FAQ

We do not accept direct applications. Instead, we will consider your project from a development perspective and make an offer if we feel your project is suitable for investment. Why do we do this? Our evaluation process depends on you approaching us as a development contractor — it gives us valuable insights into your team’s ability to arrive at tech-related decisions.

The only criteria we have industry-wise is that it must be a tech product. We prefer investing in new companies, and in the past have avoided apps that are partially-built. The most important criteria for us is the strength of the team and the need for our services.

The time to receive funding from the Prospus Fund varies with each project. In the past, we have offered funding in as little as 3 weeks, while it has taken up to 6 months with other companies. As a courtesy to our clients and potential startups, we always indicate our interest within two weeks of our first engagement.

The Prospus Fund does not have a regular funding schedule. Instead, we replenish our Fund as cash and services become available within our group of companies. We do sent out announcements to those on our mailing list. We do retain between $1mn and $1.5mn in the Fund, but do not publish funding levels.

This includes any legal or administrative formalities required by your state, province, country or any other jurisdiction. This will include any kind of legal registration, plus the costs of adding Prospus to any existing legal structure. Prospus does review all paperwork and contracts to ensure they are adequate and compliant with relevant standards.

Absolutely, we will always consider anything that our startup clients request. Our standard advisory duration is 18 months, which is the most suitable from a legal and logistical standpoint, but there are times when we will extend that depending on the circumstances. Remember, our goal is to help your startup succeed, and if it means that some extra effort from us will help, then we will be happy to do that. That said, it is vital that a company’s founders build up a competent core team as soon as possible. With that team in place, founders will generally find they are quite capable at 18 months.

Any position that Prospus occupies on the Board of Directors would last until Prospus decides to step down, or all founders collectively agree to a resignation. Keep in mind that our goal in serving as a Director is to help the company through the initial stages of launching, funding, and scaling a company. Prospus will resign its position voluntarily when the company meets certain milestones.

Prospus may also voluntarily serve on a Board of Advisors at the sole discretion of the primary shareholders.

Absolutely. All Prospus products are warrantied against defects. Any bug or defect found will be fixed by Prospus at not cost to our clients.

Our products offer a degree of customization to buyers through the administrative dashboard. For requirements that extend beyond the capability within the UI, our development team will create client-specific modifications. We also offer clients the ability to fork our products with certain restrictions.

One of the most appreciated selling points of Prospus products is the ability to integrate them into new or existing solutions through our advanced API. We also offer a licensing model to directly integrate code into third-party solutions. For additional information, please contact us directly at solutions@prospus.com.

We have been operating profitably every year since 2008, with one of the highest customer satisfaction rates in our industry. Our strong portfolio and solid reputation for producing quality work on time and on budget are our best sales tools. We provide a list of references with each proposal, and our products have been recognized in multiple industries.

Since we don’t offer template websites, we cannot quote website development costs. Custom development depends on many factors, and require a “discovery” process to ensure we understand what you want. To get a better idea of the cost for building your website, send us a quick email at solutions@prospus.com, or give us a call. We’ll ask you some questions about the nature of the site, then give you a ballpark figure as quickly as you can. You can also use one of our handy solution estimation calculators.

Note: Beware any developer or development company who gives you an instant quote for your website project. Imagine telling an architect you want a house and having them immediately giving you a price. Any fair and honest architect would want to know the size, materials, features, layout, and timeline? The same goes for building web sites. Depending on the features you want, the cost can be anywhere from a few thousand dollars to a few million.

Timelines for projects vary with the size, features, complexity, budget, and other variables. Websites tend to take less time than web or mobile apps. Please shoot us a quick email at solutions@prospus.com with your requirements and we can start to put together a timeline for you.

At Prospus we offer both options. If the project sticks to the timetable and scope defined in our flat rate proposal, we can guarantee the quoted price. However, if you need more flexibility and need to change the scope during the project, we are happy to work on a time and materials basis.

