Backdoor
Land a startup job before your OPT clock runs out.
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Backdoor
Every reason it won't work, answered.
What international students tell us, and what actually happens.
Hi Maya,
Saw Lumen went live in its first ten clinics this month.
For my master's I built the speech-to-notes pipeline for a 40-clinic study.
I'm on OPT, so there's nothing to sponsor to hire me.
15 minutes next week?
An example. The person and the startup are made up.
1“Startups won't hire me because of my visa.”
On OPT, nobody sponsors anything.
Your OPT card is your work permit. A startup hires you like anyone else, for 12 months, and for up to 3 years in total with the STEM extension. Most founders don't know that. Backdoor writes only to companies that can hire you on your status, and the email tells the founder in one line.
Backdoor2“My 90-day unemployment clock is running.”
Your first emails go out the same day.
Send your LinkedIn or resume. Backdoor reads up on you in minutes, picks startups that fit and drafts a note to each founder. Reply SEND and it goes out from your Gmail that day. No profile to build, no form to fill in. Count your days left
Backdoor3“I applied to 500 roles on Handshake and LinkedIn and heard nothing.”
So stop applying.
An application joins a pile that a filter reads first. Backdoor sends a short email from your own Gmail straight to the founder, about why you fit what they're building, and follows up in the same thread. 9 in 10 people who heard back got their first founder reply within two weeks.
Backdoor4“Recruiters filter out international students.”
A seed-stage startup has no recruiter.
At a ten-person company the founder reads their own inbox and makes the call alone, on what you've built. No form asks “will you require sponsorship?” before anyone has read your work. That founder is who Backdoor writes to.
The rules, in plain words.
What a founder needs to know before they hire you, and what you need to watch.
On OPT the employer sponsors nothing and files nothing with immigration, only the same I-9 as for anyone. The job has to relate to your degree and run at least 20 hours a week.
On STEM OPT the employer has to use E-Verify and sign a training plan with you, Form I-983. That's paperwork, not sponsorship.
Every day without a job that counts uses one of your 90 days, weekends included, from the start date on your OPT card.
New in 2026: students admitted since 15 September are admitted until a fixed date, so OPT generally needs an extension of stay from USCIS as well. The day limits didn't change.
From USCIS and Study in the States (the 2026 rule). Backdoor isn't a lawyer: ask your school's DSO about your own case. Count your unemployment days
How it works
No forms, no job boards, no new app. Just a chat.
BackdoorTell it about you
Send your LinkedIn, resume or a voice note. Backdoor researches your background and asks what you want next.
BackdoorIt finds startups every morning
Every morning it picks startups that fit you, from fresh funding, launch and hiring news.
BackdoorIt writes to the founder
It finds the founder's email and drafts a note about why you fit them.
BackdoorYou tap send. It follows up.
Emails go from your Gmail, and Backdoor follows up in the same thread until someone replies.
BackdoorKnow the moment they reply
You get a text as soon as a founder replies, and the full reply in your inbox.
BackdoorYour whole search, in one place
Ask how it's going anytime, or see every lead and reply on your dashboard.
Humanized emails. Not AI slop.
A typical AI-written cold email
Hey,
Jake
- Gmail is optional: it sends your emails and catches the replies.
- Nothing goes out until you say send.
- Delete everything in one tap.
$1 for your first week.
Backdoor is your long-term talent agent, bringing you the right roles as they come. Discovery , research , your resume and introductions to our partner startups are all free. You only pay for active outreach .
Outreach starts with a first week for $1, and you can cancel anytime.
Writing from an Indian WhatsApp number? You pay once in rupees, from ₹999, and the 30 and 90-day passes carry a reply guarantee: if 50 first emails go out and no founder replies, the pass runs 30 days longer.
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.
Wall of Love
Real messages from job seekers who got founder replies, shortlists and even offers with Backdoor.
“Went in to find bugs, came out with a job offer”
WhatsAppShortlisted“My profile got shortlisted for a role”
“Why wasn't anyone doing this already”
LinkedIn comment“Honestly seamless”
LinkedIn comment“Anything but transactional”
“Pretty good at finding leads”
“The AI is so good”
“Backdoor slaps hard”
“Telling everyone to try it”
Questions, answered.
Yes. On post-completion OPT your EAD card is your work permit, so any US employer can hire you without sponsoring a visa or filing anything with immigration for you. The job has to relate to your degree and be at least 20 hours a week.
The 24-month STEM extension needs an employer that uses E-Verify, and you and the employer sign a training plan, Form I-983. It still needs no visa sponsorship. With it, you can work for up to 3 years in total.
One plain line, such as "I'm on OPT, so there's nothing to sponsor to hire me." You see every email before it goes out, and you can change the line or take it out.
90 on post-completion OPT, and 150 in total once you are on the STEM extension. They count from the start date on your OPT card, weekends included, until you start a job that counts. The calculator on this site counts them for you.
No. Backdoor writes to founders for you. It doesn't file visas or give immigration advice; ask your school's DSO or an immigration lawyer about your own case.
At a seed-stage startup the founder reads their own email and hires on what you've built. There is no recruiter screen and no sponsorship checkbox before someone reads your work.
Anyone aiming for a pre-seed to Series C startup, where one good email to a founder can become an interview. If you want to mass-apply to big companies, it isn't for you.
Job boards put you in a pile. Backdoor writes straight to the founder, often before a role is posted, about why you fit them.
No. Every new email waits for your SEND. Follow-ups only continue threads you approved, and you can cancel them anytime.
Backdoor connects to your Gmail so it can send the emails you approve and tell you when a founder replies. Connecting it is optional, and the privacy policy has the details.
Yes, when the email is about why you fit them. 9 in 10 people who heard back through Backdoor got their first founder reply within two weeks, and 6 in 10 of those who gave it three weeks heard back. Founders at early startups read their own inbox.
Follow-ups stop, you get a text right away, and the full reply lands in your inbox.
Chat, profile research and your resume are free. Outreach starts with a first week for $1, and you can cancel anytime.
A talent agent on your side. Backdoor researches your background, helps with your resume, and keeps you in its talent pool: when one of our partner startups fits you, the team introduces you by hand. You pay only if you want Backdoor to email founders for you.
No, nothing can. It handles the research, emails and follow-ups. The interview is still you.
More for international students
Free to start · No forms · No sponsorship needed on OPT
Your OPT clock is running. Use it.
Say hi and share your LinkedIn. Backdoor finds the startups, writes to the founders and follows up. You say send.
Backdoor