From the Mountains of North Carolina

Posted September 3, 2014 by Dan Moore in Development

Just like millions of people do everyday, Justin Beard uploaded some photos to Facebook (of a place that he was renting). The landlord happened to see them and offered him Ski tickets and free dinner in exchange for the use of his photos on the landlord's website. This was Justin's "a-ha" moment. There are plenty of companies doing photo contests, but not a main hub for companies and customers alike to go to create and enter these contests. The idea for SnapYeti was born.

Now that Justin had the idea, he wanted to bring it to life. But without the skills to build an application, he had to find someone else to do it for him. And so the search began... Before finding vaporware, Justin had looked far and wide for a solution to his application needs. He had gotten quotes both from companies in the US and internationally. "I looked everywhere... I was tired of it all."

In May 2013, Justin ran into Dan and Jeff at HUB Raleigh (now HQ). Justin was prepared with mockups and project specs. So they had an informal meeting then and there. Right away, Justin could tell that Dan and Jeff would be able to create what he was looking for. After some conversations and Justin doing his due diligence (checking into vaporware's previous clients and work), SnapYeti became a vaporware client by June 2013.

In three months, vaporware completed three iterations of the SnapYeti application. Each iteration was tested with beta-users. The first version of the application was a photo contest where only the administrator could create contests, but others could log in via Facebook or e-mail to upload or admire the photos. The next stage was allowing anyone to create contests and adding in a feature that shares to Facebook anytime that you admire a photo (as suggested by some of the beta-testers). The last iteration before launch was a mobile-responsiveness review and update to the core application that prepared the platform for the onslaught of more than 50% of its users being mobile.

In September 2013 SnapYeti was launched! In the first month, the application had 1,200 users. Today that number has grown to over 33,000!

Justin could not be happier with the results. “We could not be where we are today without vaporware making our technology platform extremely easy to use and scalable... They are hands down the best team I have ever worked with.”

Vaporware

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