Blockchain Development Expertise: Interview with Crypton Studio Co-Founder for GoodFirms

Crypton Studio is an international software development company with offices in Latvia, Kazakhstan, and Thailand. Our core expertise lies in blockchain technology. Over the past 7 years, we have successfully delivered more than 150 projects for clients spanning across 25 countries. We offer a flexible and customized approach to blockchain development that aligns with the specific needs and goals of our clients. Whether they are just getting started or are ready to scale their solution, we have the expertise and experience to assist our customers in achieving success.

As for my role, I primarily focus on business development. My responsibilities include conducting negotiations with our most important clients and partners, representing the company at international events, managing the marketing and sales teams, and strategic planning for the future of the company.

Before founding the company in 2016, the founders already possessed significant experience in the financial and banking sectors, as well as in custom development. Recognizing the growing trend in the blockchain industry, they decided to establish a new studio specializing exclusively in blockchain development. The founders' relevant experience in the FinTech industry allowed them to quickly take control of several major projects, significantly contributing to the company's growth.

My journey with the company began in 2019 during a bullish market period when Crypton Studio was experiencing rapid expansion. Alongside its growth, the web3 market underwent significant changes at that time, prompting the company to consider reforming its model. A new strategy for international business development became imperative. After the successful launch of Crypton Factory, the edtech division of Crypton Studio, the company's founders invited me to become their partner and collaborate as a co-founder, contributing to our expansion in the international market.

In general, we primarily focus on providing blockchain outsourcing services. Our team comprises over 150 employees, including back-end and front-end developers, smart contract developers, mobile developers, QA engineers, designers, analysts, project managers, and more. This diversity enables us to cater to our clients' needs comprehensively.

Additionally, we offer staff augmentation services. For our clients' convenience, we've developed a mobile app where customers can find the developers they need, hire them directly, and make payments in both crypto and fiat currencies.

Furthermore, our expertise in the blockchain industry has allowed us, as mentioned earlier, to establish an EdTech division within our company. We provide web2 studios with the opportunity to educate their employees in working with web3 technologies. We tailor custom educational programs to meet our clients' specific needs and elevate their employees' proficiency in the blockchain field.

I believe our exclusive focus on blockchain technology sets us apart from other development studios. We concentrate solely on this technology rather than attempting to cover a wide range of requests. This single-minded focus may well be one of our primary advantages.

On the flip side, our close relationships with other development studios and the partnership network - Shard’s network, that we've cultivated by collaborating with top development studios worldwide serve a dual purpose. They help us stay attuned to industry trends and market dynamics. Furthermore, even if we are unable to assist a potential client due to team workload or an irrelevant technology stack, we are committed to providing help to any client through our network of partners.

In fact, we do not specialize in a particular industry because blockchain technology is gaining increasing attention across various business sectors. Blockchain is being employed in fields such as medicine, healthcare, insurance, supply chain, energy, the legal sphere, real estate, retail, gaming, fashion, and many others. However, the most prominent domain where blockchain technology is currently being utilized is finance. Consequently, a significant portion of our previous clients hails from the financial industry.

With a substantial customer base, we maintain long-term relationships by providing ongoing support and upgrades to their projects, often extending over 2-3 years. Moreover, we have numerous cases where a previous client returns to us with a new project and idea, and we embark on a fresh collaboration from a new perspective. Additionally, there are instances where we initially developed a prototype, MVP (Minimum Viable Product), or conducted research and development (R&D), and then, after 1 or 2 years, clients return to us to progress the development process into a full-fledged product.

In essence, from the outset, we aim to establish mutually beneficial and enduring partnerships with every client, whether they initially approach us for token development or the creation of a full-scale decentralized exchange.

As previously mentioned, our core service centers around outsourcing. We undertake comprehensive development projects, shepherding them from conceptualization through execution. This encompasses in-depth research and development (R&D), equipping clients for fundraising endeavors, and crafting prototypes or Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) for diverse platforms. Moreover, we occasionally engage in collaborations with our partners, focusing not on entire platforms, but on specific components, such as smart contracts. In numerous cases, clients have approached us with pre-existing designs and front-end components, seeking our specialized assistance exclusively for smart contract development and testing.

