The case for fewer clients.

In 2021 we had fourteen clients at once and the work was the worst we’ve ever made. Not bad — just average. Average is the most expensive thing a studio can sell, because nobody comes back for it.

The six-partner rule

So we set a hard cap: six partners at a time, never more. It means saying no to good projects. It also means every client has our senior people, every week, with their full attention.

Scarcity isn’t a sales tactic when it’s simply true.

What it changed

Projects got faster because nobody was context-switching. Clients started returning — 98% of our work is now the second or third project with the same team. And we stopped needing to pitch.

Would we grow?

Maybe — by opening another small studio, not by making this one bigger. That’s how New York and Tokyo started: same rule, same size, different time zone.