👋 Hey there, {{first_name}}
This week, I'm connecting you directly with 6 startups who are interviewing NOW. No black hole applications. No recruiter runarounds. Just straight intros.
But here's the thing: we’ve had 96 readers book strategy calls. 14 already have first-round interviews scheduled. 3 have been placed! These roles fill FAST.
🔥 THIS WEEK'S HOT SEAT 🔥
It’s Open hiring season for Bay Area AI!
🏙️ Location: Bay Area (Hybrid - 3 days onsite)
💰 Comp: $210k-$250k (Senior Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure)
🚀 Stage: Seed, $100M raised
🏦 Backers: a16z, Kleiner Perkins, Felicis, UC Investments
The Opportunity: This Startup is the open platform where 3M+ monthly users test and vote on the world's best AI models—trusted by OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI. Created by UC Berkeley researchers (SkyLab) and the previous Co-Founder of Databricks, they've logged 250M+ real conversations and 2M+ monthly votes. Now hiring Full Stack Product Engineers, Security Engineers, and AI/ML Engineers to build the infrastructure that shapes AI's future through real-world community evaluation.
Why This Matters:
✅ $100M seed round from a16z + Kleiner Perkins - Massive validation for open AI evaluation
✅ 250M+ conversations logged, 3M+ monthly users - Operating at unprecedented scale
✅ Trusted by all major AI labs - OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, xAI rely on LM Arena
✅ UC Berkeley spin-out + Databricks co-founder - World-class academic and startup pedigree
✅ Tech stack: Next.js, HonoJS, ShadCN, Tailwind CSS - Modern stack with massive impact
⏰ Timeline: Actively hiring across engineering roles
📰 What You Need to Know This Week
🎥 Sora 2 hit 1M downloads in 5 days. Brainrot spreads fast.
OpenAI just dropped Sora 2, their new video generation model that actually understands physics (previous models would morph basketballs into hoops if they missed). Within 5 days, it crossed 1M downloads while still being invite-only. Oh… It's also a social app now. TikTok, but everything's AI-generated. The sloppening is here.
💡 Your Move: If you've got any experience with diffusion models, video ML, or even creative toolingnow's the time to signal it. Companies are scrambling to figure out what to build on top of this. The engineers who understand both the tech AND the creative use cases are going to print money.
🔥 5 More Startups Hiring This Week
| Company | Role | Comp | Stage | Why Now |
| Healthcare Fax Automation 🏙️ NYC | Senior Full Stack, DevOps | 💰 Competitive | Series C, $140M | 2nd fastest growing in a16z portfolio. 800% YoY growth. $0→$1M ARR in 8 months. Open hiring season. |
| Vertical Legal AI 🏙️ San Mateo | Senior Full Stack, Senior Back End, Staff SWE, AI/ML | 💰 $200k-$300k+ | Series B, $160M | a16z's fastest growing AI startup. Unicorn status ($1B+ val). $0.5M→$17M ARR in under a year. 300+ law firms. Anthropic's partner ($500K/mo spend). |
| Enterprise AI Agents 🏙️ SF | Full Stack Engineer, AI Engineer | 💰 $180k-$250k+ | Series A, $31M | Launched Jan 2025, already 100% POC win rate. Customers: Calendly, Ramp, Scale AI, Webflow. Closing first 7-figure deal. |
| AI IT Services 🏙️ NYC, SF | Full Stack Engineer, AI Engineer, FDE | 💰 $150k-$250k | Series B, $103M | $103M raised. Small founding team (4 people), high ownership. |
| Modern Digital Banking 🏙️ NYC | Senior Back End, Full Stack Engineer, Mobile Engineer | 💰 $190k-$350k | Series D, $400M | 4M+ members, 250K new accounts/month. Pacing towards $200M ARR by EOY. Backed by a16z, Tiger Global. |
💬 Real Talk: How This Actually Works
Most engineers think "I'll apply when I'm ready to leave."
Here's what actually happens:
You book a 15-minute call → We learn what you're building toward → You get intros to 2-3 companies (even if you're not actively looking) → When the timing's right, you already have the inside track.
What you GET on the call: ✅ Your background reviewed
✅ Matched with opportunities from our exclusive network
✅ You decide if you want intros (zero pressure)
What you DON'T get: ❌ Spam emails
❌ Pushy recruiters
❌ Random job board links
🛠️ Startups #2-5 - Quick Hits
🎬 Generative AI Media
📍 SF | 💵 $180k-$250k+ | 🚀 Series A, $40M
Building the first omnimodal AI model (Character-3) that creates high-quality character performances from just an image and audio. $15M ARR with 80% margins, backed by a16z, Index, and Amazon—viral content across X, Reddit, and Instagram.
Roles: Senior Frontend, Senior Full Stack Engineer
🤖 AI Recruiting Platform
📍 SF | 💵 $170k-$260k | 🚀 Series A, $36M
AI recruiting platform with 2,500+ customers including OpenAI, Perplexity, and Patreon. Cash-flow positive, growing 30% MoM, mid 7-figures in revenue (5x'd this year). Backed by Sequoia, Coatue, Lux, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross.
Roles: Senior Full Stack, Senior Back End, Full Stack Engineer
⚡ No-Code AI Automation
📍 SF | 💵 $150k-$300k | 🚀 Series A, $20M
No-code platform for building powerful AI workflow automations without engineering resources. Used by Instacart, Webflow, Samsara, and Rippling. 9-person team building toward billions—6 spots left.
Roles: Senior Full Stack, Senior Back End, Full Stack Engineer, Backend Engineer
🔧 Modern Code Review
📍 NYC, SF | 💵 $180k-$240k | 🚀 Series B, $80M
Next-gen code review platform inspired by FAANG internal tools, deeply integrated with GitHub. $5M ARR in 2024, expecting to triple by EOY. Trusted by Asana, Ramp, Vercel, and Chronosphere. Backed by Accel, a16z, and Figma Ventures.
Roles: Senior Full Stack, Senior Back End, Senior Front End, Staff Software Engineer
💰 Free Resource: Engineering Comp Calculator
Still not sure what you should be making?
⭐️ Our Engineering Compensation Calculator is powered by hundreds of verified offer letters from VC-backed startups.
Find out what engineers with your:
Years of experience
Tech stack
Location
Company stage
...are ACTUALLY getting paid (base + equity + signing bonuses).
⏰ Last Call for This Week
Look, you've read this far. That means something.
You're either: 🔥 Actively looking and need the right intros 🤔 Passively curious but open to the perfect opportunity or 👀 Just scouting the market (smart move)
All three are valid. All three are worth a 15-minute conversation.
Here's what happens next:
1️⃣ Book a slot below (takes 30 seconds)
2️⃣ We talk about where you want to be in 12-24 months
3️⃣ I intro you to 2-3 companies that actually fit
4️⃣ You interview on your timeline (or not at all)
🤝 Know Someone Who'd Benefit?
💸 We pay generous referral bonuses.
If you know a sharp engineer (0-10 YOE) who should see these opportunities, just reply with their email. If they get placed, you get paid.
Refer a Friend → Just respond to this email and cc them!
📮 One More Thing...
Not ready to book a call? Totally cool.
Hit reply and tell me:
What stage companies interest you most (Seed? Series B?)
Which tech stacks you want to work with
Whether you prefer SF, NYC, or remote
I'll make sure next week's newsletter has more of what YOU want to see.