They come from intros — by billion-dollar founders, public-company CTOs, and top-tier fund partners. Refery is the infrastructure that puts their referral network to work for your engineering and GTM hires. Seed to Series B. SF and NY. One contact point. Hundreds of scouts.
Built by operators behind 9 and 10-figure exits. Our story →
One wrong engineer costs you 6 months. One wrong GTM lead costs you the market. You already know this — and yet the options you have are built for a different world.
30% + retainer. Months of waiting. Candidates they're placing everywhere else. Their recruiters have never built a startup.
The best people aren't applying anywhere. They only move when someone they trust makes the intro.
You know 50 great people. Maybe 100. Your next hire is two intros away — in a network you can't reach alone.
Founders, CTOs, fund partners, and engineers across SF and NY. Curated by Refery. Vetted by our committee. Every candidate matched and screened before they reach you. One contact point. No noise. Ready-built infrastructure — so you don't start from scratch.
They've hired their first engineer and their 100th. When they refer someone, it's because they'd hire them again.
They know what a 10x engineer looks like in practice — not on a resume. Their referrals come with real signal.
They sit across hundreds of portfolio companies. They've seen who makes startups win — repeatedly, across stages.
Senior engineers and talent leaders who've scaled teams from 10 to 1,000. They refer from circles agencies can't access.
Trusted by startups backed by the world's best investors
Designed for founders who don't have time to manage another vendor.
A job description, a Notion doc, or just a paragraph over email. Tell us what great looks like. We handle the rest.
Our scout network surfaces referrals. We screen and select only the strongest fits — you receive a handpicked shortlist with real context. See someone you like? We make a warm intro immediately.
You run your own process. 20% of first-year salary, only after you hire. 90-day quality guarantee included.
| Refery | Agency | Job board / DIY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who refers | Founders, CTOs, investors, operators from top startups & tech | Junior recruiters | Whoever applies |
| Time to first candidate | Days | Weeks (after retainer) | Unpredictable |
| Upfront cost | $0 | $15–30K retainer | Job board fees |
| Total fee | 20% on success only | 30% + retainer already paid | Your time (not free) |
| Doesn't work out in 3 months | Free replacement guaranteed | Tough luck | Start over |
Founded by operators and investors behind 9 and 10-figure exits. People who built companies from first hire to acquisition — and deployed capital into the startups that became household names.
We've been the founders desperately hiring our first engineer. The investors watching portfolio companies stall because one critical role stayed open for months. We've lived the cost of a wrong hire — and the magic of the right one.
Across our portfolio, the pattern was obvious: the best hires came from referrals. From people who knew the industry and had worked alongside the candidates.
That network existed. The infrastructure didn't. Refery is what we built to fix that.
Say hello → hello@refery.ioFounders, CTOs, investors, and operators who already make great intros — Refery turns those into $15K–$40K payouts per successful hire. No recruiting experience needed.
Send us a role — a job description, a Notion doc, or even a paragraph.
We'll take it from there within 48 hours.