Web Development Company Opportunities in Select Industries

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Web Development Company Opportunities in Select Industries

Key Takeaways

  • Furthermore, the source revealed that there is a huge gap between the challenges venture-backed businesses are attempting to solve and the technology at their disposal.
  • To solve such problems, VCs employ the services of custom development services (such as Dev.co), which provides them with the consultation, technology, and development services they require to build from the ground up.

Introduction

  • After an exhaustive search through news, press releases, articles, blogs, and expert opinions, there is no readily available data about specific challenges faced by small to medium VC firms, film/video production companies, and Kickstarter projects, when trying to develop a website. However, we've used the available data to pull together key findings such as the tech-related challenges faced by small/medium VCs, the best practices for setting up a website for film/video production companies, and the general web development challenges, with their solutions. Below you'll find an outline of our research methodology to better understand why the information you've requested is publicly unavailable, as well as a deep dive into our findings.

Web/Software Development Challenges: Small to Medium VC Firms

Finding the Right Talent

  • According to Dev.co, a custom software development company, "VCs spend too much time searching for the right software developers."
  • The company further opined that the Venture Capital industry is in need of technology solutions to aid with the management and growth of their businesses.
  • As revealed by the source, there is a huge gap between the challenges venture-backed businesses are attempting to solve and the technology at their disposal.
  • Also, The Washington Post said that in software and web development, talented programmers can be hard to find and harder to compensate.
  • To solve such problems, VCs employ the services of custom development services (such as Dev.co), which provides them with the consultation, technology, and development services they require to build from the ground up.
  • Players in the space such as Dev.co "advise VCs in emerging markets on how to effectively use technology and internet platforms to transform their businesses, offer customized software development services for venture capital, and build applications and web tools for venture capital firms, while providing ongoing support through release cycles."
  • DEV.co claims to be a specialized software development shop for VCs and has developed both iOS Apps and Android Apps for companies in the space such as Balderton Capital, Summit Partners, and 1759 Capital.
  • Also, for recruitment and sales, LinkedIn is the most commonly used resource.
  • 61% of respondents use it for recruitment and 41% for identifying potential customers. Several others like Workable, Slack, and Angel list are used to find, research and contact candidates.

Deal Origination

  • According to a survey of 137 respondents from largely smaller VC funds (<$200m in fund size), the top motivations behind VCs improving their technology stack is the need to improve their ability of finding and executing deals.
  • Based on the survey, 59% of the respondents agree that keeping their records updated with the VC industry’s major data-trackers aids firms to market themselves to LPs.
  • While most of the respondents opined that they regularly update their data on third-party databases such as Crunchbase (68%), Pitchbook (56%), CB Insights (43%), Preqin (24%), and Mattermark (17%), some VCs build their own tools to extract data from those platforms to try and identify high-potential companies.
  • An example is CircleUp, which recently announced a new quantitative fund to invest in consumer packaged goods companies. Its proprietary software, Helio, incorporates machine learning as the key component to find and pinpoint investment opportunities more objectively and efficiently.

Data Mining

  • Some early-stage investors are said to mine data from crowdfunding sites, angel group platforms, and product launch lists to identify investment opportunities.
  • AngelList is by far the most popular platform (57%) amongst respondents, whilst about 39% of the VCs said that they don’t review any of those platforms for deal leads on a regular basis.
  • 24% of respondents also said that they use Producthunt, while 17% use Seed Invest.
  • Gary Benitt, Managing Partner at SocialLeverage, explains how the company actively leverages AngelList, ProductHunt, and other crowdfunding sites to remain up to date regarding the industry.
  • According to him, “It’s less about finding new deals that we might want to invest in, and more about getting a pulse for what types of companies and products seem to be launching or generating traction.”
  • Furthermore, 30% of VCs have a full-time resource dedicated to data and engineering.

Workflow Management

CRM Tools

  • Sevanta Dealflow is the most used CRM-system dedicated specifically to VC/PE, however, only 4% of respondents reported using it.
  • One of the reasons may be that generalist CRM tools tend to have much more reliable support resources. VCs more than anyone else are fully aware of the risk of putting critical infrastructure onto the back of an early-stage startup.
  • 5% of the survey respondents reported that they are building their own proprietary CRM system.

