Augmented Development
Experify.io Speeds Time to Market with Sphere
- Client
- Experify.io
- Service
- Senior Full-Stack Augmentation|MVP-to-V2 Acceleration|Engineering Consulting
Overview
Experify.io enables eCommerce brands to leverage and build a strong community of loyal customers worldwide by offering potential customers the ability to test and experience products from people nearby who already own them. Founded in Zurich in 2019, the company’s mission is to help honest brands have their products discovered authentically — combining the convenience of eCommerce with local, social product experiences.
As an early-stage startup, Experify’s resources were limited. With an alpha version of its service up and running, the company needed additional resources to complete the next version, incorporating additional functionality and scalability — fast.
How We Solved It
Co-Founder René Pfitzner chose to collaborate with Sphere Software to temporarily augment Experify’s development resource capabilities and accelerate time to market. "Speed is a big issue for startups, and being fast and quick to market is a huge selling point. What was most important for us was having 1.5 full-time-equivalent freelancers that were highly flexible, dedicated, completely available for six weeks, to get things done quicker," said Pfitzner.
1. Senior Full-Stack Talent — No Middle Manager
"We asked them to provide the best developers, and they did. Oftentimes, independent contractors work on other client projects and a middle manager is required; but that was not the case with Sphere." Sphere provided excellent full-stack development manpower to augment Experify’s team and work alongside it directly.
2. Embedded for Six Weeks
Evaluating Experify’s requirements, Sphere selected one of its developers to become part of Experify’s team for six weeks — embedded with the existing engineering, sharing context, code, and standards from day one.
3. Quick, Flexible, Adaptable
"The developer Sphere provided was very quick, had a keen understanding, and was flexible and adaptable," said Pfitzner. "This is what Sphere provided. I’m very happy how it worked."
Key Outcomes
V2 in Half the Time
"Sphere really helped us get this next version ready in less than half the time than if we had to rely only on internal resources." — René Pfitzner.
1.5 FTE Capacity, On Demand
Highly flexible, fully dedicated 1.5 FTE for six weeks — capacity exactly when the startup needed it.
No Middle-Manager Tax
Direct access to senior developers, not contracted-through-middleman engagement — every conversation moved the work forward.
Founder Endorsement
"I’m very happy how it worked," said Co-Founder René Pfitzner — endorsing the model for future engagements.
The Results
For an early-stage startup wearing many hats internally, Sphere’s augmentation model delivered the senior full-stack capacity Experify needed — exactly when it needed it — and shipped V2 in less than half the time of an in-house-only effort. The kind of acceleration that turns a startup’s window into a launch.
