Runway Talent
Senior product talent, embedded in your team and managed by us. You pay half each month. The other half waits until you raise.
Built for the world's most competitive founders.
What Runway Talent delivers
The team you need to reach your raise, at a cost your runway can actually carry.
* Based on a senior front end developer at a UK market cost of around £5,000 a month, against £1,750 payable each month with Runway Talent. Rates vary by role. Full breakdown below.
What's included
Every role. Fully managed.
One flat fee covers the entire lifecycle. You get the person, we carry everything around them.
Role scoping and curated shortlist✓Technical vetting and assessment✓Onboarding into your stack and rituals✓Embedded day to day management✓Delivery oversight and reporting✓Continuity cover when someone is away✓Ongoing performance management✓Contracts, compliance, and IR35 handling✓Equipment and tooling setup✓Scale up or step down on notice✓
The runway model
Top tier talent, at a fraction of the London cost.
London rates for this calibre start around £5,000 a month. With BUOST you get the same seniority for about 30% less, and you pay half each month while you build. The half we hold back is banked every month and settles in one payment when you raise.
Front end example
Senior Front End Developer lands around £5,000 a month in London. With BUOST, £1,750 leaves the bank each month while you build.
Swipe to see the full table →
| Role | London rate per month | With BUOST per month, same seniority | You pay now per month, while you build | Banked for your raise the half we hold back, multiplied across the engagement | Less than London over 6 months, vs hiring at London rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Front End DeveloperReact, Vue, TypeScript | £5,000 | £3,50030% below London | £1,750per month | £1,750 / mo× your contract months6 months = £10,500 at raise | £9,000£1,500/mo below London |
| Senior Back End DeveloperNode, Python, Go | £5,500 | £3,80031% below London | £1,900per month | £1,900 / mo× your contract months6 months = £11,400 at raise | £10,200£1,700/mo below London |
| Full Stack DeveloperEnd to end product builds | £5,000 | £3,50030% below London | £1,750per month | £1,750 / mo× your contract months6 months = £10,500 at raise | £9,000£1,500/mo below London |
| DevOps EngineerAWS, Docker, CI/CD | £5,500 | £3,80031% below London | £1,900per month | £1,900 / mo× your contract months6 months = £11,400 at raise | £10,200£1,700/mo below London |
| Product DesignerUI, UX, design systems | £4,500 | £3,20029% below London | £1,600per month | £1,600 / mo× your contract months6 months = £9,600 at raise | £7,800£1,300/mo below London |
| Product ManagerRoadmap, delivery, discovery | £5,500 | £3,80031% below London | £1,900per month | £1,900 / mo× your contract months6 months = £11,400 at raise | £10,200£1,700/mo below London |
London rates are mid market 2026 benchmarks from Glassdoor, Indeed, IT Jobs Watch and Robert Half. You pay the black figure each month while you build. The held half is banked every month and settles as one payment when you close your round, within an agreed contract date. The final column is the difference between the London rate and the BUOST rate across a six month engagement, the amount you never pay versus hiring at London market rate. Six month figures are an example and scale with contract length.
£9,000
less than London over a six month front end engagement. On top of that, £10,500 of the bill is banked across the engagement and only due when you raise, so far less leaves the bank while you build.
What you get
The right people, without the wrong burn.
A direct comparison between hiring the role yourself and bringing in Runway Talent on terms that wait for your raise.
Hiring the role yourself
The standard route when you hire directly
- £5,000+ a month leaving the bank from day one
- Six to ten weeks to a productive hire, per role
- Recruitment fees of 15 to 25% of salary
- Salary, NI, pension, and overhead on your burn
- Notice periods and severance if it does not work out
- Full cost due whether or not you have raised
With Runway Talent
The payment model when half the fee waits for your raise
- Half the fee each month, the rest waits for your raise
- A vetted specialist embedded in days, not weeks
- No recruitment fees, ever
- One flat fee, managed by us, no employment overhead
- Flex up or step down as the roadmap changes
- We carry the deferred half with you until the round closes
One flat fee. One team.
Aligned to your runway.
Tell us the role. We will have a vetted, embedded specialist working with you in days, on terms that wait for your raise.
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