Scaling a top-performing web3 design studio with independent experts
Overview
Halaska Studio rapidly grew their web3 design offering with Contra
Halaska Studio, a web3 design studio founded in late 2023, is scaling quickly. Founder Chris Halaska began with two clients in his first week of business, and closed his first month with 13. With such rapid growth, Halaska Studio needed a reliable but flexible way to scale its team. And, as the studio prides itself on offering clients the opportunity to be in creative control of their projects, the growing Halaska Studio team needed experts who could bring specialized skills and a collaborative spirit to each project.
The Challenge
While Halaska Studio was growing quickly, the company was still in startup mode, and Chris was hesitant to bring on full-time talent too soon. Chris turned to freelance talent to support the studio’s growing client base with a range of skills that would allow for a greater breadth of projects. But working with freelancers presented challenges, particularly around administrative tasks and communication.
Because of the fluid nature of independent work, Chris’s top freelancers weren’t always available when he needed them, and any time he posted a job he would be bombarded with DMs and spam. When he had the right talent lined up, he lost valuable work time to reconciling payments and chasing down information to pay freelancers on time. As he searched for a way to protect his time as a founder and creator, Chris turned to Contra.
A selection of Halaska Studio’s client projects
The Solution with Contra
Contra simplified Halaska Studio's sourcing and talent management so the studio could focus on growth
Contra's platform offered a centralized solution for Chris, streamlining all messages, job applications, and project management into one accessible hub. Contra has simplified Halaska Studio’s sourcing and talent management and significantly reduced time spent on manual payment processing and contract management. By allowing for quick and straightforward invoice payments with just a few clicks, Contra has transformed what used to be a time-consuming endeavor into a task that takes less than a minute per week.
“Sometimes, it takes less than a minute to get all the invoices paid for a week, which is incredible. I wouldn't be able to do the quality of design work that I do if I was having to do all that admin work manually.”
– Chris Halaska, Founder & Design Director at Halaska Studio
In addition to managing projects and payments for existing independent team members, Halaska Studio uses Contra to post jobs when a niche skillset like motion design is needed for a project. Chris is able to view portfolios directly within Contra and decide who is best for the job. Using independent experts for niche work enables Halaska Studio to take on more varied projects and connect the right experts with their clients whenever needed.
Outcomes
As Halaska Studio scales, Chris plans to continue heavily utilizing independent experts. This strategic approach allows for flexibility, ensuring that the studio can pull in specialized expertise as needed. And, with the help of Contra, Chris is managing the contracts and payments required by a sizable independent team with maximum efficiency. The result? More time for the founder to run his studio and create.
