Railwaymen

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of LaunchMatic.app, which let's mobile app developers and marketers instantly design screenshots for the Apple App Store and Google Play Store without needing a designer.

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

I hired Railwaymen to build out our React web app, starting from the MVP (currently built) to full product launch (in the process).

What were your goals for this project?

To build an interactive React web app where app designs are done without any help or assistance. Has Stripe integration for payment processing.

How did you select this vendor?

Not only have I used Railwaymen before, but we have a long 7 year relationship and I have used them at prior companies.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They are a fantastic option for any stage of your company. I've used them to built entire products, to take slack off my full-time engineers, and to work on other side-projects that aren't assigned priority within the team. They are great with web and native apps.

What was the team composition?

Typically 2 engineers that focus on front and back end with a PM to help navigate between my needs and what's being prioritized.

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

We just launched our MVP and it's fully automated for user signups, designs, and checkout. They've quite literally built everything from the ground up and there wouldn't be a product without them.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Unless you are a highly technical product manager I suggest getting a PM. Not only will they help manage your engineers while you're asleep (granted you live in the West) but they provide a much needed buffer for some of the less technical clients to ask questions to. Also much easier to plan meetings and agendas with them as they will be much more communicative.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have highly skilled engineers that are willing to work crazy hours. And they have an hourly rate that doesn't break the bank.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None so far.

Please describe your company and your position there.

James Publishing has been publishing content for lawyers since 1981. I'm the founder of James, and the co-founder of our new software, Marketing Amplifier.

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

After speaking with several development agencies, we retained Railwaymen to turn our raw idea into first a clickable prototype for which we could obtain customer feedback, and second, into functioning software.

What were your goals for this project?

A totally new type of product for which there no models in any industry or profession.

How did you select this vendor?

A marketing agency recommended Railwaymen, saying she had sent several people to them and all had spoken positively of their experience. A nice bonus was that Railwaymen's pricing was way more reasonable than the U.S. developers we had spoken with.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Railwaymen handled 100% of the design and development. We had neither a wireframe nor a clear vision for what we wanted developed, but their team worked patiently through several iterations before we settled on a super-simple interface for our less sophisticated audience of small law firms.

Sylwia deserves a big pat on the back for highly creative and eye-pleasing work. Once we had a winning prototype, Railwaymen moved quickly through development and testing even though COVID roared in just as development was beginning.

What was the team composition?

Several devs, one designer, and one product manager handled our project. The head of the Railwaymen periodically checked in to make sure all was going well.

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

Arriving in the first two months of the COVID lockdown, the new software has been a lifesaver for us. It has provided work for our team that they can do from home, it is generating substantial numbers of new customers for our company, and perhaps most important, it has transformed us from being a stodgy old book publisher to an innovative software publisher with a product unlike any other.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our product manager Bartosz has been great start to 1.0 finish, and is now getting our 1.1 and 1.2 versions started. He has stayed in close touch, helped us work through the inevitable challenges, accurately projected a completion date, and has been pleasant and calm throughout.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Creative design and problem-solving have had the biggest impact. But the unwavering support and patience of their team is a close second.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope. Railwaymen is a first class, high-quality operation which charges reasonable rates and does great work. We are extremely happy with the relationship, and plan to stay with Railwaymen through future versions of the software.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Frindow Ltd. It’s a startup social networking platform for people who feel lonely and want to make new friends and connections.

What challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

I needed them to build a website for our startup. We don’t have those capabilities in-house, so we needed to outsource the development. Essentially, we needed their technical expertise.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Railwaymen developed our website from scratch. I provided them with specifications on the technical functions and features. We also had a third-party designer who created the look and feel of the site; this included the color scheme and landing page. Railwaymen fully implemented the design.

We worked in bi-weekly sprints, and they handled both front- and backend development. It was high-level work. After putting a task into Jira, they completed it, then I’d provide feedback at the end of each sprint.

What is the team composition?

