How a Fake Delivery led Outstandly to Build a Creative Studio That Crosses Borders

When Oksana Danyliuk and Serhii Kashevko left Ukraine in early 2022, they thought they were going on a short holiday to a remote island. Then the war started.

Suddenly, their trip turned into something else entirely. “We had to decide what to do next, where to go,” said Oksana. Over the next few months, they travelled across Europe - working remotely, trying to rebuild their video game development business, and searching for a place to settle.

They bounced around Europe before eventually settling in London. But setting up a business in the UK wasn’t straightforward. “The paperwork, the tax system, the legal aspects - it was overwhelming at first,” Serhii admits. “We had to figure it all out while still trying to land clients.”

“You can’t get any account without an address - whether personal or business. You can’t rent a flat without an account, you can’t start a business. It was an endless circle, and everything hit at once.”

That’s where Outstandly operates now - helping businesses and individuals around the world with bold, creative solutions through their design and creative agency, whether that’s personalised AI-generated invitations or new characters for top-rated games.

Behind the scenes, dealing with cross-border payments was far from easy. But with Wise Business, they found a way to simplify everything - from invoicing global clients to paying international contractors in currencies like USD, EUR, or IDR.

The Start of the Creative Studio

Eight years ago, Serhii was trying to start another business from his home in Ukraine. It didn’t go to plan. In a moment of defeat and doomscrolling, he stumbled across a Facebook post by Oksana - a talented artist he knew. But instead of the usual photorealistic portraits she’d share, this time she had posted something different. It looked like a screenshot from a mobile game. And it sparked an idea.

Serhii messaged Oksana: “Let’s start a business. You draw, I’ll sell. We split it 50/50.”

She wasn’t immediately sold on the idea. “I’d be doing all the work,” she remembers thinking. Neither of them really knew how to find clients - but they gave it a shot anyway.

The early days weren’t easy. “We made every mistake you can think of,” says Serhii. “We didn’t check currencies. We didn’t know how to price our work. We didn’t even have a portfolio.”

But slowly, it started working. They learned, improved, and built a business around their passion: creating immersive visual experiences.

Creative thinking, bold delivery

Some creative agencies send cold emails. Outstandly delivers them - literally. When standard cold outreach wasn’t cutting it, they took things up several notches - with a custom-made fake delivery, a robot dog named Arthur, and a mission they called Future Delivers.

“It started as cold emails,” Oksana recalls. “But it’s what everyone does, right? Even when we tried sending AI-personalised videos, people likely didn’t watch them. They looked like scams. So we thought - what if they can’t ignore us?”

And so, they didn’t just send emails. They sent boxes. Black boxes. Delivered by couriers (themselves), with custom wrapping, branding, and even bespoke gifts inside - all designed around the target client. “You can ignore an email,” she laughs. “But if someone hands you a mysterious package with your name and face on it, you open it.”

That leap of faith cost them nearly all their savings. “We had to ask ourselves - do we have a choice?” Serhii says. “We came to this huge city, trying to make it. And this was our shot.”

One of those boxes contained a video of a private jet broker talking to his past self: “Life is great in the future - but it only happens if you hire these two.” It worked. He messaged back: “This is very interesting. Want to come to my office?”

Working With International Clients

“We started doing personalised video invitations - thousands of them—for big events and clients,” says Serhii. “Guests who got them hired us. Now we’re known for this kind of hyper-personalised, experiential creative.”

It’s a shift from their roots in game development, but not a break. “People have always played games, even before computers,” Serhii explains. “It’s about interaction. Playfulness creates connection - and we bring that into everything we do, whether it’s an invitation, a product, or a brand moment.”

Outstandly calls itself a creative agency, though Serhii admits the term is vague. “Even big agencies don’t really know what it means. For us, it’s about creating experiences - things that spark emotion, feel human, and are unforgettable.”

Oksana adds, “You can have a beautiful design - but if it doesn’t build a relationship, what’s the point?”

Their own partnership is at the heart of that ethos. When they started, Oksana thought she’d do the art and Serhii would run the business. But things quickly shifted. “Turns out art is the easiest part,” she laughs. “Now I direct projects, understand strategy, and run parts of the business.”

Today, they’re co-leads in every sense. “I’ve learned a lot from Serhii, and he’s learned from me. If one of us doesn’t know how to do something, the other probably does. It’s never boring - we keep growing.”

And while it’s the two of them running the business from London, they now also have a producer in Brazil and SDR in Salvador, and rely on a global network of contractors & partners, some of them who's been working with Outstandly since the beginning 8 years ago, for specialised work.

“We work with people from all over the world, and being able to hold multiple currencies in one account makes a massive difference. I don’t have to worry about conversion rates or paying extra fees,” says Serhii.

Their daily routine is flexible - sometimes starting with emails, followed by a quiet morning gym session, and then a full afternoon of creative work. “The freedom is amazing,” Oksana says. “But it’s also hard to switch off when your home is your office. You always feel like you could be working.”

Despite that, they’re grateful for the autonomy. “Our only bosses are our clients,” Serhii smiles.

When asked about their favourite projects, both recall moments that shaped them. The project Future Delivers, of course, changed their business. It’s when they pitched to new clients through a fake delivery company and landed some big clients. But there was also a cold email Serhii sent in 2018 that didn’t get a reply for two years - until it turned into a multi-year collaboration that sustained the studio.

Then there’s Eleven: Table Tennis, a VR game. “It’s still one of the most-played sports games in VR, and we created all the environments for it,” Serhii says. “Even today, I play it - because it’s just that fun.”

From AI videos and cold emails to hand-delivered black boxes and high-profile international clients, Outstandly’s journey proves one thing: creativity doesn’t just open doors - it can knock them down.

Business Finances Across Borders

Today, Serhii and Oksana’s creative studio builds imaginative experiences for global brands. And with clients around the world, they needed tools to help them work across borders - without the international payment headaches.

Outstandly relies on Wise Business to simplify their global payment processes, collaborating with international partners in multiple currencies. The platform’s multi-currency accounts help Serhii and Oksana avoid conversion fees and streamline transactions.

With Wise’s mid-market exchange rate, Outstandly avoids the markups and hidden fees of other platforms. “Wise is fantastic because we get the exact exchange rate. We’ve tried other platforms before, and the fees and markups were significant - Wise is just so much more efficient,” Oksana explains.

The Wise Business account also ensures fast transfers, which is crucial for Outstandly's tight deadlines. “The money is available almost immediately. It’s great knowing that the person on the other end isn’t waiting around for their payment,” says Serhii.

For Outstandly, Wise Business is a vital tool for smooth, efficient international payments - allowing them to focus on growing their agency without worrying about complex financial operations. And as they scale globally - whether by taking on more clients or working with contractors across more regions - Wise grows with them, making the process feel effortless.

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