities to make improvements, but overall, I'm optimistic about the first version.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, pretty well. They do have many other ongoing projects that are larger. Also, working remotely is always a challenge. While we always arrive at the correct point, there are certain times where we have to communicate things multiple times or revisit topics. My project often takes up only a small portion of some of the resources' time, including the project manager and many of the other individuals. So, sometimes I have to work through that. However, within this context, I would say I've been pretty happy with how everything has been managed.

They have project management systems for messaging, so a lot of the written notes, quick check-ins and updates are done through their project management system. Every other week, we have a check-in phone call to discuss some of the points that we're either unsure of based on electronic communication or bigger updates that we need to go over. They have screen share built in through the system that we're using, which allows them to walk us through the most recent updates. We used this a lot for the UK portion of the project. Now, a little bit less, because we're moving more into the actual backend development.

What do you find most impressive about them?

They have been my partner more than a developer. From early on, they have been focused on providing solutions across the board. They have been willing to provide guidance and direction on things that aren't necessarily just in the development realm. I can look to them for cybersecurity insurance and other areas not necessarily related to the programming or specific scope of work. They provide knowledge they have gained from problems they have dealt with in the past, which I’m leveraging for my company. This is all to say that our scope of work is the MVP product but we're looking at Codal as a long-term partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project management and some of the communication aspects. We often iterate on topics that are brought up at one point but are either lower priority or we don't arrive at the same view of it the first time. We'll have things come up and get to the right solution, but we're often not on the same page or I will provide feedback that won't necessarily be incorporated or disseminated. We then have to spend extra time to resolve these issues, rather than catch them the first time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The business is a media company. We work with Twilio to route text messages and phone calls. We have a few different applications for the platform. The one we’re working on specifically allows agents, celebrities, or really anyone, to monetize text messages, keep their phone number and other contact information private, providing a dedicated phone number to field requests from fans or someone you’re counseling. There’s a ton of applications that we’re scaling in that aspect. I’m the owner, founder, and president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

We’re building a very custom platform around Twilio. What really drew me toward Codal was their experience and knowledge of the platform. I know they have some connections within Twilio so it’s always good to get direct support or other help when working with them. Their knowledge of Twilio gives them the ability to make things happen.

What we’ve created over 4–5 years of developing is a pretty robust, custom platform wrapped around Twilio. We also use quite a few other APIs and services. Kevel and Matt both really stay in tune with what’s developing as far as what programs we should be using. If there’s not something out there, Codal is pretty much always willing to custom code it, figure it out, and kind of one-up the current competition if we aren’t willing to license or buy another product because it is lacking in features. We develop it ourselves, and in the meantime, we develop a better product than them.

So, it’s been a good relationship with them. They know the tech side of it and stay in tune with what’s happening lately. Development cycles are generally every 1–2 years so the code base gets updated regularly with the latest, most efficient development methods. Keval (Baxi, CEO of Codal) stays in tune with all that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codal is our primary and only developer at this point. We’ve used them for the entire duration of the company. They work on multiple projects for us. We’ve created a front-to-back solution revolving around Twilio. The platform uses Twilio’s APIs and their new features as they come available. We continually develop the platform around the user experience.

Codal is taking care of the UX, the UI, the coding, and management of the tech side of the platform. I manage the business aspect. It’s been a very positive business relationship with Codal and myself. I handle the day-to-day business and Codal monitors and develops the website. They have their procedures in place to make sure everything happens. We have two project managers assigned to my projects, and I’m in constant contact with them through Slack. If something comes up, I can ping one of the project managers and have a response pretty quickly.

If it’s a serious matter beyond a project manager, I can ping Keval or Matt anytime. I don’t know if Keval sleeps; he’s almost always available. If I send him a message at 10 pm, 9 times out of 10, Keval is going to be awake and responding to my message. Just having them readily available on all aspects of the business has been huge for me. Keval knows what he's doing and is very responsive to what I bring to his plate.

As a business, we went from a very small website processing a few hundred dollars a day, maybe 500–1,000 total hits on the website, to a website that’s going to process close to $3 million this year. They’ve helped us scale from that small, custom website to where we are now. We’ve gone through several iterations of the website, several upgrades to the backend platform. We’re coding in PHP. Since we started the project five years ago, there have already been 1–2 iterations or upgrades from PHP. So, scaling the website and the traffic alongside what we’re doing on the business end, we’ve never had a shutdown on the website where it goes dark because something happened on the tech end. We have checks in place to make sure that doesn’t happen.

