Jacob Eiting, a founder of RevenueCat, closed the Series B funding for RevenueCat two months ago. RevenueCat is a platform that allows users to manage in-app subscriptions. The investment of $40 million was made to expand the company and to hire more employees. The startup, which currently employs 35 people, hopes to grow to 50 and 100 employees by next year. RevenueCat offers a range of perks, including unlimited vacation, equity, and a home office subsidy. It also has salaries that are comparable to those at big tech companies regardless of where they live.
These offers were rarer in startups before the pandemic. The competitive hiring market has pushed salaries up, increased benefits and allowed companies to be more flexible with job applicants. Eiting says that part of it is about how to stand out from the Googles of this world. We use our strengths. We offer competitive salaries to those who live outside the Bay Area.
Startups around the globe are expanding like RevenueCat. With $288 billion in venture capital investment made worldwide, the first half of 2021 was a record. Most of them understand that an influx in cash is a influx in employees. This has led to an increase in the number of startup jobs. Software developers and engineers, who are always in high demand, can now make their own checks.
This is not only true for startups. According to Dice, a career database for the industry, tech job postings rose 16 percent in the first quarter 2021. The demand for software programmers has increased despite the fact that tech companies are constantly growing. However, there have been a lot of Zoom meetings, telehealth and restaurant menus featuring QR codes and restaurant menus. Emsi Burning Glass, an analytics firm that tracks job growth and labor market trends, reported that there were 323,000 software engineer job openings between March and July. This is 13 percent more than 2016! This is 13 percent more than in 2016.
This has led to what Silicon Valley insiders call the most frenetic hiring market since the 1990s dot-com boom. Justine Moore, an investor, said that the engineering market has become so competitive. She manages a Pallet job board to promote openings at startups as well as VC firms. Many startups offer referral bonuses. While I would say that $10,000 is a reasonable referral fee, I have heard of people offering up to $50,000.
Others have tried more innovative ways to get referrals or to stand out from other job postings. Moores Pallet posted a seed-stage startup offering four tarot cards, two boxes full of succulents and a gigantic piata of mystery goods to anyone who refers someone who has been with the company at least six months. Referrals could also receive a year's supply of cookies from Levain Bakery. A gift box containing four chocolate chip walnut cookies sells online for $27 or $6.75 per cookie. The founder of a mobile gaming company offered to pay $44,500 for a referral, which led to a hire.
One startup offered four tarot readings and two boxes of succulents to anyone who refers candidates who stay at the company for at minimum six months.
One year ago, job seekers preferred stability in Big Tech over startups. However, smaller companies might have an advantage in today's market. A study that looked at AngelList searches from February to May 2020 found that job seekers were 20% more likely than others to apply for jobs with companies with over 500 employees like Apple or Google. According to a survey of US-based technology employees, job seekers are now more interested in flexibility and remote work benefits. The survey found that tech professionals experienced high levels last quarter of burnout and that 48% were interested in switching companies this year, up from 32% at the same time last.
By offering what job-seekers care most, smaller companies might be able to capture some of this talent in transition. According to Hunter Walk, a partner at Homebrew, a seed-stage VC fund, startups are becoming more smart about targeting companies that will be attractive places to hire from. There will be attrition as CEOs make changes to their policies regarding working from home or expressing opinions on social issues, according to those who don't agree. Walk believes startups have the potential to hire those people. I see that candidates are more focused on the mission or the culture of their company, which is a bigger factor in hiring.
