From Fragmented Tools to Full Control: How Wild Streamlined Operations with Productive

Wild was founded nearly 12 years ago in Vienna, Austria. We’ve been operating entirely remotely for the last four or five years. We have around 30 full-time employees, plus a few freelancers who work with us regularly. We don’t focus on one specific market, but we’ve developed more profound expertise in certain industries over time.

We work a lot in tech, both software and hardware. Given our background in design and development, we’ve been involved in many AI projects, including working with AI companies that develop large language models (LLMs) and building AI-powered internal tools for enterprises. We also do a lot of prototyping.
Beyond tech, we have significant experience in healthcare, wellness, and finance, particularly in the FinTech space. However, we tend to work more with enterprise-level clients rather than startups. We also occasionally collaborate with mid-sized and local businesses.

I’m one of the founders of Wild. My background is in design, and I’ve always led on the visual side. However, my role has shifted in the last few years as we’ve grown. I’ve been moving away from client work and focusing more on internal processes and workflows. My main goal is to free up time for our designers and developers so they can focus on creative work rather than administrative tasks.

Since 2023, we’ve also been part of the creative network Residence, which includes seven or eight companies. That’s been an important factor in how we’ve evolved, including our decision to switch to Productive.

Before Productive, we had a setup that worked, but it wasn’t as efficient as now. We relied on multiple tools for different tasks:

We had a high-level finance and profitability overview, but it wasn’t as accurate as now. Our data wasn’t as precise, so our reports weren’t as insightful. Things like deal forecasting, budget forecasting, and tracking billable versus non-billable hours weren’t as clear as they are now with Productive.

The biggest improvement was in the accuracy of our data, especially at the project level. We now have much better insights into project health, billable vs. non-billable hours, expenses, revenue, and profit forecasting. The Scenario Builder has also been a great addition—it helps us plan project teams and determine if a pitch is worth pursuing.

Since switching, our workflows have become more streamlined. People no longer have to switch between multiple tools, and we don’t encounter issues where an update in one tool causes a problem in another. Everything is in one place now, which has made a huge difference. I can confidently say that the work required for financial reporting has been significantly reduced. It’s also been a big help that our finance team can now take over more of this process.

My favorite feature is the reporting. It’s flexible and allows me to generate a wide variety of reports. There are some limitations, but I imagine those will be addressed in future updates. For our project managers, the biggest benefit is how well all the project management tools integrate—it makes everything much more effective.

The onboarding process was smooth. We started with a demo and were assigned a dedicated manager who helped us through any questions. I spent the first couple of weeks exploring the tool myself, then a couple of months working with our project management team to get everything set up properly. We also created internal handbooks—one for project managers that goes deeper into financials and budgets, and a lighter one for the team that covers things like submitting expenses and tracking time.

One of the best aspects of Productive is the support team. They’re incredibly responsive—I get an answer within minutes whenever I have a question.

If Productive were to disappear suddenly, I’d probably have a panic attack. We’ve put much effort into setting it up and making it work for our team. Losing it would mean researching and testing new tools, and I doubt we’d find one that works as well as our current setup. It would be incredibly frustrating.