Every Startup Needs A Customized Software, Tailored To Their Needs, Says Eastern Peak

Alexey Chalimov

Alexey Chalimov is a long-term technology enthusiast who enjoys bringing new technology products to the market. As the CEO at Eastern Peak, a professional software consulting and development company, he ensures top quality and cost-effective services to clients from all over the world. We took the opportunity to talk to him about current developments in the tech industry as well as future plans for his company.

How would you describe Eastern Peak in a few words?

Eastern Peak is a custom software development company focused on helping startups and mid-size businesses reach their full potential by building great websites and intuitive mobile apps.

The projects that we have delivered and our clients’ testimonials speak for themselves. It is a real win-win situation where high-quality software is brought at an affordable price.

Custom software development requires a highly skilled team, that’s ready for any situation. What can you tell us about the experts you work with?

Our team consists of the most talented Eastern European software engineers along with experienced Israeli product experts and project managers who know exactly how to build a project from the ground up, fast, and on a budget.

At Eastern Peak, we have vast experience working with startups and bringing innovative products to the market. We made our processes absolutely transparent. Our clients not only have full control over the development team, but they receive full support, help, and guidance from our experts.

Why do you think startups should focus on a customized solution over a standard one, that is most likely cheaper?

Every startup brings an innovation to the market, offering users a unique service, otherwise, we just can’t call it a startup. When you are a startup, it’s hard to find a ready solution that will match your idea and business needs exactly. Thus, in most cases, you will have to cut the functionality required and adapt your idea in order to fit the chosen solution. This significantly limits the number of assumptions you can test on the market, neglecting the very essence of an MVP, ultimately leaving you with a product that no one wants to buy.

That’s exactly why a startup needs a customized solution that will be tailored to their goals, business model, selling approach, and the specifics of service. A ready solution for their business simply doesn’t exist.

With a vast amount of software companies all over Europe, the competition appears to be fierce. What makes Eastern Peak stand out of the crowd? What’s the key differentiator?

Our unique international set of talents that we have assembled is what makes us different. We have combined Israeli business expertise with outstanding Ukrainian engineering talent. Our project managers and product experts have practical experience bringing international-level products to the market. Take a look at Gett, for example. It’s the #1 for on-demand corporate transportation globally, driving half of the Fortune 500 companies. Today it’s a multi-billion dollar company that our developers have built from the ground up. Another recent case is the DPD Group, the leading provider of parcel services in Europe.

Literally, millions of people use our products every day. The unique composition of our team allows us to eliminate any fear of tackling difficult challenges, and we are always ready to implement projects of any scale and complexity.

Outsourcing software development becomes increasingly more popular. In your opinion, what are the most common pitfalls this trend faces?

For some, the outcomes of outsourcing still sound like, “incredibly cheap, poorly performing software without documentation, with developers who hardly speak English and eventually vanish overnight”. The most common pitfalls that led to this misbelief are choosing the cheapest vendor, not checking the references, going for a fixed price model for larger projects and ignoring bad communication signals.

However, we believe that, when working with the right outsourcing company, all these pitfalls can be easily avoided. A good outsourcing company can be as reliable as your in-house development team.

What are the biggest challenges Eastern Peak has faced so far?

Managing and growing the business between two continents. With our R&D offices in Ukraine and Israel, we have successfully delivered multiple complex products for our customers all over the world. We were able to achieve this by combining the technical expertise and cost-effectiveness of our Ukrainian developers with the business acumen and product vision of our Israeli product and project managers. While challenging, this winning combination has consistently allowed us to deliver high complexity projects on time and budget.

What are some of the more common request you get from clients? Is there a cluster emerging?

We receive very different requests, all of which depend on the type of project. However, in the last few months, we have been receiving more requests for shared economy projects. The reason, we think, is due to our successful experiences with Gett, Bonshine, FixitJoe, and other similar projects.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

The two most important indicators of our success are the percentage of returning clients, and the percentage of new clients who were referred by our existing ones. Today, these two parts account for nearly 85% of all the projects we currently handle, and we are doing our best to keep these figures high.

Every one of our projects is not just another business project; they are projects that make a difference. Gett for instance, is one of the most popular taxi booking services in the world; Maximum Education – an eLearning platform which has made test preparation easy and convenient for students; FixitJoe – an Uber for on-demand repair services; and Ubertesters – a crowd based testing platform that took beta testing to a whole new level.

Finally, what advice would you give entrepreneurs for their startup?

One of the most common reasons for a startup failure is running out of money. Our main piece of advice is to pay close attention to the cash flow.

Your technical partner should understand your business goals, and be flexible and ready to pivot at any given moment. In terms of a startup, the saying “time is money” is especially true, so the development team must have enough experience and know-how to build your project fast and cost-effectively. Nearly every provider allows you to request a pre-estimation of your project, giving you an idea of what team to go for. Get a quote or have a Skype call to assess the approach they have for your project. This is a starting point in deciding whether you can trust a company or not.

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