Full-Time

Backend Engineer

Posted on 7/25/2025

Fizz

Fizz

51-200 employees

Anonymous campus social platform and marketplace

Compensation Overview

$140k - $200k/yr

New York, NY, USA

In Person

Onsite 5 days per week in NYC office; relocation packages available.

Category
Software Engineering (1)
Required Skills
LLM
NoSQL
Node.js
SQL
TypeScript
Requirements
  • 2-7 years of experience of relevant backend development experience
  • Direct experience building products from 0-1
  • Hands-on experience with TypeScript/NodeJS
  • Strong understanding of cutting-edge backend technologies, including API design, database optimization (SQL/NoSQL), secure data handling, and horizontally scaling infrastructure in cloud environments
  • Experience working in startup-like environments where ambiguities, shifting requirements, and iterative development is common
  • Strong engineering intuition: Learn fast, be adaptable
  • Extreme hunger to take ownership and actively drive engineering initiatives
  • Eager to learn new skills at a fast pace and empower team members by sharing acquired knowledge
  • Strong grasp on product and ability to intuitively develop features that Gen-Z will use and love
Responsibilities
  • Owning end-to-end technical development of large product features that must scale to millions of users
  • Applying emerging technology such as LLMs and vector databases to novel product use cases like content recommendation and content moderation
  • Collaborating with our product lead and product designer to create user-friendly experiences
  • Working directly with our growth team to automate user acquisition and evangelize an engineering-driven mindset across the company
  • Actively setting up new tools and infrastructure to improve our team’s output
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience working with consumer-user-facing products
  • Experience with Google Cloud Platform or MongoDB
  • iOS development experience, or experience working on the backend for a mobile application

Fizz builds private, campus-based social networks for Gen Z, using verified school emails to join. Students post and discuss anonymously within their campus groups, and the app recently added a peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling. It differentiates itself by tying anonymity to a verified school, pursuing rapid campus-by-campus growth to create dense, local communities, and embedding a marketplace rather than relying on broad, public networks. Its goals are to achieve high campus penetration, foster active local networks, and monetize through marketplace fees and promoted listings alongside user engagement.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Series B

Total Funding

$42.3M

Headquarters

Palo Alto, California

Founded

2020

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Saudi Arabia #1 App Store ranking validates international scalability beyond US college demographics.
  • User base 5x larger since 2023 Series B with doubling between 2024-2025 demonstrates strong retention.
  • Gopuff grocery delivery partnership and marketplace create new revenue streams beyond advertising.

What critics are saying

  • Sidechat paying students to uninstall Fizz erodes user base in contested campus markets.
  • Anonymous posting enables bullying and harassment, triggering student exodus and parental bans.
  • High school expansion to 60 campuses creates COPPA violations risking $40M+ FTC fines and delisting.

What makes Fizz unique

  • Verified .edu email requirement creates authentic, moderated communities unlike anonymous-only competitors like Yik Yak.
  • Hyperlocal campus focus with 700+ school presence establishes network effects competitors struggle to replicate.
  • Hybrid anonymous model balances authenticity with privacy, differentiating from performative Instagram and TikTok.

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Benefits

Company Equity

Relocation Assistance

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-3%

1 year growth

-6%

2 year growth

-7%
Startup Ecosystem Canada
Apr 4th, 2026
Fizz expands globally with successful launch in Saudi Arabia.

Fizz expands globally with successful launch in Saudi Arabia. News summary. Fizz, an anonymous social app initially developed for college campuses, has successfully launched its first overseas expansion in Saudi Arabia. The app quickly became the No. 1 overall on the App Store charts in the country and remains the leading app in the news category. Founded by Teddy Solomon and Ashton Cofer, Fizz aims to evolve from a college-focused app to a generational social product. With a $40 million fundraise and a presence on 700 campuses, Fizz is expanding its Global Fizz feed to include users beyond college communities. The company's strategic expansion into the Middle East was fueled by the region's booming social app environment, highlighted by the popularity of Snapchat, WhatsApp, and TikTok. Fizz has integrated Arabic natural language processing tools and recruited volunteer moderators from the Saudi community to ensure effective content moderation. Despite the challenges posed by Saudi Arabia's strict monitoring laws, Fizz is committed to maintaining compliance with local regulations. Story coverage. techcrunch.com

TechCrunch
Jan 1st, 2026
Fizz CEO on why anonymous social media works for Gen Z

Fizz, a social app targeting college students, is betting that Gen Z wants an alternative to the performative nature of Instagram and TikTok. The platform has become what CEO Teddy Solomon calls "the biggest college social app since Facebook" by focusing on everyday campus life rather than curated highlights. Founded during the pandemic, Fizz uses a hybrid anonymous model combined with hyperlocal focus to capture attention from a demographic typically devoted to established platforms. The app allows students to share the "99% of life that doesn't make it into a highlight reel". Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt, co-founder Solomon discussed why he believes social media has moved away from genuine social interaction. The platform has established itself as the dominant social network across US college campuses.

TechCrunch
Dec 31st, 2025
Campus and Fizz founders share strategies for building lasting communities at Disrupt

Tade Oyerinde, founder of online school Campus, and Teddy Solomon, co-founder of college social app Fizz, discussed community-building strategies at TechCrunch Disrupt. Campus offers associate degrees in information technology and business administration, plus certificates in specialities like cosmetology and phlebotomy. The platform has over 3,000 enrolled students and employs more than 100 professors on at least a part-time basis. Oyerinde announced Campus is launching à la carte courses following employer requests for individual skill training, such as vibe coding. He believes future learners will maintain subscriptions for continuous upskilling. "Everyone in this room, not just two-year degree-seeking people, will be able to go to Campus and learn with us," Oyerinde told attendees, emphasising live online classes taught by experts.

TechCrunch
Sep 3rd, 2025
College social app Fizz expands into grocery delivery

Fizz, the college social app, is expanding into grocery delivery thanks to a new partnership with Gopuff, the startup told TechCrunch exclusively.

Blogarama
Apr 29th, 2025
Fizz Raises $41M for Gen Z App

Teddy Solomon, co-founder of Fizz, raised $41 million to develop a community-based social app for Gen Z. Fizz, launched at Stanford, connects students through private, verified communities using .edu emails. The app has expanded to top universities and features full-spectrum sharing and a peer-to-peer marketplace. Despite initial investment offers, Teddy and his team focused on building the platform, leading to significant user engagement and growth.

INACTIVE