the full guide to landing interviews at early-stage startups

Nov 14, 2026

i put together everything i've seen work for landing interviews at early-stage startups. if you want one at a startup under 30 people, this is the whole playbook on one page.

1. find

startups that just raised (hiring next)
write before the job post (beat the 500)
20 startups, not 200 (each gets real work)

2. get in

ask for 3 intros (warm beats cold)
make one small thing (proves you get it)
email the founder (they do the hiring)

3. follow up

5 to 10 a day, by hand (no copy-paste)
day 4: something new (when most reply)
day 11: last one (then let it go)

4. the call

bring a 30-day plan (shows day one)
pay before any trial (no free work)
after a no: ask who else (founders talk)

also, every email in this guide is a free template. they're at the bottom, with real examples.

1. find

startups that just raised

search x and linkedin for "raised a seed" or "series a" in the last 90 days
yc.com/companies → latest batches → "is hiring"
keep teams under 30. that's where the founder still reads their own email

write before the job post

read founder posts for "we're hiring" or "stretched thin". that's a role before it's posted
a growing startup is enough. you don't need a job post

20 startups, not 200

pick one role and one or two spaces, like "backend at dev tools"
20 is enough to work through in two weeks, properly

2. get in

ask for 3 intros

open each startup on linkedin and check who you know there, or who knows someone
ask one question: "do you know anyone at [company]?"
give them 2 lines they can forward as is. → asking for an intro below

make one small thing

use the product first. pick one real gap you hit
engineer: reproduce an open bug from their github issues, send a failing test and a fix
designer: screenshot their signup and mark 3 places people get stuck
growth: their next 5 posts, or 20 accounts that look like their best customers
sales or ops: 20 companies that should buy from them, and why
45 minutes to 2 hours. small and real beats big and late

email the founder

find it on their personal site, github commits, or with an email finder. verify it first
in this order: their problem → what you made → one number about you → what you'd own → a 15 minute call
short enough to read on a phone. → the first email below

3. follow up

5 to 10 a day, by hand

each email written for that one startup
one person sent 100 copy-pasted emails a day and got nothing. 30 written by hand got 5 replies and a job

day 4: something new

same thread. add a new finding, never "just checking in". → the day 4 follow-up below

day 11: last one

one last email. offer a small paid trial, or say a no is fine. → the last follow-up below

4. the call

bring a 30-day plan

expect a founder call, then a work trial, then the team
open with the thing you made. ask which part they'd do differently
the plan: what you'd measure, fix and ship first
ask about runway, what success looks like in 3 months, and who you'd work with

pay before any trial

settle pay, hours, what you deliver and when they decide. → after the call below

after a no: ask who else

reply within a day. thank them, congratulate them on the hire
ask for one founder with the same problem, plus a line they can forward. → after a no below

where backdoor fits

three parts of this eat your week: finding startups about to hire, finding each founder's email, and the follow-ups.

i'd hand those to a tool like backdoor. you text it your linkedin on whatsapp or imessage, it does those three and drafts each email from your experience, and it sends from your own gmail only when you say send.

the thing you make and the call are still you. free to start, link's at the bottom.

the emails

swap in your own details.

asking for an intro

Email, subject 'Intro to [name]?': Hi [name], Do you know anyone at [name]? If so, could you forward these two lines? [name] cut p95 queue latency 38% at [name]. He reproduced [name]'s duplicate webhook deliveries and wrote a failing test: [link]. [name] A reply came back.

the first email

Email, subject 'Retry reproduction for [name]': Hi [name], [name]'s open retry issue matches what I saw in the demo: a rate-limited delivery can run twice. I reproduced it locally. At [name], I cut p95 queue latency 38%. Here's the failing test and a small patch: [link]. I could take retry correctness off your plate. Open to 15 minutes Thursday? [name] A reply came back.

the day 4 follow-up

Email, subject 'Re: Retry reproduction for [name]': Hi [name], I added the worker-restart case you asked about. The second delivery happens after restart, not during the retry delay. The test and updated patch are in the same repo: [link]. I could own the fix and regression tests. Would 15 minutes Monday work? [name] A reply came back.

the last follow-up

Email, subject 'Re: Retry reproduction for [name]': Hi [name], One last note on the retry reproduction. I could scope a two-hour trial around the restart case, with a failing test and patch as deliverables. If that's useful, could we talk for 15 minutes Tuesday? If not, I'll leave it here. [name] A reply came back.

after the call

Email, subject 'Re: Retry reproduction for [name]': Hi [name], Thanks for walking me through the delivery worker. My first 30 days would be: measure duplicate deliveries, fix restart handling, then compare the rate before and after rollout. For the trial, would two paid hours and a regression test plus patch work? Who reviews it, and when would you decide? [name] A reply came back.

after a no