Marketplace · Acquired
The marketplace connecting brands with creative talent.
Designed and shipped the full platform from zero - scaled with zero downtime, then acquired.
What we built
- Marketplace
- Two-sided matching + portfolios
- Payments
- Stripe Connect + escrow flows
- Scope
- Full-stack - design, build, infra
Engagement
The challenge
ArtsWrk needed a two-sided marketplace that could connect brands with creative talent — designers, photographers, videographers, illustrators. The founder had validated the idea but needed to go from zero to a live platform fast, with real payment flows, portfolio management, and a matching system that actually worked. The timeline was aggressive: launch in under two months.
How we approached it
We owned the entire build — design, architecture, frontend, backend, infrastructure. No separate design phase followed by a build phase. We designed and shipped in parallel, validating each piece with the founder as we went. The marketplace needed to feel premium (creatives care about aesthetics) while being functionally robust enough to handle real money and real projects.
The technical work
The core of the platform was the two-sided matching system: brands post briefs, creatives apply with portfolio work, and the platform facilitates the selection, contracting, and payment flow. We built the payment infrastructure on Stripe Connect with escrow flows — money is held until deliverables are approved, protecting both sides. The portfolio system needed to handle high-resolution images and video without killing page load times, so we built a media pipeline with progressive loading and CDN-backed delivery.
Where it is today
ArtsWrk launched in 8 weeks, onboarded over 10,000 creators, operated with zero downtime throughout its growth phase, and was ultimately acquired. The platform proved that a lean, well-architected MVP can scale to acquisition without needing to be rewritten.
The people behind this project
Client
Founded ArtsWrk and shaped the marketplace vision. Defined the creator and brand experience, managed the community growth strategy, and drove the platform from launch through to acquisition.
Need an MVP that can scale to acquisition?
ArtsWrk went from zero to 10K users to acquired in one architecture. If you need a product built right the first time, let's talk.
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