Distillery

Business clarity. Software craft.

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Distillery is a full-service software design and development company. We've built iOS mobile apps featured by Apple, Android apps with millions of downloads and have taken startups to large successful exits. Distillery is a certified partner of MicrosoftIBMPubNub and Oracle.

We offer a range of services for companies of every scale, from startups to enterprises. For startups, we can create a prototype to validate your idea, build a technical roadmap so you know how your product can be built, and put together everything you need to get funding or take your next step. When you’re ready, we can take your product from idea to launch and support you in every step of building your product and your company.

For enterprises, we can help you develop custom line-of-business apps or internal applications, either as outsourced efforts or by contributing talented engineers to your own efforts.

For companies of all sizes, we can stay with you post-launch, providing a wide array of support and resources to ensure your product and business gain traction. Whatever you need, we’re here for you, whether that’s the occasional check-up, feature expansion, or a brand new version.

Our mission is to assist companies in building outstanding applications that serve their customers. We believe that the best way to create successful products is to create successful companies.

$150 - $199/hr
50 - 249
2012
Locations
United States
301 Arizona Avenue, Suite #250, Santa Monica, California 90401
+1 (310) 776-6234
Russia
2 Shpalernaya Street, Saint Petersburg, Sankt-Peterburg 191187

Focus Areas

Service Focus

45%
15%
15%
15%
5%
5%
  • Mobile App Development
  • Web Development
  • App Designing (UI/UX)
  • Web Designing (UI/UX)
  • E-commerce Development

Client Focus

45%
35%
20%
  • Small Business
  • Medium Business
  • Large Business

Industry Focus

45%
25%
20%
10%
  • Information Technology
  • Designing
  • Media

Distillery Executive Interview

Andrey Kudievskiy
Andrey Kudievskiy
Founder & CEO
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1. Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
Distillery is an international full-service software design and development company based in Los Angeles, California. We are an award-winning mobile app developer with an absolute commitment to helping our clients succeed. We help start-ups and enterprises to accelerate, scale, and thrive, serving as a trusted partner to CTOs, CIOs, CEOs, and VPs of Engineering across LA and worldwide. Distillery’s 100+ professionals balance engineering excellence with artistry to provide services related to the app and web development, product strategy and continuing development, analytics, UX/UI design, security testing, and IoT. In 2017, we were honored to be named in the Inc. 5000.
As the founder and CEO of Distillery, I am tech-minded, business-focused, and always coming up with new ideas to make the business better. While I play a role in countless facets of the company, including providing strategic direction, building and maintaining client relationships, expanding our media footprint, and providing specialized product development support, I’m currently focused on continuing Distillery's expansion in the US and international markets.
2. What was the idea behind starting this organization?
I was lucky to find and learn from some excellent mentors and leaders in my first few jobs, and they – along with my father – gave me the confidence and drive to believe that I could form and run my own successful business. I am a software developer by training but a leader by nature, so I hoped I could bring those talents together to build a successful software development business. I started my first software development business, Rus Wizards, back in Russia. As we grew more successful, it seemed increasingly apparent that if we wanted to prosper as an international business, establishing a US-based presence and headquarters was going to be crucial. The first US-based incarnation of my business was WeezLabs, which is the business that has now morphed into Distillery. Throughout, my overall motivation has been to develop a strong team and a growing business that consistently delivers clients the benefit of our top talent, international perspective, and wide-ranging app and software experience.
3. What is your company’s business model–in-house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
We supplement our in-house team with third-party vendors for non-engineering parts of the business such as accounting, content creation, and receptionist services.
4. How is your business model beneficial from a value added perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
Designing and launching a new software product is a complex process with countless moving parts. To navigate it successfully, companies need to work with a true business advisor – someone who’ll guide their efforts, helping them plan strategically and execute effectively. At Distillery, we bring a strong point of view focused on making sure our clients’ products – and their businesses – succeed. We aren’t afraid to push back when their success is at stake. In addition, we design our services and teams to fit each client’s unique needs (e.g., prototype vs. full development, outsourcing vs. partnering basis) and timeline.
5. What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
While we consider ourselves industry-agnostic, we currently have the most experience with fintech, big data, enterprise file synchronization and sharing, and video streaming projects. We are also starting to grow our AI and blockchain capabilities, though they are not yet prominent.

