Engineers #1 to #3, pre-seed to Series A
Founding Engineer Recruiters for AI Startups in NYC
We help AI startup founders in New York City hire founding engineers who can own early product development, make technical decisions and build while requirements are still changing.
At a glance
Founding engineer recruitment at a glance
Your first engineer shapes the stack, the pace and who you can hire next, so we agree what they'll own before we approach anyone.
Roles we recruit for
Founding engineers, including first full-stack and backend hires, and engineers #2 and #3
Stages
Pre-seed to Series A
Where
New York City. In office, hybrid or remote
Who we look for
Ex-founders, early employees and engineers who have shipped a product from zero
Speed
Our last 3 hires averaged 17 days
How you pay
Retained, success-based or embedded. Terms agreed upfront
How we assess
How we vet a founding engineer before you meet them
Every introduction comes with our read on the candidate: what we checked, what we found and what your technical interview should test.
01
Built it themselves
We separate personal ownership from team output. What did they ship with their own hands, and which calls did they make? Open source and side projects count.
02
Shipped while scope changed
Prototypes that became products, with requirements that moved every week. We look for engineers who kept shipping, kept it simple and can tell you what they cut.
03
Explains the trade-offs
Your first engineer will make architecture calls you have to trust. We test that they can explain one plainly before you spend an hour on them.
04
Grew fast around strong people
We look at who they learned from and how fast their scope grew. Two years from first commit to owning the stack says more than a senior title held for five.
Personal ownership
Pace of progression
Comp and equity fit
Motivation and timing
Architecture and code depth
Technical trade-offs
Fit with the founders
Who runs your search
Liam, Founder of StellarSearch
Our team brings 20+ years of search experience across engineering, AI/ML, product and GTM.
LinkedIn ↗
Client feedback
Feedback from founders and the engineers we placed
I'm not really sure how he does it, but he continues to find us top tier talent that fits exactly what we're looking for."
I'm very grateful they reached out."
Would highly recommend."
They did a great job explaining roles, companies, and interview processes and was friendly + supportive throughout."
Where our hires come from
We've placed people from teams like these
We look past titles to the work: ex-founders, early employees and people doing their best work outside the day job.
How we work
How we run your search
From the first call to an accepted offer. What we handle, and the few places we need you.
Learn what you're building, what the hire owns in the first 90 days, and the comp, equity and location you can offer.
One call with the founders.
Map the market from day one. If the problem is sourcing, pay, location, process or the profile, we tell you early.
Agree any changes to the brief.
Approach people who aren't applying anywhere, and assess each one on evidence before they reach you.
Nothing. This part is ours.
Send each candidate with our write-up, then schedule and keep the process moving.
Run your interviews.
Advise on the offer, handle the back and forth, and close.
Make the final call.
If the search isn't working, we tell you fast. We use market data to recalibrate instead of sending weaker candidates for weeks.
Ways to work with us
Three ways to work with us
Pick the model that fits the hire. All terms are agreed upfront, with no hidden fees.
Best for a priority hire
Retained
A dedicated search for the one hire that can't wait. We commit time to your role from day one.
Dedicated search from the first call
Market map shared with you
Fee agreed upfront
Best for a single hire
Success-based
We run the search and you pay when the hire is made.
No fee until you hire
Same assessment on every candidate
Terms agreed before we start
Best for several roles
Embedded
We work as part of your team across several hires, for a monthly fee plus a reduced success fee.
Monthly fee plus reduced success fee
One hiring standard across roles
Works alongside your in-house team
Start a search
Tell us about your founding engineer hire
Tell us what you're building. We'll come back with how we'd run the search.
Looking for a role? See open jobs
Is a founding engineer the same as a technical co-founder?
Should our first hire be a generalist or an AI specialist?
What should a founding engineer own in the first 90 days?
Do you recruit founding full-stack and founding backend engineers?
We're non-technical founders. How do we assess a founding engineer?
Are we ready to hire a founding engineer?
How quickly will we see candidates?
We already have an in-house recruiter. Why use you?
How much of the process do you own?
What if the search isn't working?
How do you charge?
Hiring your founding team?
Tell us what you're building. We'll find the experts who can build and ship it.
Start Hiring
.svg){kind=icon}
.avif){kind=avatar}