We upgrade the platform as needed to scale with the volume. We’ve transferred a lot to AWS (Amazon Web Services), which has helped with the scalability. That transition was seamless as far as upgrading nearly the entire website. It’s a huge task. On the front end of the website, there are obviously design changes, but on the backend, there were no negative effects when making that huge transition over to other services that help scale and fill our needs as a growing business.

How did you come to work with Codal?

When I first got in contact with them, I was still in school in Madison, Wisconsin. I’d bumped into someone they knew, and he made the connection. He knew of Keval and Matt, and that was the extent of the initial connection. We scheduled a meeting pretty quickly after, and I went down to Chicago from Madison to feel them out. At that point, I had talked to 2–3 other developers before deciding to go with Codal. The main thing that separated them from the other firms was their experience in Twilio. Knowing that they’re an established company in Chicago made a big difference as well.

We had contacted a freelance guy who said he could code the entire website and do it for nearly half the cost, which was a red flag from the start. He quoted something too low, so I knew it wasn’t a realistic quote. If we had gone with him early on, we wouldn’t have a business today. We would never have been able to go from processing maybe $50,000–$100,000 a year to over $2 million with that developer. So, we obviously made the right choice going with Codal, and I’m glad we did. Their quote was very realistic.

We were also eyeing up another group that had a very similar quote to Codal. We went with Codal due to their Twilio and PHP experience. Matt and Keval are young, up-and-coming entrepreneurs, and I was able to relate to them. We were talking on the same wavelength as far as what I needed, what needed to get done, and how we were going to get this small project launched with the schedule to turn this into a much larger project.

We’ve grown the businesses side-by-side as partners. We’ve exclusively used Codal as our developer and never looked back. As they’ve scaled Codal, we’ve scaled our company side-by-side, learning as we go in some instances, but that’s sometimes the best way to do it. They’ve come a long way, as I’ve come a long way with our company.

How much have you invested with Codal?

We started out paying them $2,000 a month to initially get it launched. Right now, we are paying around $10,000 a month to Codal. We’re able to bring developers on and off projects as we need them when bugs need fixing or new features are being developed. We can add 1–2, and then take them off once that feature is finished. Their ability to fluctuate in a custom team of developers has been huge for us and helps us to save money. When we need to really push for a new feature or a fix, we’re able to bring on a few developers for a month and get that solved and then scale back a bit.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first round of development started in October of 2012 and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We started with around 500 clicks a day, processing $200-$500 a day in revenue. Capping out around 1,000 clicks was a good day for us early on. Now we’re doing more than 10 times the traffic. We get around 10,000 clicks a day. We do $6,000–$10,000 per day now in revenue. Just those two metrics, although very general, show the growth of the company and how Codal has handled that. It’s a pretty big jump from where we started.

At first, we only had a part-time developer coding the project. Now we have 3–5 full-time developers on at all times. Going back to that custom team dynamic that Codal provides, we were able to go from one half-time developer to five as needed. They take care of all the hiring needed if it’s not already in-house. The scheduling and monitoring of the project have stayed with the project managers and in-office managers. It’s been a really good experience in that sense.

On one of the projects, we’ve gotten a lot of feedback on the overall aesthetic of the website. Codal’s main graphic designer did all three iterations of the website at this point and we’ve gotten compliments on every one. Every time we do a new layout of the website, there are always people who complain but that is very minimal if at all.

We have competitors coming into a very similar space, seeing what we’re doing, and seeing that we’re doing well. They’re trying to mimic our business model, but they really fail in a lot of UI and UX perspectives. We have competitors come in with very deep pockets and they’ve failed despite us having a much smaller backing. We’re doing everything through bootstrap financing, and growing organically at this point. These other companies have had either venture capital behind them or just wealthy owners and have done projects in the same industry. They’ve come and gone because of that UI/UX advantage with what Codal provides. Also, a lot of the custom development we’re doing is rapid and agile where these other companies may have been slower in adapting to what the users are looking for.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

We haven’t experienced anything that would take down the website. They have their reports that are generated on a daily basis to check the security aspects. Obviously, bugs are inevitable in web development. Once it becomes known, or we get a support ticket that brings up an issue, I’m able to take care of it on the business end if it’s a non-technical thing. If it’s a technical bug, I’m able to forward that to the project manager and developers through JIRA, which is our main project manager software. If it’s a quick question, we have a different channel on Slack set up to go to the appropriate people. The right people are seeing communication between one another, which has helped organization quite a bit.