Approximately 90% of our clients continue working with us for a period beyond their initial engagement. Approximately 50% of our clients return to us with new projects, and many clients have stayed with us for many years.
6. Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame for developing a mobile app.
The key point here is to understand what data you get at each app development stage and to be able to interpret that data in the right way. For example, if you have a schedule estimate during the product concept stage, don’t expect that estimate to be accurate. But that estimate is nevertheless valuable data against which to test your business goals and plans. Are those goals and plans truly realistic? Don’t try to change the estimate; instead, adjust your plans and goals.
7. How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
It really depends on the app type. If it’s a client-rich application that utilizes the backend only to store and synchronize data, then most of the effort goes into the frontend. If the app is just a so-called “thin client,” then most of the data processing is done server-side. Most apps, however, are pretty balanced and require nearly the same level of effort on both ends.
8. What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
It depends on two factors – your budget and your customers. Who are your customers? What are their needs? What kind of devices do they typically use? It’s great to conduct surveys or use public research data to determine the answers to these questions. Even if you have the budget for both major platforms (iOS and Android), the data that you obtain about your customers is very important. And if you don’t have that kind of budget, that data becomes even more essential.
9. Which platform do you suggest your clients begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
Every idea is a solution to a problem. Bill Gates once said, “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” At Distillery, we brainstorm the problem first. Before trying to digitalize it, we imagine how the problem can be solved without computers. Our intention is to find the most effective process, and then and only then think about automating it. By doing that, we obtain valuable ideas on who this business’ customers are, what they need, and what they wish for. It also helps us make proper recommendations about the technical decisions that need to be made, including the choice of mobile platform.
10. Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
Every technology has its pros and cons. Some agencies prefer to use one tool for all apps, thereby saving their own time and effort at the expense of their clients’ wallets. At Distillery, we don’t use anything as a “golden hammer.” Instead, we invest in having a wide technical stack, thereby making certain that we’re able to address every problem with the most suitable solution.
11. What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
The three most important factors to consider when deciding the cost of a mobile application are scope, platform(s), and time. It obviously costs more money to build something as complicated as Facebook – with all of its video, picture, game, and social integrations – than it does to build an application with only one or two critical custom features. Further, it obviously costs more to build for iOS, Android, and web right out of the gate than it does to build for a single platform initially and then expand to other platforms further down the road. Finally, the cost is a function of time and vice versa. If it’s critical for a project to be completed in 3 to 4 months, we can often accommodate. But meeting the compressed timeline would require additional resources which would incur additional costs.
12. What kind of payment structure do you follow to bill your clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, Pay per Milestone (could be in phases, months, versions etc.)
We offer either fixed-bid or time-and-materials (billed monthly on a per-sprint basis) quotes. What we don’t do is bill hourly, because in our experience it tends to lead to slow, ineffective work that ultimately frustrates both parties.
13. Do you take in projects which meet your basic budget requirement? If yes, what is the minimum requirement? If no, on what minimum budget you have worked for?
While the minimum budget varies depending on the project, Distillery’s typical minimum engagement is $50,000.
14. What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2016?
Again, it varies. In 2016, the smallest project we took on was $20,000, but we took that project largely because we knew it would ultimately lead to a larger and more development-intensive project. For managed services, our largest project was more than $400,000. For our co-sourced engineering resources, the largest contract exceeded $1M.
15. Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
Choosing the right revenue-generating model is a very case-dependent question. Whatever the client’s business situation or product, however, we always advocate putting market needs and consumer feedback at the center of all business decisions. We also recommend staying flexible and being willing to iterate quickly so that your product can become the best possible digital spear point for your business.

Distillery Clients & Portfolios

GLYDR
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GLYDR
  • GLYDR screenshot 1
$50001 to $100000
64 weeks
Education

Glydr is an on-demand job and internship app connecting college and university students with employment opportunities that would otherwise be hard to find amidst a highly cluttered job landscape. The iOS mobile app’s design features a straightforward UI and on-the-go functionality that appeals to both students and employers.

Our Work

In collaboration with the client, Distillery shaped a revised scope and schedule to fit the newly developed concept. They communicated continually to navigate changing requirements and manage the scope against the deadline. As a nontechnical first-time mobile app developer, he relied greatly on Distillery’s UX, product, marketing, and technical knowledge.

In addition to suggesting the audience-expanding inclusion of internships, the Distillery team helped him stay focused on future marketing needs and what users would value. We developed a straightforward UI and on-the-go functionality that would appeal to a diverse user base of both students and employers.

We also created an easy-to-use admin panel that allowed Glydr staff to conveniently manage content and deal with user reports.

The technologies used throughout this project included ASP.NET Web API, ASP.NET MVC, Angular 2+, RxCocoa, RxSwift, RxDataSources, Moya, SwiftR, ObjectMapper, Realm Swift and RxRealm.

Fitdog
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Fitdog
  • Fitdog screenshot 1
$50001 to $100000
52 weeks
Other Industries

FitDog is a web-based app and full-service solution for dog-loving Los Angelenos. The adorable app allows users to book anything from a grooming appointment to a beach excursion in one click. The app includes a back-of-house component that makes daily operations run more smoothly for the company’s employees and vendors.