Web Development Best Practices: Film/Video Production Companies

Creating an Exciting Homepage

  • Curious Refuge defined a Home Page as "where the majority of the visitors to a site will decide to stick around or jump ship, meaning that it is necessary for it to make a great first impression.
  • A video production home page should be able to act as a stand-alone page on the website. Users should be able to get an overview of the services, demo reel, location, and contact information all from the home page.
  • The source recommends that a video production home page should feature a captivating headline, a short explanation of the service offerings, trust indicators, demo reel, service locations, and a contact form.
  • Also, Bin Press (bP) recommends presenting the site’s data in a clear and concise language to welcome web users for a deeper investigation into the other content.
  • A headline encapsulates the goals or desires of the target client. Aside from the demo reel, the headline is the most important part of a video production company website.
  • Another important factor is the ease of navigation through the home page. First-time visitors shouldn’t feel confused when they try to find the necessary pieces of data.

Creating a Portfolio Page

  • A portfolio page is for organizing great examples of previous client work (case studies).
  • The portfolio page is an art gallery. As such, it is vital to make it the best representation of the service offerings. This is the place to include only the cream of the crop.
  • A portfolio of the past works is the first and foremost reason why visitors go to a video production company website. That is so important for a filmmaker to have prominent YouTube and Vimeo video accounts to showcase its projects.
  • In order to keep the site’s loading speeds on the maximum level, bP recommends embedding videos from the YouTube and Vimeo channels instead of loading them on the server.
  • Curious Refuge is of the opinion that the portfolio page top should house the demo reel. Below that, include a cascade of the best examples of your previous work.
  • If possible, the source further recommends an in-depth overview of a few key projects. These "case-studies" are a great way to prove that a company knows what they are doing. Some companies have dedicated blogs for sharing the stories behind their client work.
  • At the page bottom, it is necessary to include a simple gallery of all of the remaining videos. A trust indicator (logo cascade, reviews, etc.) should also be provided on this page and a link to the contact page.

Creating a Contact Page

  • The contact details should be presented in the easy-to-reach style.
  • As a rule, organizing all contact details on the contact page is the best way to provide users with the choice of channels to reach you out in person.
  • A good contact page should include a contact form, company email address, location, phone number, photo studio/description, and trust indicators.
  • It’s a great benefit if there will be a built-in contact form on the site.

Creating an 'About' Page

  • According to Curious Refuge, the 'About' page is where you sell trust to visitors to the site.
  • The about page is where people go to figure out if they want to work with you as an individual. Think about the type of person that your client wants to work with and become the embodiment of that ideal.
  • The source recommends that the About page should include "a short paragraph explaining the story behind your production company, logos of previous clients, reviews from people who have worked with you, professional photos of yourself and your team, behind-the-scenes photos of the team on set, and the location and studio space."

Landing Pages for Service Offerings

General Problems with Web Development Projects and Their Remedies

  • Freelocks identified some of the general problems experienced while handling a web development project.
  • These include the cost of the development project, clear-cut explanations of what the site should look like or do when completed, changes in requirements due to business reasons, launch time challenges, security challenges, backend problems, among other problems.
  • The source also provides insights into the recommended remedies for the different challenges faced.
  • Other sources such as SAG ipi, Disruptor League, Studio Labs, and TP and P, also identified various problems associated with web development in general.

Research Strategy

After an exhaustive search through the public domain, we were unable to identify pre-compiled resources with information on the specific challenges faced by small to medium VC firms, film/video production companies, and Kickstarter projects, when trying to develop a website.
To ensure due diligence, the research team started by scouring through the public domain for news reports, publications, articles, or expert opinions, about the different challenges specific to small to medium VC firms, film/video production companies, and Kickstarter projects, when developing a website. This strategy proved abortive as we were unable to find any report with such information.

Next, the team altered the research course by seeking out specific companies that specialize in developing websites for small to medium VC firms, film/video production companies, and Kickstarter projects. Through this strategy, we hoped to search through their news publications, case studies, blog posts, and press releases in a bid to find any mention of the common challenges being faced by companies in the three industries and probably, a remedy to such challenges. The strategy was partially fruitful as we found Dev.co, a custom software development company, corroborated by a Washington Post article, both of which reported that small to medium VC firms find it hard to assemble talents when it comes to web development. Apart from the two sources, we were still unable to find a comprehensive list of the web development challenges faced by companies in the above-listed spheres.

Due to the lack of resources regarding this topic, we have gone ahead to provide some helpful findings regarding the required information such as the result of a survey from small and medium VCs, regarding the tech stack challenges they face and how the solutions they adopt. Although the survey focused on tech stacks, it went ahead to mention some web development related challenges faced by such companies and the type of solutions they adopt. For the film/video production companies, we have provided insights into the web development best practices that can be leveraged by such companies. Lastly, we have identified additional sources with information on the challenges of web development in general coupled with possible solutions to such problems.

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