There are two backend developers, one frontend developer, and two QA testers. I work directly with the developers, but my main point of contact is Bartosz (Project Manager). He answers any questions I have, and I answer questions he may have for me.

Directly interacting with the developers works well for me because I have a technical background. Normally, the project manager would do this, but we made this agreement in order to keep the budget reasonably tight.

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

I looked on Clutch and received a shortlist of potential companies, all of which were based in Krakow, Poland. So, I traveled there and spent a few days visiting each company and speaking to their managers. Essentially, I wanted to observe their standard practices, get a general feel of their environment, and see how their company was organized.

After visiting about six companies, I decided to go with Railwaymen. Overall, I really liked their management and after viewing their portfolio, they seemed very capable of doing what I wanted. Also, they were very supportive of the project itself, which was important to me. More than just being willing to do it, they understood what I was trying to achieve and were keen on helping me obtain my objectives.

I liked their company and made sure they had the level of expertise the website required. Going over and visiting them allowed a lot of flexibility because I got to meet the people who’d be working on the project.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested £100,000 (approximately $120,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in April 2019, and it’s still ongoing. As of three weeks ago, the website is up and running. Now, we’re preparing for the next phase of development which will be based on user feedback.

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

It’s early days because we only just went live. However, the impact has been positive overall. There have been no problems raised by my users. Our friends, family, colleagues, and users — basically anyone who’s interacted with the website — have all given praiseworthy feedback.

Google Analytics shows that people tend to stay on the site for a long time. Yes, that has more to do with content than functionality, but if there were performance issues, the page views would reflect that. People are using the site as if it’s been around much longer than it has. There are some things I want to change in relation to user behavior, but we’ll tackle those in our next steps.

How did Railwaymen perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Slack, Jira, and Zoom. Throughout the engagement, we’ve held a few standup meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m very fortunate to have the partnership that I’ve had with them. Their team appreciates that we’re a startup and privately-funded project. I’ve received tremendous amounts of work compared to the amount of money I’ve given them. In other words, Railwaymen has spent many additional hours working on the project than what we paid for.

They’re very comfortable fixing bugs and rectifying issues. Had I gone to another company, they would’ve charged me for every single additional minute worked. However, Railwaymen hasn’t been like that at all — this really sets them apart from their competitors. They’re very eager to please and have gone above and beyond on technical matters.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, they spend a bit more time on a task than anticipated. Generally, their time estimates are accurate. But sometimes, the task takes them a longer amount of time to complete. Overall, they’ve been a tremendous help. If they spent more time figuring out how long a task will actually take, that’d be helpful. Also, if something isn’t clear, they should ask more questions.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co-Founder and Product Manager of Famtree - a Social Networking platform that helps you to find and connect with your relatives around the world.

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

We wanted to develop a mobile app, that will enable users to create their personal accounts, invite their friends and family, and together - build their own family trees. In that way, they can find their relatives, that they didn't know to exist!

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to build a mobile application, which will be very intuitive (users from a very different age range might use it) and technologically reliable. We wanted to create a real community around Famtree, consisting of people who found their relatives through the app.

How did you select this vendor?

I was looking for a software development partner with years of experience and high-quality projects. As Railwaymen has got very good reviews on Clutch and talented senior developers on board, I decided to entrust them with my project.

Describe the project in detail.

Together with Railwaymen, we created a Famtree iOS mobile application. The backend of the application was developed in the Ruby on Rails framework. Other technologies/integrations used in the mobile app development were PostgreSQL, Redis, D3 and Twilio. The Famtree mobile app is available in 2 languages, English and Arabic, which means there are two completely different language scripts available: RTL and LTR.

Due to cultural differences, the main app feature of building a family tree was a pretty big challenge, for example - it is pretty common in the GCC region to have more than one wife. Nevertheless, Railwaymen easily adjusted to those requirements and built exactly what we wanted.

What was the team composition?

The Development team consisted of four people: CTO, Project Manager, iOS Developer, and Quality Assurance. Thanks to that we not only had our app built but also fully tested after only 5 months!

