How Statics hired a Founding Engineer in 28 days with Paraform's tech-plus-human approach
When Johnny Wang took Statics, his early-stage AI startup, out of stealth mode he did what most founders do: relied on external recruiters to source top-tier talent. It’s how he recruited for highly specialized roles in the past.
But like many founders, he discovered that managing multiple recruiter relationships was becoming a full-time job itself. It wasn't scaling; every new role meant more time vetting recruiters, more repeated conversations, more scattered processes. So he was intrigued when fellow startup founders introduced Paraform.
Despite hearing about their success hiring on the platform, Johnny remained skeptical:
“To be honest, this isn’t the first time someone said ‘hey let me help you aggregate recruiters who can pitch you candidates.’ Typically, what ends up happening is there's really low engagement on the recruiter side and really low-quality candidates.
But after hearing enough people I respect say great things about Paraform, I decided to give it a shot.”
The results surprised him:
- Early engineering role filled in 23 days from intro to offer
- 90% reduction in founder time spent on recruiting
- 8x increase in quality candidates
- A recruiting process that scales, blending time-saving tech with human expertise for better results
The platform also reshaped how Johnny approaches hiring going forward. "The blended tech-plus-human approach stood out to me," he shared.
"Paraform's recruiters are high quality, and the candidates they submitted were the right fit. Paraform is now my first choice for whenever I open new roles."
Here’s how tech drove better human outcomes during Johnny’s search:
Putting recruiting on autopilot
“I love how the platform is designed to encourage efficient, effective information-sharing. I’m reminded to send an announcement update every week, and approve or reject candidates within a certain time frame.
Paraform sends nudges at the right time to make the recruiting process as painless as possible for everyone involved. It makes my job as the hiring manager ten times easier, and I can do it all in one place.
Everything about the platform seems purpose-built to help me recruit better. It incentivizes the right behaviors that make it easy for recruiters help me. And when recruiters are happy with their experience on the platform, it leads to improved candidate quality and engagement.”
More effective relationship-building
“With Paraform, I can engage with 30-40 recruiters at once, while giving each of them individualized attention, building meaningful relationships with everyone without repetitive work. Previously, I was investing so much of my time into building relationships with individual recruiters, explaining what I’m building and who I’m looking for again and again.
Now, I no longer have to pitch the company and role a hundred times on separate calls. I can quickly answer questions for, share information with, and give feedback to multiple recruiters at once. And I’m still able to develop strong relationships and collaborate closely with everyone on my search.”
Exceptional support from day 1
“Everyone on the team, from our dedicated account representative to the co-founders, was committed to curating the best possible experience. They told me how to effectively onboard recruiters and exactly what to provide to get the role set up for success.
The recruiters themselves were also incredibly responsive. Whenever candidates seemed a little stuck (like when they didn't respond to emails or had to reschedule interviews), Paraform recruiters supported me through the process by connecting directly with candidates.
By the the offer stage, recruiters knew what other offers candidates were considering and proactively communicated what it could take to close them.”
Features that help recruiters help you
“Being able to set up screening questions in Paraform was incredibly valuable for calibration. I could easily read the answers for different candidates in one place to calibrate both candidates and recruiters. It helped me understand which recruiters are submitting candidates who satisfy not only the hard requirements, but also people who match our energy and company culture.
I initially had a hard time articulating what a ‘culture or vibe match’ looks like to recruiters. But by following how I approve and reject candidates over time, recruiters were able to understand these qualities and summit candidates who consistently met these criteria.
The platform also helped us set clear expectations of the interview process and structure early on, so candidates felt more prepared and supported. It was a great experience for everyone involved.”
From platform skeptic to evangelist
For founders, time is the scarcest resource. Johnny thinks other startup founders who haven’t built in-house recruiting teams should use Paraform to conserve it. His calculation is straightforward:
“The monthly charge of listing a role is relatively low on Paraform. The time investment to get a role set up successfully from your end is maybe half a day to a day. But if it works out, it’s like a 10x+ time saver compared to finding and pitching many top recruiters 1:1, and therefore also a cost saver.”
The ROI math is compelling.
“From a time perspective, Paraform seems like an investment you’d be crazy not to make.”
Start your search today.
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