Our Work

Fitdog and Distillery developed a partnership based on Fitdog’s needs and Distillery’s guidance and expertise. Our team made user experience a day-one priority, interviewing various groups of users to better understand their goals and expectations.

Our team turned raw demands into hundreds of wireframes that contemplated all possible user interactions. We researched the competition’s tech and made it a point to outperform them. Our throughline strategy: to provide convenience and functionality while boosting engagement.

Ultimately, the web app included:

  • A unique, friendly, and secure payment system
  • A quick and painless onboarding process for new clients to ensure better conversion
  • Integration of engaging, on-brand gamification that tracks pups’ accomplishments
  • A custom-built admin panel that makes Fitdog’s internal team’s day that much easier
  • Fast-content loading supported by SPA React Framework, allowing for better UX and engagement

Distillery also helped incorporate the UX and UI from the web-based app into every aspect of the website, including sites for Fitdog Club, Sports and Training.

Tala
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Tala
  • Tala screenshot 1
$50001 to $100000
100 weeks
Financial & Payments

Our Work

Tala had struggled to find the blue-chip engineers its big-picture goals necessitated. Distillery was able to source and place perfect-fit engineers immediately.

While Tala staff manage many overall projects, Distillery provides much of Tala’s engineering manpower. We staff the Santa Monica-based FinTech company with the following professionals:

  • Android developers
  • Back-End developers
  • QA automation engineers

This team of top-notch, Tala-devoted engineers have specialized FinTech knowledge and are fully in tune with the client’s mission. Our flexible, offshore engineers have forged a strong partnership with Tala, often traveling directly to the client to assist them in constantly improving the Android app’s technology. Per Tala’s request, one Distillery engineer has joined Tala’s in-house team in Los Angeles.

Nedl
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Nedl
  • Nedl screenshot 1
$10001 to $50000
68 weeks
Art, Entertainment & Music

Our work:

To develop nēdl’s MVP, Distillery assembled and placed a small-but-mighty team of proven experts consisting of the following professionals:

  • Lead QA engineer
  • Full stack developer
  • Project manager
  • Technical advisor

Jason Medeiros, nēdl’s CTO, led our team and spearheaded the MVP development project. We started by providing several months of development assistance. We began with the necessary infrastructure setup, then moved on to setting up the application’s backend of nēdl’s own Amazon Web Services (AWS) server. Next, we created the appropriate intents for handling users’ spoken commands and configuring the intents’ handlers for the app.

After that, we integrated APIs of AWS, Audials and Elasticsearch to extend the scan by song, artist and keywords functions, all of which were pivotal to launching a market viable product.

Then, we continued work on the backend server, setting strict criteria for it. The server must:

  • Receive a stream of user speech and convert it to text using automatic speech recognition software
  • Store that text in a search index
  • Provide a search API that supports the Amazon Alexa skill

The last piece of the puzzle: creating a nēdl API that performed search against the search index and integrating that API to play the stream.

Finally, after rigorous testing, nēdl was ready to launch.

NETVEST
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NETVEST
  • NETVEST screenshot 1
$10001 to $50000
56 weeks
Financial & Payments

Distillery worked closely with Netvest founder Mark Rochelli to deliver a stunning application that melds pitch-perfect UI with fluid UX to provide content and functionality accessible to both new and seasoned investors. The UI acts as a running feed that allows users to follow expert investors trading in real time.

The key innovation was condensing investor strategies into “motivation” icons that are instantly scannable on the feed. With uninterrupted access to investor portfolios and posts–including watchlist changes, market updates and explanations for all trades–users are positioned to develop the tools and intuition to make the right investment decisions at the right times.

Dual admin functionality allows investors to post trades and Netvest’s small staff to manage all aspects of the application.

Netvest’s design is clean, conservative and modern. The interface and iconography are intuitive and easy to navigate, balancing approachability with professionalism to engender trust and confidence.

For Netvest, Distillery’s team:

  • Fully designed and developed native applications for iOS and Android
  • A clear, bold UI accessible to all investor levels of investors
  • Innovative “Motivation” icons that condense complex investment strategies into instantly scannable data
  • Unprecedented access to the strategies of the nation’s most successful personal investors, including detailed explanations for their choices and trades
  • Dual admin functionality for investors and Netvest staff
  • All client expectations expanded and exceeded
Tapture
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Tapture
  • Tapture screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
16 weeks
Gaming

Tapture brought in the Distillery Product Team to help research, design, and build a new entry in the growing field oflocation-based mobile gaming. The initial vision imagined a geolocation game requiring game players to capture different areas or territories indicated on a map screen. Successful gameplay would hinge on a seamless melding of the digital and real worlds with a playful and highly responsive UX that rewarded gamers for frequent interactions and check-ins. A team structure would further reinforce Tapture’s appeal to young social gamers, helping to integrate the game into their daily lives.