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

The Famtree iOS mobile app works flawlessly, without any bugs and errors. The feedback from users is positive and they like how the app is helping them to find their family members, that they even didn't know about.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Despite a small time difference between our and Railwaymen office, our cooperation went smoothly. We worked in weekly sprints matter, which kept us up-to-date through the whole development process. They speak English very well and take their time, to explain even the most complex technological matters, if you ask for it.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

What distinguishes Railwaymen team from other software companies is their open-mindedness. Even if they encounter some cultural or language differences, which is completely new for them - they won't stop, before they find a solution. They use technology as a key, that'll open for you a door to a completely new dimension! Without their creativity and problem-solving attitude, my project definitely wouldn't exist.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None from my perspective - keep up the good work!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and former CEO of an online educational technology platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

We had a unique case. The quality of our previous third-party provider was slipping, and we needed a new vendor urgently. We had very little control over our infrastructure, and I didn’t trust the previous company to handle all of it any longer.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Railwaymen went in immediately and got us sorted out before we even signed a contract. Our old platform was full of holes, and it crashed and broke all the time. The previous company provided almost no documentation, but Railwaymen worked through every issue. The platform runs on Ruby on Rails, and they did a lot of backend work to fix all the bad code. We’re currently working on web-responsive mobile development, and we’re moving more heavily into iOS development now.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with a developer at the beginning. Starting in April, we added a project manager as we moved them into iOS. We also have a designer working on the project.

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

We found them through Clutch. When we first started, we considered two companies, but the company we chose underperformed, as I mentioned. Railwaymen contacted us just as we were considering a new partnership, and we decided to work with them instead.

How much have you invested with them?

Our total expense is somewhere between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the work is ongoing.

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

We had no real uptime before they started working with us, so the improvements are on several orders of magnitude. Before, we were bleeding customers, but the infrastructure they put in place saved us. We’ve more or less doubled our userbase.

How did Railwaymen perform from a project management standpoint?

I can message them at any time, and they’re always available to make changes. Most of our communication is through Slack, and we speak with their developers on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They balance my needs but are willing to push back if they know an idea of mine won’t work properly. They have a good network, and they’ve added design resources and other team members that we needed. They put deadlines first, which we value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their receipts come in different languages, which can be confusing. It would be helpful to have them just in English, but that’s really the only pain point I can think of.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're an agency that is involved with anything regarding digitalization, strategy, concept, design, and development of digital products. We've been founded in 2017, we're around 15 people and my role is coordinating projects development.

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

The challenge was building a learning platform that interacts with an existing Ruby on Rails app in a very short time. In a very agile way and with requirements not fully defined.

What were your goals for this project?

The solution was a service-oriented ruby on rails app that provides a CMS, user service, messaging service and notification service all managed via an admin panel that provides the user a learning journey. At the same time interacting with an existing platform.

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us also the online reviews help make the decision.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project's requirements were documented in a very brief manner. As the requirements were very agile and shifting often. The project needed to provide a user service that handles participants in the program and also admins and editors for the content creation and program admin. The project gathers together users that participate in a learning program.

A CMS was built to provide content maintained by editors. The Admin panel allows the creation of a guided learning journey for the end-user. On the end-user side, the user receives an account sets a password and participates in the program. Which allows guided learning and interaction with other users in the program via the chat.

The team developed all functionality from scratch also using existing standards as example: the chat via XMPP.

What was the team composition?

The team size fluctuated from over 10 developers to 3 at times. Depending on the workload. The team consists of senior and junior developers that are willing to step over their comfort zone.

