Backdoor
Two hundred Easy Applies. Two automated rejections.
LinkedIn Easy Apply makes applying take seconds, for everyone at once. Backdoor writes to the founder of each startup that fits you instead, before the pile.
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Backdoor
The short answer
If you want a job at a pre-seed to Series C startup and a reply from the person who hires, pick Backdoor. It writes to the founder about why you fit, sends from your Gmail after you approve, and follows up until they answer.
When LinkedIn Easy Apply fits
Easy Apply suits people applying to many posted roles fast, where the poster takes LinkedIn applications.
Backdoor vs LinkedIn Easy Apply, side by side.
 Backdoor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Who reads it first | The founder or hiring manager at the startup | The job poster, after any screening questions |
| How companies are picked | Fresh funding, launch and hiring news, matched to your background | Posted LinkedIn jobs you search and pick |
| What you do | Share your LinkedIn, then reply SEND to the notes you like | Open each job, answer its questions, submit |
| Follow-ups | Three, sent for you in the same thread, stop when they reply | None; an application can't be edited or followed up in place |
| When you hear back | 9 in 10 first replies came within two weeks | If the poster gets to you among everyone else |
| Risk to you | Sent from your own Gmail after you approve. Nothing touches LinkedIn | Must-have questions can reject you automatically |
| Where you use it | WhatsApp or iMessage, with a web dashboard | LinkedIn website and mobile app |
| Price | India: passes from ₹999 for 7 days, nothing renews. US: $1 first week, then $29/month | Free |
| Free plan | Chat, profile research, your resume and a demo search with sample matches are free. You pay for outreach. | Free with any LinkedIn account, with daily and speed limits on submissions. |
| Public rating | New, so no large review base yet | 1.1/5 on Trustpilot (LinkedIn overall) (3,949 reviews) |
LinkedIn Easy Apply facts checked October 2026. Easy Apply needs no Premium. LinkedIn says it has daily and speed limits on Easy Apply submissions and publishes no number (read 2026-10-18). Sources: LinkedIn Help: Apply for jobs on LinkedIn, LinkedIn Help: Apply to jobs directly on LinkedIn, LinkedIn Help: What to expect after you apply, LinkedIn Help: Add screening questions to your job post, LinkedIn Help: Work authorization questions, eWeek on the NYT's applications report (June 2025), Trustpilot reviews of LinkedIn.
Easy for you is easy for everyone.
- 1
You apply in thirty seconds.
- 2
So do the other few hundred.
- 3
The poster reads the first few, or a filter does.
Why startup job seekers switch from LinkedIn Easy Apply.
The best LinkedIn Easy Apply alternative for getting a startup job is Backdoor. Easy Apply makes applying take seconds, which is exactly why every post fills up: LinkedIn was reported to get about 11,000 applications a minute in 2025, and a post shows "over 100 applicants" whether it has 101 or 4,000. Your application waits in that list, often behind screening questions that can reject it automatically.
Backdoor skips the list. Every morning it picks startups that fit you from funding, launch and hiring news, often before they post a role, finds the founder's or hiring manager's email, and drafts a short note about why you fit. You reply SEND and it goes from your own Gmail. Nothing runs on your LinkedIn account.
Replies come fast. Across 11,300+ first emails to founders, 9 in 10 people who heard back got their first founder reply within two weeks. About 3 in 10 replies came after a follow-up, and Backdoor sends three in the same thread, 3, 4 and 5 days apart, stopping the moment someone replies. Of the 28 people who kept Backdoor sending for three weeks or more, 6 in 10 heard back from a founder.
What LinkedIn Easy Apply users report.
- LinkedIn was reported to get about 11,000 applications a minute in 2025, up 45% in a year, with recruiters describing an applicant tsunami (June 2025). eweek.com
- "Easy Apply is a black hole": a widely shared post by a self-described former LinkedIn employee, disputed by a current one. hiration.com
- "Over 100 applicants" is a display cap, so a post with 101 applicants looks the same as one with 4,000. hiration.com
- A job seeker writes that applying through LinkedIn brings no response at all (August 2023). boston.com
Here's what it feels like instead.
Backdoor does the searching, writing and chasing. You stay in the loop and say yes.
BackdoorA founder reads it, not a filter
Your note goes to the founder's inbox, not to a list of applicants behind screening questions.
BackdoorReach them before the job is posted
Backdoor reaches startups right after they raise or launch, before a post gathers hundreds of Easy Applies.
BackdoorFollow-ups happen without you
Easy Apply has no follow-up. Backdoor sends three in the same thread and stops when the founder replies.
The note Backdoor would write for you.
Example
Leo, two years of frontend work at an agency, 200 Easy Applies in two months.
Why Shelfwise, why now
Launched on Product Hunt with inventory forecasts for independent bookshops.
The person and the startup are made up. Your notes are written from your own work and each startup's news.
Hi Ines,
Saw Shelfwise's launch this week. Forecasting stock for small bookshops is a lovely niche.
At my agency I rebuilt a retailer's stock page so it loads in under a second on a phone, and their returns from wrong orders fell by a fifth.
I'd like to build the shop owner's side of Shelfwise with you from the start.
Could we do a 15-minute call next week?
Replies come in weeks, not months.
Backdoor only writes to founders you fit, so the ones who answer tend to answer fast. See the research
first founder replies came within two weeks
interviews came within two weeks
replies came after a follow-up Backdoor sent
Among the people who got a reply or an interview, May 2026 to October 2026, out of 481 people Backdoor sent for.
Give it three weeks.
Out of every 10 people who let Backdoor run for three weeks or more (28 people so far):
And you never have to chase.
3 in 10 founder replies came after a follow-up. Backdoor sends those for you, so you never have to chase.
Moving over from LinkedIn Easy Apply.
- 1Keep Easy Apply for the posted roles at big companies you still want.
- 2Text Backdoor your LinkedIn or resume on WhatsApp or iMessage and say which startups and roles you want.
- 3Tomorrow morning, read your first notes to founders and reply SEND to the ones you like.
Start tonight. Wake up to founders who fit you.
Every morning Backdoor picks startups for you and drafts the notes. All you do is reply.
Say hi
On WhatsApp or iMessage. It takes ten seconds.
Send your LinkedIn
Or your resume. Backdoor reads up on you.
Get your first founders
Startups that fit you, with notes ready to send.
Questions, answered.
Sometimes, for posted roles where you clearly fit. Every post fills fast, and screening questions can reject you before a person reads you, so expect few replies from volume alone.
For a startup job, Backdoor. It picks startups that fit you, often before a role is posted, drafts a note to the founder or hiring manager, and sends it from your own Gmail once you reply SEND.
Yes. LinkedIn says it has daily and speed limits on Easy Apply submissions to curb automation, and it doesn't publish the number.
No. Backdoor reads your public profile to learn about you, then sends email from your Gmail. It never logs in to LinkedIn or applies there.
9 in 10 people who heard back got their first founder reply within two weeks of their first email. About 3 in 10 replies came after a follow-up, which Backdoor sends for you.
Profile research, career advice, resume help and a demo search with sample matches are free. Outreach is paid: one-time passes in India, and in the US a $1 first week, then a monthly, quarterly or lifetime plan.
Also comparing
Free to start · No forms · No app
Your next role could be one email away.
Say hi and share your LinkedIn. Backdoor finds the founders, writes the notes and follows up. You just say send.
Backdoor