Reservoir

Credential fraud is a growing problem, with officials and job candidates falsifying education credentials from prestigious institutions. Reservoir set out to fix it, but the founder had only a vision, initial branding, and early funding, no product. Building a secure, three-sided platform meant hard calls on mobile-versus-web, onboarding, and data, and Reservoir needed a partner to make them and build it.

Reservoir set out to eliminate credential fraud through secure authentication, serving universities that need streamlined credential management and students who need verified, shareable digital diplomas. When OAK’S LAB began, Reservoir was a pre-product startup with only founder James Gabriel Azar’s vision and initial branding.

James had secured early funding but needed a software partner to turn the vision into a product that could gain traction, and to navigate the security and onboarding complexity of a multi-sided credential platform. He brought in OAK’S LAB for end-to-end product development.

The mandate was to build an entire platform from nothing: admin tools for universities, a secure app for students, and verification for employers, while resolving the key questions, whether to prioritize mobile or web for security-conscious US users, how to balance university and personal email onboarding, and how to collect data that serves both verification and alumni outreach.

It all had to meet strict security requirements without making onboarding painful.

Beginning with a comprehensive discovery phase and a founder visit to Prague for alignment, an integrated team of Product, Design, and Tech Leads, two engineers (one mobile specialist), and QA built three interconnected products over a four-month, sprint-based cycle with continuous stakeholder feedback.

Enterprise-ready foundation. Delivered a complete three-product ecosystem ready for institutional adoption.

First enterprise client. Georgetown University identified as a key pilot customer.

Partnership continued. Reservoir returned for enterprise features (2FA, SSO) and SOC 2 compliance preparation, supporting the founder’s enterprise sales efforts.

Built to scale. High Figma-to-code accuracy created a clean, scalable foundation for future development.