A Studio Born From Two Careers
There are moments in a person’s life when the familiar structure they once depended on no longer brings the sense of direction it once did. For Guillaume Chichmanov, that turning point came after ten years in the corporate world, long before Animox ever existed or Cominted Labs first took shape. What looked like a stable life with well known companies slowly shifted into an inner pull toward something more creative, more expressive, and more aligned with the curiosity that lived at the center of him.
Guillaume had built a strong foundation in large organizations. He spent years working in places like Publicis, a French advertising group, and later inside a consulting startup that was eventually acquired by Accenture. These companies had structure, systems, and the type of repetition that gives a person predictability. Still, he felt a quiet realization grow inside him. He said he began to feel tired of the environment. Not drained, but ready for something different. He wanted to try something new, something that carried more freedom and possibility.
Five years ago he stepped into entrepreneurship for the first time. He did not enter gently. He entered with a desire to create something of his own. His first venture grew from a personal love for video games. He decided to start a gaming studio, an outsourcing company that supported game creators in the United States. To do this, he built a team of 3D animators and artists. He recognized early that the gaming industry needed ways to reduce production costs, and he knew there was talent available if he could find and organize the right team. That company allowed him to step into leadership for the first time. It allowed him to build with vision rather than respond to corporate structures. It also introduced him to something he would later realize was essential to his future. He discovered that building a team of artists, understanding their craft, and guiding production did something inside him. It grounded him in creative work while drawing from everything he had learned in digital marketing. He said this early mix of skill sets became the bridge into something entirely new.
During those years of experimentation, Guillaume carried both the discipline of consulting and the open curiosity of a creator. Working at Publicis and Accenture had shaped his strategic mind. Running a gaming studio revealed how powerful it could be to combine structure with artistry. He saw an opportunity most people would have overlooked. His marketing background allowed him to understand the power of visual storytelling inside brands. His team of artists gave him the ability to produce beautiful 3D content. When he looked at both sides, he saw the possibility of a company that blended them. He said he naturally moved into the idea of creating marketing videos for brands using the 3D team he had already built. He had taken two very different worlds and placed them in conversation with each other. That conversation became Animox.
Animox began as a creative studio that focused on a niche service. The team produced 3D animation and light artificial intelligence driven content for ecommerce brands and product manufacturers. They created presentation videos and advertising content using software like Blender. The company was young, but it grew rapidly. Guillaume said it had been one year to one and a half years since he began, yet the progress was striking. The studio had attracted clients across the spectrum from small companies to large organizations, and the team had reached nearly thirty people in that short time. Growth came not from hype but from the quality of the work. He spoke about the videos with calm pride. He said they were very nice, very high quality, and highly engaging. Their craft became their reputation.
As Animox expanded, Guillaume found himself learning at the same pace as the company. The early structure needed refinement. There were new roles to define and new responsibilities to understand. The studio was global. The work demanded precision. He was growing the company month after month, hiring new people and guiding the creative process every step of the way. When asked about his long term vision, he said he was not thinking about selling. He wants to spend the next few years growing Animox with intention. He wants to see what scale the company could reach in such a niche space. He spoke of the possibility of products, brands, and ventures that would complement the studio. But none of that could happen until Animox reaches the stability and size he envisions. For now, his work is centered on growth, refinement, and clarity.
Running a company of this nature brought challenges Guillaume had to meet head on. When asked about the hardest part, he said it was maintaining long term relationships with clients during rapid scaling. Retention required consistent quality, and quality depended on talent. He needed artists who were among the best in the world. Yet in this field, the best artists often preferred to work as freelancers. They valued freedom. They liked to choose their own projects. Guillaume had to create a company environment where they felt valued and supported. He implemented bonus structures. He encouraged them to feel ownership over their contributions. He wanted them to feel like entrepreneurs inside a growing studio rather than employees limited by routine.
His approach to hiring revealed something core to the spirit of Animox. He said the company had no borders in hiring. They looked for talent wherever it existed. The team lived in countries across Latin America, Europe, Morocco, India, and beyond. This approach shaped the studio into something beautifully global. He searched not for the closest talent but the right talent. That choice allowed the company to grow with flexibility and depth. It also aligned with the way Guillaume worked. He did not restrict himself to what was convenient. He followed the work where it needed to go.
When asked about the scrappiest moment in the early building of the company, Guillaume shared something simple but revealing. He said that whenever a client needed something the team did not yet have the capacity to produce, he responded with confidence. He promised they would figure it out. Then he searched for the right artist overnight. He stayed awake, found the best possible person, and delivered by morning. He said he had done this more than once. The story reflected his commitment to problem solving, not through intensity but through calm determination. He believed that if he could find the right person and bring them into the project quickly, everything else would fall into place. The scrappiest things are often the most honest glimpses into how a founder thinks. In Guillaume’s case, they showed a willingness to take responsibility for every outcome.
Advice came naturally to him because he had lived through multiple iterations of building. When asked what he would tell someone who wanted to pursue entrepreneurship but had not taken the leap, he said it sounded easy to tell someone to just go for it, but life circumstances differ. He encouraged them to begin slowly. If someone had a full time job, he suggested they start something on the side. Test a few projects. Build enough traction to trust the next step. He emphasized having a plan. He spoke about saving money before leaving a job because the first year can be difficult. He said he did not pay himself for at least one year and had planned for that before moving forward. He recommended finding a way to make the first dollar as early as possible because seeing that small sign of possibility becomes something unforgettable. He said the moment you see that first dollar appear, you feel a new kind of motivation. He encouraged others to build slowly, and when ready, make the transition fully. He said he had never known someone who left corporate life for entrepreneurship and regretted it.
His experience shaped his understanding of what makes a company successful. He said the difference between his earlier ventures and Animox came from two central lessons. The first was learning how to execute. Consulting had made him thoughtful but slow. He planned extensively but had not developed the ability to turn decisions into action quickly. He said he overthought many things in his first company. That pattern held him back. Over time he learned to find the balance between planning and doing. He said a founder needs both. The second lesson was understanding the real needs of the market. In his first projects, he believed strongly in his ideas but did not examine the problems deeply enough. He did not understand what people needed at a level that made his offer undeniable. Animox grew because he recognized a real problem and shaped an offer that made sense. The combination of experience, clarity, and execution allowed him to step into a new phase of entrepreneurship with confidence.
When reflecting on the best advice he had ever received, Guillaume paused. Then he shared something simple. He said the best guidance was to stop overthinking and take action. He said becoming strong in execution mattered more than planning endlessly. That one insight changed how he approached every decision. It taught him to trust movement. It taught him to move forward even when the path was not fully clear. The strength of this approach is visible throughout every part of his story.
Today Guillaume stands at the center of a company that continues to grow quickly. Animox carries a powerful blend of artistry and strategy. His journey reflects something essential about entrepreneurship. It is not simply about building companies. It is about listening closely to the shifts inside yourself. It is about trusting your ability to create something meaningful. It is about learning who you are through the work you choose to pursue.
Guillaume honors the lessons that shaped him and follows the vision that continues to unfold. And as he steps forward, he carries a belief that has guided him since the beginning. Stop overthinking. Take the next step. Trust the work that follows.
We can’t wait to see how far that belief takes him.
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