Aleksey Kolupaev
CTO at lehrermarktplatz.de
Location
Berlin, Germany
# of employees
1-10 Employees
Type of project
Enterprise application development
KindGeek developed an online marketplace for teaching materials. KindGeek also acts as their client's strategy consultant.
Feedback summary
KindGeek's great communication and young, modern approach to development have been pointed out as strenghts.
Challenge
What challenge were you trying to address with KindGeek?
We partnered with KindGeek to help us with the technical implementation of the marketplace.
Solution
What was the scope of their involvement?
The product is a marketplace. You might think about it as an Etsy or eBay for schoolteachers. It is a marketplace where schoolteachers can sell or buy digital materials from the other teachers, those preparations which they make for their lessons: homework, worksheets, tests, and things like that.
KindGeek mainly provides platform development services. They are providing me with consultants who are working under my direct supervision. They are working as a shell company and as a hosting company. It is basic development in open source technologies. We use Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP on a Symphony platform and with an AngularJS front end.
We are a small startup, and that’s a small team, so basically everyone is doing a bit of everything. They are in charge of whatever it take in regards to technical implementation. They take care of the design and quality assurance as well. We do have a designer here in-house, but they need to make a lot of the decisions locally, so I would call them part-time designers as well.
How did you come to work with KindGeek?
I was looking for an outsourcing partner to develop this project, and I posted to Facebook. I started to interview teams because I needed to get a team, not just a single developer; I didn’t have time to handpick them one by one. KindGeek were the first ones who passed my interview.
How much have you invested with KindGeek?
I cannot disclose this information.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project is ongoing.
Results & Feedback
How did KindGeek perform from a project management standpoint?
As project management is my responsibility, I would say they are performing very well. The nature of our relations is agile-based, and I am the direct supervisor of my team. They are not providing me project management services. They are providing me bodies and minds. The way I organize them and put them to deadlines is my responsibility.
What did you find most impressive about KindGeek?
KindGeek knows what it takes to make a startup succeed. It was really easy to communicate with them from day one. And, they are a young and modern company, which I really like and appreciate.
Are there any areas KindGeek could improve?
They are growing pretty fast, and that speed of growth causes certain issues, but as they are actively working and improving, I don’t see it as a major problem.
