Matt describes Work at a Startup as a common application where engineers share their experience, interests, and role preferences. YC company founders can search candidate profiles, express interest, and start conversations. The team built it because YC founders said hiring engineers was their biggest challenge after the program.
Announcing Work at a Startup
Speakers
Jared, a Y Combinator partner and Scribd co-founder, and Matt Long, a YC software engineer and Crocodoc co-founder, discuss Work at a Startup and its hiring conference with a host.
Jared says startup hiring is a difficult matching problem: small companies have few openings and may be unfamiliar to candidates. The product compares candidate preferences, skills, and experience with company details such as size, culture, and technology stack. The team began with a simpler profile and later added résumés after founders said they needed more information.
Jared summarizes feedback from a Hacker News discussion with about 1,000 comments. People valued autonomy, close teams, interesting problems, and influence, while compensation, equity transparency, and job security were common concerns. Participants also pointed to high housing costs and remote work as factors in choosing where to work.
YC planned a July conference modeled on Demo Day, with talks from Justin Kan and Sam Altman followed by 35 short company pitches. The companies ranged from established businesses such as Instacart and DoorDash to early-stage teams hiring their first engineers, across fields including machine learning, robotics, and embedded systems. Attendees would apply through Work at a Startup, meet founders, and see hardware demonstrations; the event would also be livestreamed.
Jared says the quietly launched service had more than 3,000 engineer profiles, and most had received at least one message from a YC company. He also says more than 80% of YC companies hiring engineers had created profiles. The site listed companies with open engineering roles.
Takeaways
- Describe company culture, role needs, and engineering work clearly to help candidates assess fit.
- Ask candidates about the work and team they want, alongside skills and experience.
- Make compensation and equity terms clear when recruiting engineers.
- Consider remote roles and locations beyond expensive tech hubs to reach more candidates.
- Use hiring feedback to revise application requirements, as YC did when founders asked for résumés.
Mentioned in this talk
Search inside this talk
What was claimed 16
- role atJared Friedman is group partner at
Y Combinator“one of the partners at YC”
0:00inAdvice for Hard-tech and Biotech FoundersYouTube Verified4 sources· Talk
- foundedJared Friedman founded Scribd
“I was a founder of a company called Scribd”
0:00inWhen is the Right Time to Apply to Y Combinator?YouTube Verified2 sources· Talk
- built
“We made our own hiring portal, tailored to the kinds of companies that go through YC.”
YouTube Verified2 sources· Talk, Web· archived
- role atMatt Long is software engineer atY Combinator
“Now I’m a software engineer here at YC.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- role at
“I was a co-founder of a company that went through Y Combinator... called Crocodoc.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- feature
Work at a Startup: Engineers create profiles and preferences; YC company founders can browse and search candidates, indicate interest, and start conversations.“They answer typical biographical questions... then choose their preferences... founders... can browse and search to find candidates.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureWork at a Startup: Matches candidates and companies using skills, technologies, company culture, and role preferences.
“That'll give us two sets of data to match against each other.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- launchedWork at a Startup: First beta
“The very first beta was in the middle of December 2017.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureWork at a Startup: Applicants can submit a résumé.
“We now ask for a resume.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureY Combinator: Planned a Work at a Startup conference in July 2018 with founder pitches, talks, and hardware demos.
“You’re doing a Work at a Startup conference in July, correct?”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- role atSam Altman is keynote speaker atWork at a Startup
“Justin Kan and Sam Altman will give talks about working at a startup.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- role atJustin Kan is keynote speaker atWork at a Startup
“Justin Kan and Sam Altman will give talks about working at a startup.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureStarsky Robotics: Planned to demonstrate a full-size self-driving truck at the conference.
“there will be a full-size self-driving truck from Starsky Robotics”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricWork at a Startup: Over 80% of YC companies hiring engineers were on the service.
“Over 80% of the YC companies hiring engineers are already on it.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricWork at a Startup: The vast majority of signed-up engineers had received at least one message from a YC company.
“the vast majority of those 3,000 engineers have gotten at least one message from a YC company.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricWork at a Startup: Over 3,000 engineers had signed up and filled out a profile.
“we've already gotten over 3,000 engineers to sign up and fill out a profile.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
