Startups, is your dev hiring funnel clogged by resumes and recruiter fees?

Hey everyone,

I wanted to start a discussion and get some honest feedback from other founders and hiring managers here.

Like many of you, I've been on both sides of the hiring table. As a dev, I found it's nearly impossible to show your depth or how you actually think on a resume designed in the 1950s. As a founder, I'm now feeling the other side of that pain: sifting through stacks of those same resumes, trying to guess who has real talent, and dreading the cost of recruiters.

It led me to a core belief: the current system is based on weak signals. LinkedIn diluted the value of a connection, and resumes don't reveal a candidate's reasoning patterns.

After 8 months of building, I've just deployed my attempt at a solution: Techfolio. It’s a developer-focused network designed for low-stakes, high-context connections. Instead of just a resume, profiles showcase things that actually matter: dev archetypes, code review examples, and even AI-graded system design interviews. The goal is to give you a clearer picture of a candidate's talent before the first screen, saving you time and money.

Now, I'm at the outreach stage, and this is where I need your help. I'm a solo dev funding this myself ($100/mo), and my only growth strategy is to find startups who believe there's a better way to hire and are willing to try an alternative.

My ask is this: I'm looking for a handful of early-stage startups to partner with. I'm not asking for money, just your participation and feedback.

I'm offering two options:

1. You send me an active job posting, and I’ll feature it and personally send you the profiles of interested candidates from the platform. Zero work for you.

2. Sign up for a free employer account, and I'll give you and your team 3 months of our premium plan for free, no commitment. You can explore all the tools for gauging talent at your own pace.

My main questions for the community are:

What are your biggest frustrations with the initial stages of dev hiring right now?

Do you think a reasoning-first portfolio like this would actually give you an edge in identifying talent?

I’m trying to build something that gives startups a genuine advantage by changing the mechanics of hiring. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

Martin