Raise Studio packages a senior design lead, strategists, and a multi-disciplinary design team from $5,500/month, shipping in week one. Hiring it in-house: $35K+/month and 90 days to recruit.
What building this team in-house costs, role by role versus what Raise Studio packages into one subscription. Same capability, minus the recruiting, hiring, and managing.
Senior design lead
$14–20K/mo
2 senior specialists
$20–30K/mo
Strategy consultant
$5–50K/project
Hiring time
60–90 days
Long-term commitment
Hard to reverse
Dedicated design lead
✓
Full design coverage
✓
Strategy work
✓
Ship by week one
✓
Month-to-month
✓
Our partnership is structured, but flexible, designed to support evolving needs without constant resets.
$5.5K / Month
Best for starting out, or one focused priority.
We typically recommend this
$8.5K / Month
Parallelize work across capabilities.
$12.5K / Month
Aggressive Series A timeline or multiple concurrent needs.
Product & Experience Design
Web Design
Marketing & Sales Design
An active project is a single, discrete stream of work (strategic or tactical) with a clear scope and timeline. We agree on both before work starts. Larger initiatives split into a sequence of smaller projects, shipped iteratively. Some examples:
Strategic groundwork that shapes every downstream decision
Fast-cycle work that ships early and often
Broken into smaller strategic or tactical projects, shipped iteratively
The founders we partner with are all racing the same Series A clock. Here's what changed when they treated design as a strategic signal to investors — not a line item.
![[background image] image of architectural plans (for a construction company)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/69fa83c6dd516f3393b9df63/69fa83c6dd516f3393b9df70_1480b592-7d7b-4d3b-8f02-a58f5ab59333.avif)
Their design leadership accelerated our growth and investor interest.
Their expertise in design strategy is unmatched, delivering exceptional results.
Here's how we stack up against every alternative founders actually consider.
Each alternative solves some concerns and ignores others. Raise Studio is the only one that addresses all of them.
Month one doesn't move the needle for your Series A?
We refund. Full stop.
You keep everything. No questions. No hard feelings.
Why Raise Studio?
To raise your Series A, you need multiple design disciplines working together. Product designer, brand strategist, web designer, visual designer, motion designer, plus someone ensuring they all work on a shared vision. Hire it in-house: $35K+/month and 90 days to recruit. Hire freelancers: chaos. Hire an agency: slow and expensive. Raise Studio packages the same capability stack from $5,500/month, shipping in week one. One dedicated lead. Multi-disciplinary team. Strategy work included.
How is this different from hiring a freelancer?
Freelancers are transactional. You manage multiple people, chase quality inconsistently, and restart onboarding every time. Raise Studio is a partnership. One design lead who knows your business, your market, your Series A timeline. They run a multi-disciplinary team behind them. One point of contact. Consistent quality. Brand coherence month after month.
How is this different from a design agency?
Agencies are built for big budgets and long timelines. One-month onboarding. $5K–$50K+ per project. "Creative process" delays you can't afford. Raise Studio is built for founder reality. Month-to-month. From $5,500/month, shipping in week one. Together, we prioritize what moves the needle for Series A and ship.
I'm not sure what I actually need. Where do I start?
You don't need to have it figured out. That's what week one is for. You brief us on your Series A timeline and the most urgent gaps. We audit your current state, identify what's missing, and sequence the work. By end of week one, you have a prioritized backlog and a first deliverable shipped. You know what to ship next, in what order, and why.
How quickly can you start?
Immediately. Days 1–2: We get context. You brief us. We propose a capacity. You make the call. Day 3: First project kicks off. Week one: First deliverable shipped. We move fast because your Series A clock doesn't pause. We're intentional about scope because fast doesn't mean sloppy.
What do I actually receive at the end of each project?
Depends on the project. Product UI project: high-fidelity Figma files, design specs, component documentation. Brand strategy project: visual identity system, messaging architecture, brand guidelines. Website project: a live, deployed site — Webflow or Framer — or new pages on your existing one. Everything ships in shared spaces with real-time visibility. Your design lead writes up the strategic context behind every decision. No surprises. No "that's not what I needed" moments.
What if I'm not happy with the work?
Revision is part of the process. We refine until the work is right — 24-48 hour feedback loops, daily progress, your design lead managing quality. If month one doesn't move the needle for your Series A, we're not the right fit. Full refund. No questions. No hard feelings. The model is built around founder reality, not vendor ego.
Do you work async or do I need lots of meetings?
Async-first. Daily updates from your design lead. Progress visible in shared spaces. 24-48 hour feedback loops. One monthly review call. Everything else is documented, visible, asynchronous. Built for founder speed. Built for founder sanity.
What's included in strategy work?
Positioning refinement. Brand strategy. Creative direction. UX strategy. Investor narrative and pitch deck. This isn't an upsell. It's the foundation. Strategy work is included at every tier — the only constraint is your active project count. Most design partners start with "what should we design?" We start with "what are you trying to achieve?" That's how every design decision compounds toward Series A.
Can you work on product design, brand, and web simultaneously?
Yes. That's what active projects means. Pick 2 active projects, and we run product UI and brand strategy in parallel. Pick 3, and add web. Your design lead coordinates everything so it stays aligned. One lead. Multiple specialists. One coherent story.
How do you ensure brand consistency across all touchpoints?
Your design lead owns it. They manage the team. They review every deliverable before it ships. They keep your story consistent across product, web, marketing, and pitch. They're also your strategic thinking partner — the one you call when you're unsure about positioning or narrative. That's how you get the coherence investors expect.
What if my needs change mid-month?
Talk to your design lead. Pause, upgrade, downgrade, or cancel — anytime. No contracts. No penalties. Capacity changes apply next billing cycle. This month's work continues as planned. You don't need to predict the future. You adjust as your Series A reality changes.
What if I'm pre-seed or targeting Series B?
Raise Studio is built for founders raising Series A — when design intensity peaks and positioning clarity matters most. Pre-seed? Start with 1 active project. Lean into positioning and pitch deck work to prepare for Series A conversations. Already raised Series A and targeting Series B? We scale to help you execute the product and market positioning you pitched. The model stays the same: dedicated design lead, multi-disciplinary team, strategy work included. Optimized for the Series A journey. Built to scale with you.
