Writing
Notes on hiring and joining the best early-stage engineering teams, from the people who make the introductions.
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Talent is the only moat left
When a product can be rebuilt in weeks, the people who build it are the advantage that lasts
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Furthering American ambition
Exceptional people and extraordinary possibilities
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The best engineers are athletes now
A handful of people can change the outcome of a company, compensation resembles player contracts, and deals look like trades. The engineers are already athletes, and the apparatus around them hasn’t caught up.
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Talent Superintelligence
The thesis behind Zelcast. We think the allocation of human ability is the problem of the era, and that it is finally solvable.
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The Zelcast thesis
Why we only work with the top 1% of engineers and startups under 100 people, and what the operators who back us learned about how the best teams get built.
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Where engineers go next in 2026
What 352,028 jobs held by 67,181 engineers show about the routes between companies, the companies that produce founders, and where the strongest profiles cluster.
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How much does it cost to hire an engineer?
The agency fee is the number founders compare and the smallest one in the calculation. Where the money goes, including the two costs that never make it into the spreadsheet.
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How long does it take to hire an engineer?
Five to seven weeks is the number most teams plan around. Where those weeks go, which of them you control, and why time to hire is the wrong thing to be measuring.
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How much equity should you give your first engineer?
The band people quote is wide enough to be useless on its own. What sets the number, the terms that matter more than the percentage, and the offer that costs you the person.
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Why strong engineers ignore your outreach
Who the message came from and what it asked for matter far more than its wording, and the person reading it already has a job they like.
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How to interview a founding engineer
The standard loop was built to filter hundreds of applicants down safely. You’re hiring one person who will decide how the product gets built, and the loop tests almost nothing you need to know.
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The best way to hire engineers at a seed-stage startup
There are four ways to fill an early engineering seat and they are good at different things. An honest comparison, including where each one fails and where we fit.
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What is a talent agent for engineers?
Athletes and actors have agents, and engineers get recruiters. What the agent model looks like for engineering careers, and how to tell real representation from a rebrand.
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What does Member of Technical Staff actually mean?
The title that says nothing on purpose. Where MTS came from, what it means at an AI lab versus everywhere else, and how to read an offer that carries it.
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What is a forward deployed engineer?
Palantir’s most exported job title, and lately everyone’s. What FDEs actually do, why AI companies are hiring them in numbers, and what the role does to a career.
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Staff engineer vs. senior engineer: what actually changes
The unit of work changes, from problems you’re handed to problems you find, and most careers stall exactly at that line.
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Founding engineer equity: how to think about the number
The commonly quoted band is wide for a reason. What sets a founding engineer’s stake, what to ask, and how to tell when the number is wrong.
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Signs of a great early-stage startup (and why to work at one)
What to look for before you join, the red flags to run from, and why the right early team beats a safe seat at scale.
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Startup vs. big tech: which should a top engineer choose?
Cash and stability, or ownership, speed, and upside. The honest tradeoffs, from people who only place engineers at startups, and how to decide.
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How to hire a founding engineer
A founding engineer is a co-owner of the product. What to screen for, where to find them, and why the usual interview loop fails.
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Founding engineer vs. early engineer: what actually differs
Same headcount, very different job. What separates them is ownership and ambiguity, and which one you need changes how you hire.
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The best engineers don’t apply
The strongest engineers are employed and not looking, and they never touch a job board. They move through people they trust. How hiring works at the top.
