The Candidate Who Became The Client

We started working with this studio before they closed their funding round.

Most agencies wait. The logic is straightforward , a pre-funding studio is a smaller engagement with a longer horizon, and the industry is built to chase the opposite. We took the view that the founders knew what they were building, and that being useful early was worth more than being paid quickly.

In December 2021 we placed a senior hire there.

In November 2025 , four years later , that same person was the hiring manager who briefed us on their Senior Technical Artist role, reviewed our candidates, set the technical test and approved the hire. The person we placed became the person we work for. There is no better evidence that a placement worked than watching someone grow into the seat that decides who joins next.

Between those two dates, the studio worked with other consultants for a period, then returned to us. That is normal and healthy. Studios should test the market, and a client who has compared you against alternatives and come back is worth more than one who never looked.

WHAT THE WORK LOOKS LIKE NOW

Senior Technical Artist: submitted on a Tuesday, first round the next day, technical test that week, offer within a fortnight, joined the following week. When the candidate asked for a two-day extension on his assignment, we made the case for it rather than passing the request along without comment , and the client agreed, because it was a reasonable ask. When he needed to move his joining date because he could not get a flight from his hometown, we handled the logistics so it never became anyone else's problem.

"The studio you back early is the studio that remembers you in five years."