Valeriya
Lead IT recruiter in Lucky Hunter
From a Single Founding Engineer to a Whole Team: How We Built a Startup Team for Agentplace in One Month
Veronika
Sourcing IT Specialist in Lucky Hunter
About the company
Agentplace is an early-stage startup that helps people quickly launch products using AI agents. The platform lets you create interactive websites and apps with simple text instructions, completely bypassing the need for deep technical development. Agentplace was even featured on Product Hunt, where it was recognized as one of the most promising no-code AI tools out there.
< 10
Employees
San Francisco
Headquarters
Creating and launching AI agents
Key Feature
Main Task
The founder of Agentplace reached out to us with a request to fill a Founding Engineer position – a specialist who could both build the product and work with cutting-edge AI technologies.
Who We Were Looking For:
- Founding Engineer
- Fullstack: TypeScript, React, Nest.js
Areas of Expertise:
Deep knowledge of LLMs, fine-tuning, LoRA, RAG systems, and prompt engineering (including system prompts, chain-of-thought, and self-correction)
Challenges:
Finding someone who combines fullstack development skills with a deep understanding of LLMs is incredibly rare. The talent pool was tiny to begin with, and it got even smaller. A lot of candidates who looked great on paper and had "perfect" resumes couldn't even pass a basic technical quiz on LLMs
Our solution
After the first few interviews, it became clear that finding someone equally strong in both fullstack and deep LLM work would be very difficult and time-consuming. We got on a call with the founder and decided to split one role into two different ones:
ML/LLM Engineer responsible for LLM expertise
Role #1
Senior Fullstack JS Developer
Role #2
We completely changed our search strategy:
- We kept the technical quiz for LLM candidates.
- We opened up all our resources to quickly widen the talent pool.
- We simplified the hiring process to just two steps: an interview with the CEO, a technical interview with the CTO, and then an offer.
Throughout the entire process, we were in constant communication with the Agentplace team. We'd discuss resumes on the spot and quickly adjust the requirements as needed to keep the process moving without any delays.
There were a few times where we didn't quite agree. For example, the client had some doubts about one of the finalist's working speed. To ease their concerns, we suggested a one-week trial. The candidate successfully proved their skills, and they were then hired full-time for the project.
There were a few times where we didn't quite agree. For example, the client had some doubts about one of the finalist's working speed. To ease their concerns, we suggested a one-week trial. The candidate successfully proved their skills, and they were then hired full-time for the project.
1
Months
450+
CV's
4
Hires
How We Recruited a Full Stack Node. js Developer for a Startup in 2 Weeks
Results
Finding Fullstack developers with strong LLM expertise was a real challenge. Together with the client, we adjusted our strategy and split one complex role into two — Fullstack JS Developer and ML/LLM Engineer.
By staying flexible and keeping communication fast, we built a solid candidate pipeline. With an efficient two-step hiring process — CEO and CTO interviews — we successfully filled four positions in record time.
By staying flexible and keeping communication fast, we built a solid candidate pipeline. With an efficient two-step hiring process — CEO and CTO interviews — we successfully filled four positions in record time.
Recruiter’s Feedback
We came to Lucky Hunter with a tough challenge: to find a Founding Engineer combining JavaScript skills and deep LLM expertise. Realizing such talent is rare, the team suggested splitting the role into two — Fullstack JS Developer and ML/LLM Engineer. In the end, we hired four specialists and built a full team within a few weeks. Lucky Hunter deeply understands startups, knows the market, and works as a true long-term partner. Highly recommended.
Vlad
CEO & Co-founder of Agentplace
Valeriya
Lead IT recruiter in Lucky Hunter
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