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Verified Profile
ISBX isthe largest mobile app developer in Southern California, employing over 70 software design and engineering professionals in our 15,000 sq ft office in West LA. With over 10 years in business, we offer a full range of interactive marketing and technology services, and build apps and websites for variety of funded startups as well as some of the largest retail, entertainment and consumer electronics companies in the world.
Locations
United States
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Suite 1000,
Los Angeles,
California
90034
(310) 437-8010
Focus Areas
Service Focus
- Mobile App Development
- Web Development
- App Designing (UI/UX)
- Web Designing (UI/UX)
- Digital Marketing
Client Focus
- Small Business
- Large Business
- Medium Business
Industry Focus
- Startups
- Enterprise
ISBX Executive Interview
Arthur Iinuma
Co-Founder and President
Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the company?
ISBX is the largest mobile app developer and software services company in Los Angeles, both by revenue and company size. Our company was founded in 2009, and was the first app developer in the Los Angeles area. We were invited by Apple to create the first iPad apps, to coincide with the launch of the iPad in 2010. We service a wide range of clients from large brands such as Red Bull, Apple, Nike, Lexus, L’oreal and Warner Brothers, to some of the most well-known startups in the LA ecosystem such as Wag!, Soothe, and Science 37. I am the Co-Founder and President here at ISBX and have been here since its inception.
What was the idea behind starting this organization?
We felt the future was in mobile and that other agencies were focused on servicing the already saturated web agency market. It was difficult to convince our early clients to agree with us.
What are your company’s business model–in house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
All of our work is fully executed, in-house. We do not rely on third-party vendors or contractors. We are very proud of our team of almost 70 software design, engineering and testing professionals.
How is your business model beneficial from a value addition perspective to the clients compared to other companies' models?
We have a particular expertise in providing deep consulting expertise for enterprises and startups. The specific needs for these two segments are unique. Technology startups need to constantly learn, adapt, innovate and disrupt. Their work needs to be defensible in the market of competitors, as well as to their board and investors. Enterprises need the best possible technical knowledge and engineering capability with a strict adherence to best practices. The work should be reliable and scalable.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
We cater primarily to:
• Enterprise / Large Brands
• Venture-backed Startups
50% of our YoY revenue is from repeat clients.
• Enterprise / Large Brands
• Venture-backed Startups
50% of our YoY revenue is from repeat clients.
Mention the objectives or the parameters critical in determining the time frame of developing a mobile app.
• First and foremost is the extensiveness and complexity of the features.
• Second is the requirement for scalability – for example, if the app is for a large
brand, there may be millions of potential users from launch – in this case, extensive
load, performance and scalability testing must be performed.
• Just as importantly is the responsiveness and clarity provided by the client. If the
client is still unsure of the exact approach, more time may be spent in product development and ideation, causing expansions in the timeframe.
• Second is the requirement for scalability – for example, if the app is for a large
brand, there may be millions of potential users from launch – in this case, extensive
load, performance and scalability testing must be performed.
• Just as importantly is the responsiveness and clarity provided by the client. If the
client is still unsure of the exact approach, more time may be spent in product development and ideation, causing expansions in the timeframe.
How much effort in terms of time goes into developing the front end and back end of a mobile app?
It completely depends on the type of app being developed, however, the expectations from our clients and their users are generally quite high to start with. Most of the apps we develop require a fairly robust backend. A good ballpark is 40% front end and 60% backend, however, we have developed apps that were just 10% frontend work, and 90% backend due to things like compliance, certifications, scalability, and functionality.
What are the key parameters to be considered before selecting the right platform for a mobile application?
Features, market segment, cost and whether the customer has existing users. For example, a popular provider of in-home massages found that their business operated in a premium services segment and therefore made the decision to launch with iOS first. However, another enterprise client had an existing consumer base so the decision was to launch on multiple platforms.
Which platform do you suggest your clients to begin with when they approach you with an idea (Android or iOS) and why?
We do not push one platform or another. The decision must factor in the above-mentioned criteria at the minimum, but generally, our process is much more consultative. That being said, most of our projects, if only choosing one, start with iOS because of research on consumption habits for iPhone owners. Generally, due to market share, recommending both platforms is generally a safe bet.
Android or iOS, Native or Hybrid — which platform is best to use to build your app? What are your recommendations?
We have tried and tested all of these approaches. Again, the decision is entirely dependent on features. Historically, we have preferred native development as this minimizes potential compatibility, support, performance and quality issues with a third-party framework. However, some of the newer technologies like React Native are proving to be quite robust, and represent a good compromise in the cost to performance category.
What are the key factors that you consider before deciding the cost of a mobile application?
There are a multitude of factors, almost too numerous to list. In general, the amount and complexity of features are paramount, followed by the expectations on timeframe and additional consulting in the form of product ideation, design and development. Support for multiple platforms increases costs as well, as does the requirement to service a large amount of users at launch.
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.)
The two most popular payment structures we utilize are a fixed bid, divided into payment milestones, based on progress and a monthly billing option based on the amount of hours utilized in each billing period.
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?
