OOhvat's Review of Ptolemay: App Development Experience

Sergey Lazarev, founder of OOhvat, an outdoor and indoor ad platform, shares: "Our story started with a typical startup disaster: the previous dev team left the code in such a mess that fixing it felt pointless. Every time we tried to patch something, we'd break three other things. That's when a partner recommended Ptolemay—and that was the game-changer for our project."

Quick Kickoff:

Right from day one, it was obvious these guys knew their stuff. Everything was super organized — reports came in on time, milestones were hit, and we were always in the loop. Big shoutout to Sergey Kolesnichenko, our project manager, who was always on top of things and quick to fix any issues.

Here’s a perfect example: we needed to build a microservice that could handle hundreds of requests in milliseconds. For a startup, this was huge — any lag could cost us customer trust and a boatload of cash. Sergey and his team totally stepped up, picked the right tech, and set up the servers so we could integrate smoothly with one of the biggest SSP companies. This not only fixed our issue but also opened up new doors for the project.

Fixing the Mess:

When Ptolemay stepped in, the code was so messy that we had to rethink many of our plans. The team went all out to clean things up. In the first 1-2 months, they fixed all the messy code, wrote tests to make sure everything worked, and put together clear documentation. It gave us confidence that we were finally heading in the right direction.

There were some bumps in the road — we had to swap out a key player. But that’s when our luck turned: Sergey Kolesnichenko joined the project. He was the guy who didn’t just solve problems fast, he even boosted our performance. After that, everything ran like clockwork, and we could finally breathe easy knowing the project was in safe hands.

"Our team quickly nailed down the project specifics, dove deep into SSP and DSP systems, and built the right architecture. We took the project from a rough draft to full production in under six months, even though we originally expected it to take 12-18 months." — Sergey Kolesnichenko, Project Manager at Ptolemay.

What’s Next:

We’re scaling the project fast and have already launched key integrations with partners like Beeline. What stands out is how deeply the Ptolemay team dives into the work. They nailed down all the nuances of our industry, and the results were way better than what I had in mind when writing the specs. Now, we’ve got a fully integrated platform with Radar, an SSP system handling millions of requests daily from various ad platforms.

The Ptolemay team totally crushed it regarding performance, page load speed, and response times. We’re gearing up for the main release and mapping out what’s next. There’s still a lot to do, but I’m sure we’ll be working with Ptolemay for a long time.

"We filtered through Sergey's specs right from the start, did some heavy product work, and proposed solutions that, based on our experience, were the most efficient in UI and architecture. By taking on both the product and management side of the project, we were able to deliver results that went beyond the client's expectations." — Sergey Kolesnichenko, Project Manager at Ptolemay.

Insider Tips for the Startup Crew:

Keep all materials, like reports on team changes, in one place where the whole team has access. This will save you a lot of headaches later.

With Ptolemay, everything was set up through Slack and YouTrack, so we always knew what was going on, what had been done, and exactly what we were paying for—everything was clear and transparent. Plus, we had regular syncs with our PM, who kept us updated and answered any questions right away.

If you’re looking for a reliable development partner, I highly recommend Ptolemay.

Feel free to reach out to me, Sergey Lazarev, at [email protected] if you want to hear more about my experience. Happy to chat!