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

The project was very important for us, the start was bumpy due to many factors. One of time: the short time to develop a new solution and integrating it with an existing solution. However, since the beginning, we've come a long way and we're continuously improving.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

As the timeline was very short and the requirements flexible we had issues with meeting quality standards that were expected. The project's requirements were setup in Confluence. We worked with Jira for ticketing and Sprints. And direct communication via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

As our relationship evolved the team got more attached and involved in the project. They do care about quality however that requires time. Which, in an agile environment, is not always an asset you can rely on. The team has even worked in shifts to deliver features that were required.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As with any project and looking in the past you can find space for improvement. Would have been great to have a more realistic time estimation in the beginning and more consulting on what can be achieved in what period of time. Managing the expectations on what can be delivered would have released some stress we had along the way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a media technology business. We analyze video and audio files.

What challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

We needed to add a number of new features to our platform, but the developers we were working with didn’t have the capacity. We hired Railwaymen to help with this development, particularly with Ruby on Rails, to create a type of turnkey solution.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Railwaymen performed quite a bit of backend development for us, using Ruby on Rails. They also did frontend work on the platform. Their team handled a lot of the integration and project management tasks for the engagement. 

What is the team composition?

Three people from their team worked with us. 

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

After looking on Clutch, we found a number of potential companies with the proper skill set. We wanted the right size vendor that wasn’t too big or small as to stay in our budget. After interviewing each and considering recommendations, we chose Railwaymen. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between Feburary–April 2019. 

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

Although I don’t have specific metrics, we were very happy with their work. 

How did Railwaymen perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided a high level of project management, which was exceptional. We used Slack and Jira. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a very friendly team to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although there’s always room to improve, I’m happy with the services they provided. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of Babysitters America, an online matching service that allows families to recruit and hire babysitters & nannies. It is also a job portal for babysitters and nannies.

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

We hired Railwaymen to build a website from scratch.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a user-friendly website that provided detailed information that would fill user needs.

How did you select this vendor?

A friend spoke highly of Railwaymen and their experience. When we spoke with their team, the conversations were natural, and they clearly understood our goals.

Describe the project in detail.

We developed a concept and strategy together. Then, Railwaymen created mockups and wireframes of the website. A babysitter or nanny can list their profile with specific details and can correspond with potential families. Employers can also specify criteria and caretakers that matched would appear in their search.

What was the team composition?

We worked with Lukasz (CEO & Founder, Railwaymen) and other team members.

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

Visitors are using the completed site and its features. We instantly had families and caretakers registering and operating the matching platform.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our engagement was seamless. Talking with Railwaymen was easy. Their team made us a priority and strived to accomplish our goals. They provided thoughtful insight into how to handle various areas of the build. All communication, through meetings and calls, went excellently throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Railwaymen’s team displayed a tremendous amount of expertise. They explained concepts in layman’s terms, making them easy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, there are none that I can think of.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I employed Railwaymen, I had started a company called AppBistro.com.

What challenge were you trying to address with Railwaymen?

We secured some funding after launching our initial MVP at the first Techcrunch Disrupt in New York and were having a difficult time hiring engineers in the Bay Area. We needed an engineering team for coding, as well as architecture and backend development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We pivoted the project twice. The initial platform they built, per our initial requirements, was an app marketplace for small business on Facebook. At the time, Facebook had the concept of Pages and businesses were investing a lot in their Facebook Pages. Large companies were hiring agencies and investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to build their Facebook Page. Smaller locations and businesses couldn’t afford to do that, so we created a marketplace of small, less expensive apps for these businesses to install and configure.

For example, a coffee shop could install a Yelp and/or menu app; a band could install a YouTube app so that their videos would show on their Facebook Page. It was a two-sided marketplace where small businesses could better advertise themselves, and consumers could use our interface to quickly familiarize themselves with these businesses.

Our first pivot was toward more of an API showcase. Railwaymen built an entire platform that allowed users to submit applications as developers, enabling someone from an API site—like a developer relations manager—to approve apps to be listed in their showcase. We turned our initial, single instance platform into more of a white label SaaS product

For the second pivot, we applied the same concept to mobile apps and allowed traditional media publication to showcase apps relevant to their subject matter expertise for their consumers. We pitched this to several clients, and this platform is what ultimately led to our acquisition. The fact that Railwaymen was able to make those pivots efficiently and effectively, really speaks to the flexibility and adaptability of their design.