Once a brand identity was secured, an engaging and fun new mobile game that seamlessly blends digital andreal-world play was developed within budget and on schedule. Gameplay in Tapture requires players to visitreal-world locations and check in to capture territories via a real-world map overlaid with shapes and outlines that denote the territories to be captured. All players are split into two teams which the user chooses during the onboarding process. The teams accumulate points with each successful capture. With these points, players gain experience and currency. Experience is used to increase rank, and currency is used to purchase in-game bonuses. As a result, all elements of the game design work together to deepen user retention and continually expand the player base. From the gamer’s perspective, a new level of game-life and real-life integration is experienced.

SoapBox
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SoapBox
  • SoapBox screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
20 weeks
Media

Recent studies estimate the average person spends over five hours a day on their smart phone. For many of us, a significant portion of that time is spent on social media. The Soapbox team envisioned a revolutionary social networking platform where users could post and sell items directly on their feed. The key challenge for our Product Team was to develop a seamless functionality that would enable users to easily monetize their social media presence.

Working together with the Soapbox team, our Product Team helped zero in on the target demographic to develop a clear brand identity and design an iOS app that will revolutionize the social media experience. What gives Soapbox its distinctive voice is the pioneering innovation of a new technology that enables users to conveniently and painlessly post and sell items on their social feed. The unique capabilities of this platform empower users with large followings to become key influencers, while scalability allows all users to build their own brand within the Soapbox platform.

CIZO
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CIZO
  • CIZO screenshot 1
$100001 to $500000
13 weeks
Other Industries

Video has become a dominant force in today’s web and mobile communities. Users hungry for the latest content inhigh-demand categories like TV Shows, Movies, Video Games, and Lifestyle too often find themselves frustrated by platforms featuring navigational nightmares and the latest viral cat videos. The dedicated audience is forced to rely on multiple sources to locate desired content. As a result, platform loyalty is strongly discouraged.

Cizo came to Distillery after another agency failed to deliver a successful product. With a poor understanding of the target demographic, they produced a prototype that underperformed during usability testing. Distillery’s task was to build a video platform running a continuous feed of official, bleeding-edge content in a pleasing and accessible format. Integral to the challenge was the utilization of a back-end empowering a small staff to upload content in anticipation of user demand.

Distillery’s Product Team collaborated as a unit with the Cizo team to deliver a mobile and web app that met or exceeded every goal in just fourteen weeks. A clear standout among competitive players, the Cizo application features an eye-catching, streamlined interface enabling viewers to instantly and effortlessly watch only the most current, up-to-date videos in their chosen category. An innovative selection tool between clips allows users to quickly jump forward and backward through the feed, maximizing both access to content as well as time spent on the app.

The Responsive Web Design and official, bleeding-edge content secure strong platform loyalty, while built-inscalability allows for added categories and functionality to meet an expected rise in user demand. To run thefront-end, the team built a comprehensive admin panel empowering a small staff to easily manage and update both users and content.

Distillery Reviews

4.6 3 Reviews
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Leonard Chung

They've been an fantastic partner through it all

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$200000+

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Review Summary

I've had the fortune of working with Distillery for a decade, building a company from nothing to selling it to one of the largest Fortune 500 firms. Throughout that time Distillery has been a reliable and scalable partner. When I started my next startup, partnering with Distillery again was a no-brainer.

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development, Web Development

What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?

Reliable, Scalable, Honest, Smart

Eric Saleh

They have exceptional designing team.

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$50001 to $200000
Completed

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Review Summary

The client wanted to develop a mobile application which can help its users to find a roommate in the most efficient way. The application shows all the connections that are looking for roommates, allows them to chat to find compatibility between them and also shows newsfeed from all your connections matching with your requirement. They associated with Distillery to develop the iOS-based mobile application which helps to accomplish their goals.



The client is very satisfied with Distillery because of their responsiveness and reliability. They appreciate their friendly approach and recommend them highly to work with.


What was the project name that you have worked with Distillery?

iOS Mobile App Development for A Social Networking Platform

What service was provided as part of the project?

Mobile App Development

Daniel James

Customer support services were good.

Rating Breakdown

  • Quality
  • Schedule & Timing
  • Communication
  • Overall Rating

Project Detail

$10001 to $50000
Completed

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The client is an e-commerce platform that enables consumers to get tickets for live sports, theater and concert events. It allows them to pick their own seats for events happening across the nation at a discounted price.



The client is very satisfied with Distillery because of their excellent support services and the expertise of their development team. The client recommends them highly to their colleagues to work with.


What was the project name that you have worked with Distillery?

Ecommerce Web Development for a Booking Platform

What service was provided as part of the project?

E-commerce Development