Utility

Bleacher Report is a leader in online sports content. I am Director, Creative Strategy, focused on building partnerships and making ideas come to life for Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and brand partners through content, e-commerce, and experiences as part of our in-house creative agency, Playmaker.

A stealth project we were working on with a major sponsor to build out a Mobile App based Sports Trivia game.

Our goal was to launch a sponsored new mobile app media property that could be monetized through sponsorship and other means. With a robust sales and sponsorship team here, and heavy distribution, we knew that a new mobile venture like this would be the right project for us to embark on.

Someone who used to be an EVP here knew one of their founders, so we vetted them against other providers, and they were the best fit cost and skills wise.

Bleacher Report was launching a sports trivia mobile app game. It was built in a reactive web-based environment which allowed us to not have to build two native applications, but rather spin up iOS and Android applications in one shot. We went through UX/UI design, platform systems planning, and heavy engineering on both backend, frontend and admin portal.

$150,000

We ended up building exactly what we said we would, and our team’s stakeholders were happy. And our brands and media company partners were building confidence as well. We didn’t end up launching the app on schedule because of reasons outside our control, but that wasn’t Utility’s fault.

All good, they were very easy to work with we had a great rapport. Can’t say a bad thing really.

What was most impressive was probably their speed and skills -- they were able to move very quickly even though our team had a lot of opinions and changes, like most bigger brands. They seemed not to mind, didn’t nickel and dime us, did some extra work, and were very pleasant throughout.

They were really good, and did what they said they would.

I’m the founder and CEO of Snack-app, an AI company that curates highlights from full-length sports games. We then curate those highlights on a mobile platform, kind of like TikTok, but just for sports highlights.

We needed help with mobile app development.

Utility has been helping us with mobile app development and design. The team has also been providing business consulting services. We’ve built the first iteration of the platform, culminating in many different use cases.Initially, we provided Utility with our brand guidelines. The team has been using React Native to build the app, which is available on iOS and Android. Utility has also been helping us with App Store optimization and marketing.

We’ve been working with David, a project manager, and 7–10 developers. I mainly talk to David and the project manager.

We interviewed a couple of different developers, and we met David. He was honest, insightful, and helpful.

We’ve spent over $1.5 million.

We started working together in January 2023, and the engagement is ongoing.

Our app has been very successful. People find it modern, sleek, and compelling. Utility has a QA system that tests all the bugs before releasing the app. Once the app is live, there are no bugs. Utility has a very prompt and efficient process for eliminating bugs.

Utility meets deadlines and stays on budget. We communicate via Slack, email, Google Meet, and phone calls. I also go to their office in Manhattan once a month.

Utility’s business angle is unique. Other development companies write the code and hand it over without insights on how to proceed to ensure the business's success. In contrast, Utility is very incisive and strategically considers how to further our business.Most developers code, but David, with his sports knowledge, has been able to help our business succeed further. David has gone above and beyond to help our company move forward. He has incentivized more cash.

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Go in with a plan. David can help you, but can’t build a business for you. He can bring your magic to life, but you have to bring the magic.

I am the CEO and am a co-founder of Demand Roll. We are a digital PR firm deploying best-in-class organic search, content marketing, and other digital PR strategies to build growth and revenue for clients.

Utility worked with us to design and develop the entire Demand Roll web/mobile-web property including other internal digital properties that help us run our growth engagements for clients.

Goal was to build a web application that was mobile-optimized, to showcase our services and the work we do, but also to build some proprietary internal tech that we needed to run our business growth practice.

We got introduced to the leaders at Utility and were really impressed. They really had their stuff together, and we had heard they did great work for another client we knew about. We also really liked their design aesthetic and thought they understood our projects well. They have a great, open office in midtown which was really convenient too.

We wanted to design and develop the entire web platform from scratch for our marketing web portal, as well as some IP we were constructing. Some of that is proprietary to discuss, but the work done consisted of: Strategy, User Experience Design, Visual Design, Backend Engineering, Frontend Develpoment, QA Testing, Launch Strategy, Launch Execution and maintenance.

150K

Feb 2019 to July 2019

We had a product manager leading the show, and all other designers and developers around too. They all worked out of the NYC office and we were able to interface with some of the if/as needed.

We launched on time, and have gotten rave reviews about our products. We also had our own internal IP working as expected and we continue to use it. Our business has been growing so all the pieces on the digital side came together nicely.

Totally fine, we didn’t have any workflow problems. So I’d say very effective. We had regular meetings, ad-hoc meetings, and everything in between. Utility is very collaborative so it works well.

Their ability to be so available, never disappear, and to give us the attention we always were hoping for. And their attention to detail, making sure the final product ends up the same as what was planned and designed.

Not for now :)

My company is TableMe, and I am the Founder.

We hired Utility for mobile app building services. To design and develop the entire TableMe platform end to end (as well as an admin portal).

To launch a new iOS that was designed well, and built to be stable, and we could launch it in a reasonable amount of time and get feedback from users.

I was looking around and there are so many firms out there, it’s daunting. But when I talked with Utility, it was really natural and I felt like it was going to be an educational experience, and that they were going to care. That meant a lot to me.

TableMe is meant to be a new way to experience nightclubs you’ve always dreamed of attending, but couldn’t afford to buy an entire table. You can create your own table or join one from the available ones with an opening, and find people to join you in co-funding that table. You can chat with your group and plan your night.

The MVP cost was $100K.

It started in July 2017 and ended in September of 2018.

We had a product manager who led the project from start to finish, and we had a design team of UX/UI designers who did a great job on the aesthetic I was going for. The CEO was also involved and helpful on the business end. The engineers were in the Utility office, but I wasn’t interfacing with them that much.

We were able to build out what I was looking for, and it came out just how the designs are specked out, so that was really reassuring. We also did it within the MVP budget, which was also a really important factor for me.

Everything worked pretty seamlessly. I was in Florida most of the time, and they’re in NY, but that never seemed to be an issue, and any time I was in NY they always invited me into the office. They were communicative and easy to work with. If anything, I was usually hearing from them before I needed to reach out.

Their attention to detail was really impressive, not just on the design end, but on matching the designs during the engineering process. I was also pretty young when I started the project, so I was impressed that they were able to treat me like one of their peers and work with me through the entire process.

I don’t think I have any specific areas of improvement that come to mind at the moment. One thing I did wonder was whether or not they could have helped me understand how the post-MVP launch phase might require more budget to keep the project alive.

I was the CEO of Weegan, an LA-based delivery service.

We hired Utility to design and architect the Weegan mobile and web applications, as well as the design branding from scratch.

The goal was to get a proper MVP prototype designed out, so we could then build and launch in the LA market, and expand from there. We wanted to partner with dispensaries and other organizations so we could serve as their professional delivery arm.

We knew one of the designers at Utility, and he connected us with the rest of their executive team. We were super impressed with all the work they had done in the mobile space before, and we loved their design aesthetic. We looked around at a lot of firms, but Utility felt right from the start, plus we had a level of trust there.

We needed to build out a prototype that was gorgeous and functional at the same time. The prototype was going to be used by us for various purposes, including user testing, viability, investor relations, and partnership sales.

We began in early 2019 and finished later in 2019.

Everyone we ever showed the prototypes too was super impressed and people took us really seriously right out of the gate.

It was honestly really good, never had an issue and we really enjoyed working with their team. They were always available and they went above and beyond.

Their design capabilities and strategic counsel for mobile and web applications (not many can do both at the same time). We were in a heavy e-commerce situation too, which needed someone who really understood the hurdles around that space.

For the project we worked on, we have nothing to add here in this department.