Quick Answer Recruiting from Scratch (RFS) successfully scaled Octave's engineering team by filling five critical roles, including Software Engineers, a Frontend Lead, and a Data Engineer, with an average time to fill far below typical industry standards. Who is Octave and what do they do? Octave is a Series B healthcare technology company specializing in behavioral healthcare, connecting individuals, families, and couples across the United States to receive top-notch mental health services. They innovate by making high-quality mental health accessible, a crucial area where technology can significantly broaden reach and impact for those in need. We partnered with Series B healthcare technology company, Octave, to help them hire a new round of engineering talent. Our client is a leader in behavioral healthcare, connecting individuals, families, and couples all over the United States to receive top-notch mental health services. What are the common challenges when scaling a Series B engineering team in healthcare tech? Scaling a Series B engineering team, especially in specialized sectors like behavioral healthcare, often presents significant hurdles including attracting top-tier talent, ensuring precise technical fit, and prioritizing diversity. Octave faced difficulties in sourcing qualified candidates for specific tech stacks and a strong desire to hire more female engineers, common challenges many of our 150+ companies encounter. After raising their Series B, Octave needed to scale their engineering team quickly, a common scenario for many of our 150+ companies. Discovering that candidates who did make it to an interview weren’t the right fit after all because they didn’t have the right tech stack experience, indicating a need for more specialized screening capabilities. Wanting to hire candidates from underrepresented groups, particularly female engineers, aligning with our commitment to diverse talent pools. “I came into my role with many candidates in the pipeline for various engineering roles. I spent a lot of time screening what turned out to be a bit of unqualified applicants. Recruiting from Scratch, with our specialization in Engineering and AI/ML roles, was able to send me mostly close and strong matches, significantly improving the quality of candidates for roles.” – John Merciadez, Senior Technical Recruiter How do specialized recruiting firms solve tech hiring challenges for startups? Specialized recruiting firms like Recruiting from Scratch solve tech hiring challenges by providing targeted sourcing, rigorous candidate qualification, and end-to-end process management tailored to specific startup needs. RFS became the main source of talent for Octave after they described working with recruiting firms who didn’t quite meet their needs in the past. We were responsible for recruiting their engineering roles, including three Software Engineers, a Frontend Lead and a Data Engineer – roles typical of our specialization in Engineering and AI/ML talent for seed through Series C startups. What measurable results can a specialized tech recruiting firm deliver for a Series B startup? A specialized tech recruiting firm can deliver rapid headcount growth, high retention rates, and tangible business impact, as evidenced by Octave's success with Recruiting from Scratch. We quickly filled five critical engineering roles with an average time from first touchpoint to start date under two months, leading to high employee satisfaction and contributing to Octave's successful Series C funding round. During our time working together, we successfully hired three Software Engineers, a Frontend Lead and a Data Engineer from companies like Amazon, Coinbase and Verizon. We were also able to help hire women engineering talent, directly supporting Octave's commitment to diversity, a goal we frequently achieve for our 150+ companies. “Recruiting from Scratch had very good communication overall and listened to our needs and expectations as we iterated through the process, as well as the job requirements. This led to quality placements and an efficient hiring process.” – John Merciadez, Senior Technical Recruiter Additionally, our hires were able to start quickly and hit the ground running. Excellent retention : At the time of this writing, all our hires are still working at Octave (for many, this is well over a year and a half after their start dates). This long-term retention is a massive win for our client and the candidates, demonstrating the quality of our matches across 300+ technical placements. Impact to the business bottom line: Less than a year after working with Recruiting from Scratch, our client was able to raise their Series C funding during a particularly difficult time in the market to raise capital from VC investors. This demonstrates the tangible business impact of securing top-tier engineering talent, especially for rapidly scaling startups like Octave. We’re excited to see what they do next, and the innovations their team members bring to the mental health space. Ready to write your own hiring success story, like those we've achieved for 150+ companies since 2019? Let's get connected today . FAQ How long does it take to hire a staff engineer? What does a contingency recruiting firm charge? Contingency recruiting firms typically charge a fee based on a percentage of the placed candidate's first-year base salary. Recruiting from Scratch's contingency fee is competitive, ranging from 25-30% of the first year base salary, reflecting our commitment to quality placements and client satisfaction. What is the average salary for a software engineer at a startup? How many clients does Recruiting from Scratch work with? Recruiting from Scratch partners with 150+ companies, specializing in Engineering and AI/ML roles from seed through Series C. Since our founding in 2019 in New York City, we've focused on delivering top-tier talent to fast-growing technology companies. What is the success rate of Recruiting from Scratch? Our specialization and rigorous process ensure strong candidate fit and long retention, with all hires in our Octave case study remaining employed well over a year and a half after their start dates.
For the latest engineering compensation benchmarks, levels.fyi and The Pragmatic Engineer are the most cited sources.
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