HIRE FIRST ENGINEER

Hire Your First Engineer for Your Startup

Making your first engineering hire? Get it right with embedded founding engineers or fractional CTO support to help you hire, evaluate, and onboard.

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What You Get

  • ✓Bridge the gap while you search for full-time
  • ✓Help define your first engineering role
  • ✓Interview and evaluate candidates
  • ✓Onboard and mentor your first hire
  • ✓Ship product while recruiting

Ideal For

  • →Solo non-technical founders
  • →Pre-seed and seed startups
  • →Founders unsure what to look for
  • →Companies needing to ship while hiring

Fast, Seamless Onboarding

From first call to first commit in under a week.

Day 1

Discovery Call

Understand your product, stack, and what success looks like

Day 2-3

Team Match

Match the right engineer(s) based on your needs

Day 4-5

Onboarding

Slack access, repo access, codebase walkthrough

Week 1

First Ship

First PR merged, hitting the ground running

See Our Work

Rupa Health

Fractional CTO from Seed to Series A, scaling ARR from $100K to $5M.

Read case study →

OddsJam

Technical diligence and security hardening for successful exit.

Read case study →
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“Aravind is in the top 1% of engineers I've hired. He supported us from $100K to $5M ARR, keeping us shipping through crazy growth and investor scrutiny.”
Tara Viswanathan
Co-founder & CEO, Rupa Health (Acquired by Fullscript)

Hire Your First Engineer FAQs

What is the process to hire your first engineer?

Start with a 30-minute discovery call where we understand your needs, tech stack, and goals. We then match you with the right engineer(s) from our team. Onboarding typically takes 2-3 days, and most engineers ship their first PR within the first week.

How much does it cost to hire your first engineer?

Our engagements are structured as monthly retainers based on the scope and seniority needed. We're transparent about pricing—book a call to discuss your specific needs and get a custom quote. There are no hidden fees or account manager overhead.

Can I hire your first engineer for just a few months?

Yes, we offer flexible month-to-month engagements. While most clients work with us for 6-12+ months, there's no long-term lock-in. We believe in earning your continued partnership through results, not contracts.

What makes your your first engineer different?

Our engineers have shipped products at venture-backed startups and understand the unique pressures of early-stage companies. They take ownership of outcomes, not just tasks. You get direct Slack access—no project managers or account executives in between.

Do you work with my tech stack?

Our team is full-stack and adaptable. We have deep experience with React/Next.js, Node.js, Python, TypeScript, AWS, GCP, and modern AI/LLM frameworks. We can also ramp up quickly on new technologies if needed.

Aravind Srinivas
Founder, HyperNest Labs

Former engineering leader who helped scale Rupa Health from $100K to $5M ARR. Passionate about helping startups build great engineering teams.

LinkedIn →

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Ready to hire your first engineer?

Book a 30-minute call to discuss your needs and find the right fit.

Book a 30-min CallEmail Aravind