SWE Jobs at Early-Stage Startups

Show initiative and scrappiness. Link to a side project with a real user base or an open-source contribution with traction. Early-stage teams look for engineers who can ship without hand-holding. In your application, describe what you owned end-to-end, don't just list technologies.

Ask the startup’s last valuation, how many total shares exist, and how much you're getting. Multiply that out, don’t just accept '0.25% equity' without knowing the cap table. Ask if there's a 409A valuation, 4-year vesting, and a 1-year cliff. Also ask about option exercise windows after you leave.

Ask how much runway they have (months of cash left at current burn), who their lead investors are, and when they plan to raise next. If they avoid answering, that’s a red flag. Also ask: How often do they ship? Who sets priorities? How much of the product is still in flux?

Email a founder or early engineer directly. Keep it short: say what you’ve built, what you’d be excited to work on, and link your GitHub or portfolio. Bonus: Suggest something you’d improve in their product. Early-stage teams appreciate thoughtful cold emails way more than polished cover letters.

Rarely. Most startups under 20 people don’t sponsor unless the founders have prior experience navigating immigration. If you need sponsorship, focus on YC-backed or well-funded Series A startups that already have international team members. Always ask upfront.

They usually skip formal DSA rounds. Expect practical questions, how you’d build a feature, debug a performance issue, or design a simple API. Sometimes you’ll get a take-home or pair programming session. Founders often care more about your ability to learn and ship than your leetcode score.