What is the team composition?

When we began working with Railwaymen, their team was composed of their co-founders, but as they grew, so did the development team we worked with. I think, when our project closed, they had grown to 15–20 FTEs.

How did you come to work with Railwaymen?

My co-founder knew a consultant from previous work with a social media website, and that consultant was our initial connection to Railwaymen. He was very comfortable with them and had previous success using them, so he recommended Railwaymen, we signed a year-long contract with them (through the consultant), and for the subsequent years, we worked more directly with them.

Instead of going through an arduous vetting process that we didn’t have the time or bandwidth for, we had an initial two-week trial with them to assess their efficiency and work quality. From the first day, they were adding value and fixing bugs, so we knew they would be a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from 2010­–2013.

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

I can’t recall exact numbers, but as we worked with Railwaymen we were able to secure a second round of seed financing, and we ultimately got acquired.

Our first platform had roughly 500 apps, and at the time of acquisition, it was generating $10,000–$12,000 a month in revenue. Through the second platform we sold about $150,000 worth of software licensing, and Railwaymen was certainly instrumental in building both of those products. The final platform they developed is what ultimately led to us being acquired.

How did Railwaymen perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve worked with outsourced engineering and IT companies for many years, and all around the globe. Railwaymen is by far the best in terms of quality and project management. They set deadlines and delivered on time. Especially Lukasz (Co-founder and CEO, Railwaymen) was very focused on the project management and excellent at estimating accurate timelines.

On occasion, things would run over, but it never presented a problem. I respected and appreciated that every day, every week, every month they delivered with the right pace. There wasn’t an ebb-and-flow in their productivity. It was consistent.

We used Skype for most of our communication, leveraging both chat and video calls. Beyond that, we used a pivotal tracker.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with Railwaymen’s consistency, test coverage, and how well they integrated into our team. Many times, when you work with a growing consulting shop, there is a lot of turnover in the roles and it’s difficult to maintain a level of quality and consistent productivity. Over the several years we worked with their team, beginning with two people and growing to include more, they provided consistent service.

The fact that our project pivoted twice in two different platforms, and we didn’t break the platform either time, is a huge testament to their good test coverage on the product.

Lastly, Railwaymen really felt like an extension of our team. They tried to understand the problems we wanted to solve, and challenged them when necessary. They asked the right questions to help us deliver the best product, and that’s something I haven’t found in my experience with many offshore consultancies. I will take any future chance I have to work with them again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our engagement ended a few years ago, so they might have this available now, but the only place I could identify for them to augment their services would be through offering UI/UX design—becoming more full stack developers and designers.

It wasn’t something they offered when we worked together, so we had to work with somebody else on that front, and Railwaymen would implement their work. In regards to the services that we asked for, they did a great job; they excelled.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to communicate with them and remain open to back-and-forth discussion. They’re an agile team—meaning they operate in incremental sprints—so you can’t give them requirements, leave them alone, and then come back in three weeks. They want your input on their progress and recommendations on where to refine their deliverables. As long as you prefer that methodology, they’re a great fit.

Please describe your company and your position there.

When I started this engagement with Railwaymen, I was testing an idea in the events space.

For what projects/services did your company hire Railwaymen?

I hired Railwaymen for web development during this project.

What were your goals for this project?

The primary goal was to create a minimum viable product for my concept.

How did you select this vendor?

I found and selected Railwaymen after doing online research and holding interviews.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Railwaymen developed a website based on detailed specs that I provided.

What was the team composition?

I don't remember. It was several years ago.

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

When we tested the product in the market, it failed. This outcome had more to do with business issues than the work Railwaymen did.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We used a combination of Pivotal, online communication, and some phone check-ins. This strategy seemed to work pretty well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Railwaymen was very communicative. They did a fine job of making changes whenever something they developed was not quite right initially.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No. I was happy with the work Railwaymen did. It was in line with what one would expect when working with a consulting partner.