Our expertise is well-suited for handling projects such as neo-banking, crypto/fiat payment gateways, CEXs, DEXs, NFT marketplaces, launchpads, crowdfunding and tokenization platforms, crypto wallets, cryptocurrencies, betting platforms, Metaverses, and a wide array of other ventures.

Also, this year we have started providing our customers with our White-label solutions, and we see great potential in it. Every month, we notice increasing interest in our solutions. Currently, we are able to provide WLS for products such as CEX, Crypto gateway, and Crypto-wallet. Next year, we will also finalize our solution for NFT marketplaces.

I believe the primary measure of success for your company is satisfied customers. When they return with new projects or recommend your services, it indicates that you are performing exceptionally well. According to our analytics, 84% of our previous customers return to us for additional services or recommend us to their partners. While this is a promising percentage, we continue to grow, expand our expertise, and strengthen our connections, leaving ample room for improvement. We are actively working towards that goal.

We firmly believe that the initial stage of the development process is of paramount importance, possibly even more critical than the development itself. This conviction drives us to invest a substantial amount of time in the preparation stage. Every project we undertake commences with a comprehensive analytical phase. During this stage, our team, including business analysts, tech leads, project managers, and designers, collaborates closely with the client for approximately 2 to 4 weeks to create essential project documentation, detailed roadmaps, project architecture, and initial design wireframes.

During this process, our team dissects the entire project into manageable components, addressing each one individually, and working closely with the client to devise optimal solutions. While this approach may appear excessive, we firmly believe that it is the key to our successful project development. It helps us preempt unnecessary future expenses for the client and maintains flexibility throughout our collaboration. Although we have a dedicated team of professionals, each excelling in their respective roles, I believe it's this meticulous approach to the initial stage that ultimately contributes to our impressive outcomes.

When it comes to post-development support, we extend 1 month of complementary support services upon project completion. Following this period, we offer our clients the flexibility to choose from three distinct support options, tailored to their specific needs:

These flexible support options empower our clients to select the approach that aligns best with their unique needs and preferences.

We are highly adaptable when it comes to billing our clients. Our approach begins with a thorough discussion to determine the most suitable billing model. In many cases, we find that the Time&Material model aligns best with our clients' needs and provides transparency and flexibility.

When a customer approaches us with their project concept, our team, including analysts and tech leads, takes 2-3 working days to prepare an initial project estimate. We meticulously detail the cost and time required for each task within the project. This comprehensive quote provides the customer with a clear understanding of the project's development costs and timelines.

We follow the Scrum methodology, organizing the project into 2-week sprints. Prior to each sprint, the team conducts a call with the client to confirm the sprint tasks. Once confirmed, we send an invoice for that specific sprint. At the end of each sprint, we engage in another call with the client to review the sprint's results, discuss any relevant reports, and plan for the next sprint. This iterative process continues until the project reaches completion.

This agile approach allows us to maintain maximum flexibility throughout the entire development journey, ensuring that we can adapt to evolving project needs seamlessly.

At this stage, there are no strict budgetary requirements. With our considerable number of employees, we can assist with tasks ranging from providing a single specialist for a small project to undertaking larger, more complex endeavors. We have the capacity to handle various projects, from creating a simple ERC-20 token to managing large-scale initiatives. If I recall correctly, our most economical project to date cost around $1500.

The most cost-effective project last year was approximately $5k, while the most expensive one we secured was around $2 million. The latter is currently in the development process.

Before starting our company, my partners envisioned it as an international business with numerous representative offices worldwide. Currently, we have offices in Europe, Central and Southeast Asia, and our future plans involve opening offices in South and North America, as well as the MENA regions. Additionally, we aspire to transform into an all-encompassing blockchain development studio. This means we aim to cover all aspects related to blockchain, including not only development but also tokenomics, marketing, fundraising, and more. While we can currently provide assistance in these areas through our partners, our goal is to handle them internally, so I suppose we will be able to do that in 10 years.