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For startups

Decide what good looks like before the applicants arrive

The first engineering hires set the bar for everyone after them, and they are usually made by a founder between two other jobs. Write the rubric down once and every applicant gets measured against it — including the ones who apply at 2am on a Sunday.

The rubric is the product

You approve criteria, weights and a minimum score. Nothing is evaluated until you do — the model never invents the bar.

Founding Engineer

Draft v3 — awaiting your approval

Yours to edit
CriterionWeightMin score
Ships end-to-end features30%3 / 5
Depth in our stack25%3 / 5
Works without a spec20%4 / 5
Production ownership15%3 / 5
Written communication10%3 / 5

Approving this rubric scores the 46 applicants already waiting.

Illustrative — your criteria, your weights

What changes

No recruiter in the loop

Post the role, collect applicants on your own page, and read a ranked list. The whole loop runs without an agency retainer.

Consistent from applicant 1 to 300

The rubric does not get tired at 9pm. The last applicant is measured the same way as the first.

A written record

Six months later, when someone asks why you hired who you hired, the reasoning is still attached to the scorecard.

Start at zero cost

The Free plan covers one active role with 20 credits, and you can top up rather than upgrade if you only hire twice a year.

Which plan you need

Most startups start Free — one active role, 20 credits — and move to Starter at three roles and three seats when a second hire runs in parallel. Credits top up on any plan, including Free, so a burst of hiring does not force an upgrade.

Compare plans and credit costs