This is difficult to answer. In general, most apps worth creating are relatively expensive to build. As such, we try to set a minimum expectation of around $75,000 to build a mobile application. That being said, we regularly knock out websites and microsites at a fraction of that.
What is the price range (min and max) of the projects that you catered to in 2018?
$5,000 - $1.5M is the minimum and the maximum price range that we have catered in 2018.
Which business model do you suggest to your clients enabling them to generate revenue from mobile applications? Why?
The answer to this question is entirely dependent on knowing the business itself. For example, a large consumer brand with a significant in-built audience can monetize on direct app sales, or the sales of an accompanying hardware components. SaaS-based business tends to work well with a subscription model, and still others may choose to monetize their audience through ads or in-app purchases. The decision will ultimately come down to the type of business being created or serviced with the app.
ISBX Clients & Portfolios
ISBX Reviews
8 Reviews
- All Services
- App Designing (UI/UX)
- Web Designing (UI/UX)
- Mobile App Development
- Web Development
- Relevance
- Most Recent
- Rating: high to low
- Rating: low to high
Brett Butler MBA FMVA®, Co-Founder at Brass Capital
Posted 9 months ago
ISBX combined the capabilities of a world class firm with the service of a down home company. Amazing people, service, can't recommend them enough!
Review Summary
The entire experience working with ISBX was incredible. They have project management down to a science with a transparent, professional, and straight forward process. Once the project kicked off you really saw the capabilities of the team and we were blown away. Everything from logo design, to branding, to marketing strategies, to industry knowledge to animations they were absolutely world class.
They took on fledgling concept and were able to articulate it in a way that really resonated with us and our early investors so much so that the design assets alone helped us oversubscribe the round.
They took on fledgling concept and were able to articulate it in a way that really resonated with us and our early investors so much so that the design assets alone helped us oversubscribe the round.
What was the project name that you have worked with ISBX?
The name of our Company is Brass Capital
Describe your project in brief
Our project was a decentralized autonomous organization that aims at providing decentralized access to the most promising blockchain and DeFi projects and professionals. Ultimately we hope to bring the next generation of talent to Crypto/DeFi and bring Crypto/DeFi to the next generation of investors.
What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?
I really appreciated their ability to work with us on revisions, being 1st time founders there were a lot of changes they underwent throughout
I also appreciated their communication, constantly keeping us up to date, being able to let us know where the project stood and what we could do
Lastly, I loved that it was clear we were working with experts in their fields who took complicated concepts and made them easy and blew us away
What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?
I wish there was a way we could have been able to get things done faster but I know with quality it takes time and they had multiple clients
Peggy McCabe, Director of Marketing at Urban Commons at Urban Commons
Posted on Jul 06, 2018
Queen Mary website design refresh
Review Summary
Working with iSBX on the refresh of the Queen Mary website was a pleasure, as ISBX provided a very professional and seamless experience from the inception of the project to the completion. Their team, led by an experienced Project Manager, provided excellent client service and communicated about deadlines, costs, and skillfully managed expectations at every phase of the project.
What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?
ISBX is very experienced in website design and designed a new site for us that met expectations. Additionally, they optimized the design of the site for mobile users which was of great significance to us.
Michelle Bellamy
Posted on Aug 19, 2019
GAIA
Review Summary
ISBX was and is the best choice for App Development for us. Grateful for their professionalism and candid energy. Would highly recommend them to anyone. Best in the biz!
What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?
The people that you get to work with and their ability to make you feel like your working with an old friend.
What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?
Just keep doing the incredible job that they’re doing
Paul Hanges
Posted on May 12, 2021
External Software Development and Taking Project to Launch
Review Summary
We partnered with ISBX to launch one of our new projects. They were able to deliver our MVP within budget and worked with our internal teams to ensure that there was continuity with the core brand.
What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?
Communication with executive team and understanding what we were trying to build. Availability of leadership team for any adjustments and openness to changes on how we can work together.
What was it about the company that you didn't like which they should do better?
Project was being conceptualized while building. Some fluidity with stories, planning could have helped the project with the uncertainty.
Tony Alfaro, Founder & CEO at Ribbon Labs, Inc.
Posted on Mar 29, 2017
Best in class!!
Review Summary
ISBX has been my development team for nearly three years. I can't speak more highly of them. They are extremely competent in all aspects of the process, development, etc.
What is it about the company that you appreciate the most?
<p>On time and on budget. Very efficient. Great work.</p>
M A, CTO at at Wag Labs Inc.
Posted on May 13, 2021
Great partner!
Review Summary
ISBX has been a great partner to us. They have been flexible and have been able to support us on large projects with short notice. The engineers we have worked with are top notch.
Sam Baumgarten, Founder and CEO at Pikkup
Posted on Nov 10, 2017
Top Quality!
Review Summary
ISBX was great throughout the entire development process. They work quickly and efficiently while always staying within budget.
Sherry Farley, Vice President at Sprite Industries, Inc.
Posted on Jul 04, 2018
Unique App Development
Review Summary
The experience was professional. They delivered all our unique goals for the mobile app on time and on budget!