Demo Day to Series A velocity without a 90-day hire
Applications Standard at $3,499 a month or Pro at $4,500 a month. Senior engineer, 2-4 day cycles, Work Made for Hire. 14-day money-back.
Who this is for
YC-backed founder between Demo Day and Series A.
The pain today
- Demo Day momentum is decaying fast; every week counts.
- Full-time senior hiring takes 90 days and the round closes in 60.
- Agencies want 6-month commitments for work that needs to ship in 6 weeks.
- Every YC batch alum is hiring the same engineers from the same pool.
The outcome you get
- Senior engineering starting inside two weeks.
- 2-4 day delivery cycles through the fundraise window.
- Work Made for Hire from day one.
- Monthly retainer so the engagement ends clean when Series A closes.
YC-stage velocity math
YC-stage velocity is existential. The window between Demo Day and the first Series A term sheet is 4-16 weeks. In that window the product has to grow visibly every 2-4 weeks to keep investor interest hot. A full-time senior engineer hire at $200K+ takes 90 days to close. The retainer at $3,499 or $4,500 a month starts in week one, ships through the window, and ends clean when the round closes and the permanent hire lands. Over 12 weeks the retainer lands at $11,000-$14,000, less than the recruiter fee on a single permanent hire.
What to ship between Demo Day and first seed check
The shipping list between Demo Day and first seed check is tight: ship one meaningful feature every 3-4 weeks, improve the product to the point where three design partners are using it daily, and instrument the product so the Series A deck has clean metrics. I scope the list with the founder on the kickoff call and we ship weekly. The GigEasy pattern was the same: 3-week MVP, then weekly iterations, landing investor-ready in months two and three. It works at YC-stage velocity.
Senior contractor vs recruiter-sourced hire
Recruiter-sourced hires cost 20-25 percent of first-year salary and take 8-12 weeks from first contact to start date. The candidate arrives unfamiliar with the codebase and needs 4-6 weeks to ramp. Total time to useful output: 12-18 weeks. A senior contractor on retainer starts in week one and is useful in week two. The cost math favors the contractor for every engagement under 6 months. After 12+ months the full-time hire wins. YC-stage fits the contractor window almost exactly.
Cancellation and ownership
YC founders need cancel-anytime because the fundraise timeline is unpredictable. Cancel end of month when the round closes and the permanent hire lands. Work Made for Hire means the code is yours from day one. I hand over the repo, the deploys, and a week of pair-time with the permanent engineer when they arrive. The transition is clean. Many YC founders have called me back 6 months later for the next feature surge.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Built and shipped an investor-ready MVP from scratch
Built the entire technological base and delivered MVP in just 3 weeks, enabling a successful rapid launch and investor demo.
Frequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
- Can you start in two weeks?
- Yes. One week for kickoff and scope, one week to ship the first feature. Most YC founders have a first shipped feature inside 3 weeks of first call.
- Have you worked with YC-backed companies?
- I have worked with founders who have YC-pattern backing (Barclays, Bain, other accelerator and fund-backed seed rounds). The velocity pattern is the same.
- What stack do you use?
- Next.js, React, Laravel, NestJS, PostgreSQL, Redis, AWS or Vercel. The same stack that shipped GigEasy's 3-week MVP.
- What if the round does not close?
- Cancel the retainer end of month. The code is yours under Work Made for Hire. Many founders come back 3-6 months later when the next round starts.
- Can you introduce me to investors?
- I can make intros to investors who have backed builds I worked on, when the fit matches. Not the core product.
Ready to start?
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