Prospus offers multiple types of solutions, from website design and development, web app development, mobile app development, and technology consulting. Each of these require a different process, which we explain in our Solutions pages. Generally, for development projects, we follow the process below:

1. Engagement. We discuss and negotiate the terms of engagement, including all legal and ownership matters. Prospus offers fully custom legal and project terms, if required.
2. Project Planning. We create and confirm the initial project term. Note that this is subject to change with further discovery.
3. Discovery. We discuss and formalize the features and functionality of the solution.
4. Wireframe. We create a preliminary layout of the app, focusing on flow and user interface features.
5. Design. With all functional requirements reflected in the wireframe, we now prepare a design.
6. Architecture. Our senior level architects review the requirements and create a database and logic framework suitable for the solution.
7. Development.  With the design and layout approved, we initiate front, then back-end development.
8. Testing. After every delivery we do user acceptance testing (UAT). We run through a final set of tests to be ensure the site meets client expectations.
9. Launch. With final client approval, we launch the site. The marks the end of the project.
10. Support. Assuming the client wants a support contract from Prospus, we initiate the support process with the launch of the project.

Note that every process will vary, depending on the project and client requirements.

Payment terms depend on the size of the project. Projects below $10,000 will generally require between 1/3rd and 1/2 payment up-front. Remaining payments are generally due upon agreed milestones. Final payments are always due after client acceptance of the solution and prior to code delivery.

Solution specifications are defined in our Scope Statement document. These documents can be lengthy, comprising many pages of diagrams, tables, policies, use cases, and even wireframes. A Prospus business analyst will determine how best to create the Scope Statement document.

The decision to move forward on a project typically hinges on a cost/benefit computation. The solutions specifications process is called “Discovery”, and is aimed providing a solid estimate for implementation. During the process, our analysts and technical team work closely with client teams to understand the solution requirements from a variety of different angles. We will codify and formalize the agreed scope of work in our Scope Statement document, forming the basis of our commitment.

The solution specifications contained within the Scope Statement contain all of the features that we are legally obligated to deliver, along with a timeline, and a cost estimate.

We aim to work with clients in the way that most suits them. Some clients are content to have us handle all design work, while others want to be more involved in the process. In a collaborative design process, we elicit design goals from clients, create and share draft renders for feedback, continuing the process until the client is satisfied.

The solution development timelines depend on the quantity and complexity of the requirements and the team resources put on the job. There is no one-time-fits-all project schedule.

Absolutely. After we have completed implementation of any module or solution, we hand it over to the client for what we call “user acceptance testing”. During this fixed period of time, the client will be free to use and test the software. If the client finds any bugs, defects, or inconsistencies, we will fix those during this period as part of delivery.

Intellectual property rights will vary with each custom solution; however, we start from the premise that our clients expect to fully own and control every solution we build for them. Our legal agreements aim to achieve this full ownership. Where they do fall short, it is generally due to a solution integrating open source or proprietary components owned by other parties.

This will entirely depend on the client requirements. If a client solution includes open source software, then clients should expect that the solution will be open source to the degree set forth in the relative open source licensing agreements. Interpreting licensing agreements can be complex and time-consuming, so if clients have any serious concerns they should seek out an experienced software IP attorney.

Clients will have full rights to access and modify non-proprietary sections of their source code. Note that we advise that only one company and administrator have access to a solution’s source code at a time, and providing access to the source code, database, or server may nullify certain aspects of a solution warranty. Inquire with your Prospus support representative for details.

Prospus includes a fixed warranty against all defects arising from our work. The duration of the warranty depends on a variety of factors, including the specific solution delivered, support policy in place, and third-party access to the solution.

We provide the type of support that is most cost and time-effective for the client. As of 2017, 95% of our support requests are initiated through email, with 25% of them leading to a direct phone call or chat session. The majority of support requests are handled entirely through email. In-person support requests generally are not required except for some of our largest enterprise customers.

Our support team is prepared to handle any sort of support request, from troubleshooting bugs, to providing directions on how to use a feature, to creating and delivering training materials.

Yes, we provide all our clients the option to purchase an annual support plan. Our support plans vary, but can include a specific Service Level Agreement (SLA) that comprise response and resolution times.

There no limits to the kind of support we can offer to our clients; however, support requests which aren’t covered under our support agreement will be liable for additional labor charges.

Support services are charged whenever a client has one or more solutions that need continuous monitoring, maintenance, repair, or warranty support.

Yes, we can provide a Service Level Agreement (SLA) if required by a client. We generally craft SLAs for mission-critical applications.