Refery blog
Candidates
For engineers, AI builders, and GTM operators weighing a move to an early-stage company.
How to Evaluate a Founding Engineer Offer: Ownership, Equity, Stage, and Risk
A candidate's framework for a founding engineer offer: what the role actually owns, how to read base and equity separately, what the company's stage means for the grant, and the questions that decide the answer. Written from Refery's searches; no promises about outcomes.
Where Senior Engineers Find High-Ownership Roles at VC-Backed Startups (Including the Ones Never Posted)
The channels that actually surface founding and senior engineering roles at Seed to Series B companies: investor job boards, curated marketplaces, YC's board, referral networks, and the confidential searches that never reach a job ad. What each one is for and how to use it without spraying applications.
How to consider a candidate for several opportunities with clear consent
Separate permission to discuss opportunities from permission to share a candidate's identity or materials with particular hiring teams.
More in candidates
15 guidesWhat belongs in a candidate introduction handoff
Prepare a concise introduction that gives the hiring team relevant evidence and gives the candidate an accurate next step.
How to understand a candidate's motivation for a startup role
Explore the work, environment, tradeoffs, and practical conditions a candidate wants without turning motivation into a loyalty test.
How to handle off-market candidates and future contact preferences
Close active candidate conversations cleanly, record future contact preferences, and avoid treating old interest as current availability.
How to keep candidates informed during a hiring process
Set clear update ownership, communicate delays, and close the loop with candidates without inventing certainty or adding empty messages.
What to confirm before introducing a candidate to a hiring team
Check role understanding, current interest, sharing permission, practical alignment, and unresolved questions before introducing a candidate.
How to explain onsite requirements before interviewing candidates
Make location, in-person work, travel, and exception ownership clear early in a startup hiring process.
How to explain cash and equity in a startup offer
Present salary, variable pay, and equity separately, with clear terms and uncertainty, so candidates can understand the package.
How to handle competing offers without pressuring a candidate
Clarify a candidate's decision criteria, answer open questions, and coordinate a realistic timeline when another offer is involved.
How to plan candidate relocation without overpromising
Coordinate location, approved support, start-date dependencies, and responsible owners before a candidate commits to a move.
A startup offer decision brief for candidates
Bring the role, manager, working conditions, package, approvals, and open questions into a clear summary before an offer decision.
How to write an anonymized candidate profile that remains useful
Create a useful de-identified candidate summary without exposing recognizable combinations of employers, projects, timing, and personal details.
How to Write a Startup Opportunity Brief Candidates Can Evaluate
Explain the customer problem, company starting point, role ownership, constraints, and open questions in a clear candidate-facing opportunity brief.