From a project management perspective, they’ve exceeded expectations. Zev Ginzburg has been on the project for quite a while now, and more recently, Danny Azarenko. Both are responsive and cordial. They field the requests, and they’re much more organized than I am. They’re able to keep track of everything that needs to get tracked. I can ping them on Slack and they will take care of it. They’re going to add it to JIRA or reach out to the programmers directly to ensure it gets taken care of. So, I’m not losing things in communication. I can worry about the business aspect as opposed to the technical side.

What did you find most impressive about Codal?

I would say it’s their ability to figure out solutions to problems in a cost-effective way. If we can’t find an API or some out-of-the-box software that’s turnkey, we’re going to do it custom. We’re going to build that ourselves and find the right tools to integrate a completely custom experience. Obviously, it’s built for our website, but potentially for other projects, which holds value as well.

Are there any areas Codal could improve?

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. Everything’s been well managed. I think the only thing that really was the biggest thing starting off with them was that we both had growing pains. That was pretty clear for both businesses. They figured out a lot of organizational issues on their end and the same for us. In the past, it would have been an almost more than perfect situation if I was able to be that new entrepreneur right now and go into Codal’s current state, versus going into Codal when we were both relatively new businesses. I think Codal was around for 2–4 years I went to them. If I went to them in their current state with 8–10 years of experience, we’d get around a lot of those issues, but that’s all hindsight kind of stuff and not a realistic scenario. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-founder and the COO of an online retail startup, a brand for fashionable bags and accessories. We design tech bags like backpacks, totes, and items used on a day-to-day basis. We are fundamentally a brand business. Our CEO is an incredible designer and serves as our creative director. We have a small team of fewer than 10 people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Codal?

We have many excellent products, but we needed to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace and set up a premium face for the company. We were trying to figure out how to make the new website reflect this while serving as the homepage for the entire company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codal built our site, from inception until completion. Aside from the brand image, simplicity was very important for us. Codal walked us through the whole process and what we could expect. They went through an ideation process with us and created something we liked. It’s a product website, and there are tons of granular ways that we could organize its flow.

Codal recommended we build the site on Shopify from the beginning, and I was able to do some research on the platform. They helped us become comfortable with Shopify and presented the logistical advantages it offered. Codal distilled many of our CEO's ideas and brand concepts into what we have today.

How did you come to work with Codal?

We evaluated a number of firms and found Codal through a referral. We had email discussions before going through a more formal proposal process. Based on Codal’s portfolio, I knew that the team would be comprehensive on the technical side. We could tell that Codal understood the simplicity we were going for with the brand and felt confident that they could bring it out.

As a new brand, pricing was a big concern for us. I wanted to make sure that we’d be getting a lot of value for our dollar. We received quotes for anywhere from $10,000–$60,000. Fortunately, I got a sense of Codal’s strategic add-on value early on.

How much have you invested with Codal?

I believe that the initial cost of Codal’s work was $30,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I don’t remember when we started working with Codal. The project took a couple of months to complete. We’ve gone back to them for various add-ons and changes, and they were always helpful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Around half of our revenue comes from the website. The conversion rate is at 5%–6%. While marketing campaigns and other factors also have an impact, the user flow has contributed to our conversion rate. Many of the user-flow elements are very clean due to Codal’s guidance and direction.

Working with Codal was a great experience. It was a valuable collaboration for us since the results have been long-lasting. I’ve worked with other firms in prior roles, and one thing that stood out about Codal was their ability to get deep into the essence of what we were trying to convey. Codal was aware of the unique aspects of our brand-building process. Instead of having a department store feel, we wanted to come across as a high-end brand. Codal kept this simplicity while providing the information and guidance that users would need. They really brought out the brand.

How did Codal perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was one of their strengths. I felt that Codal put in the effort and energy to work with us. They kept us updated on the number of hours something would take, and we adjusted our expectations on a weekly basis. Even when things came up, I trusted them because I knew what was going on. We did meet in person at Codal’s offices in Chicago, but most of the work was done over the phone, Skype, and email. The face-to-face meetings were convenient rather than necessary. We developed a very good relationship. I even visited them once or twice when I was in town.

What did you find most impressive about Codal?

They’re creative and strategic, which allows them to bring ideas to life in a unique way. Codal considered what would be best for our project from a business point of view. I’ve worked with people who saw the project as more of a numbers thing but didn’t understand the brand essence. In contrast, Codal was good at this. They were also professional. They knew what was going on, and made us aware of problems, opportunities, and changes as they were revealed. I never questioned the amount of money I was spending on Codal’s services, which sometimes happens when working with contractors. I was beyond satisfied with what Codal was doing.

Are there any areas Codal could improve?

Nothing comes to mind right now. Some of the big issues I’ve had with other developers were related to timelines and not communicating issues, but Codal was good in this respect.