HIRE STARTUP ENGINEERS

Founders Don't Need 10 Engineers.
They Need 2 Good Ones.

RemoteEngine connects pre-seed to Series A founders with generalist, full-stack builders who've shipped MVPs before — and want to ship them again. Founder-friendly pricing, equity-friendly contracts, no enterprise procurement nonsense. The engineer who builds your v1 with you.

Find Your First Engineer

How it Works

5 daysTo First Commit

$3.5K/moStarting Rate

EquityFriendly Contracts

0Setup Fees

🚀

Founder Plan · Seed Built for the first 18 months

Best value

Solo Builder 1 full-stack engineer

$3.5K / month

Two-Up 2 full-stack engineers

The Hire You Actually Need at Pre-Seed.

A generalist who can build a full-stack MVP in 6 weeks, ship to production, talk to customers, debug a webhook on a Sunday, and explain to your investors how the architecture scales. Not a specialist who needs three tickets to add a button.

Our Startup Engineer pool is curated specifically for founders — engineers who've shipped at startups before, are comfortable ambiguity, and actually want to work on a problem from zero to product-market fit. Founder-friendly contracts, flexible commitment, and pricing that fits a $2M seed round.

Generalists who own product end-to-end, not narrow specialists
Pre-vetted for startup pace, ambiguity tolerance, and ownership
Month-to-month commitment — match your burn, not a procurement cycle

Startup founders working in a co-working space

FOUNDER PLANS

Pricing That Fits a Seed Round.

Flat monthly. No setup fees. No procurement cycle. Month-to-month after a 60-day pilot.

Solo Builder

One full-stack engineer, 40 hrs/week

Generalist who can ship a full-stack MVP solo
EOR-backed, equipment included, 90-day replacement
Equity-friendly contract template (you grant from your pool)
Pause for 30 days at any point at no cost

From $3,500/mo · Best for pre-seed solo founders

Two-Up

Two full-stack engineers, paired

Two engineers who've worked together before — instant velocity
Code review built in, no single point of failure
One designer add-on available at $1.8K/mo
Founder-direct slack and weekly office hours with a CSM

From $6,400/mo · Best for seed-stage MVP build

Squad

Mini cross-functional team

1 tech lead + 2 engineers + 1 product designer
Full sprint cadence — discovery, design, build, ship
Real product surface ownership for 12+ weeks
Convert to a Pod or to FTEs at any point, no fee

From $11,200/mo · Best for Series A scale-up

WHAT'S BUNDLED IN

Built for Founders. Priced for Reality.

Startup-Bred Engineers

Pre-screened for startup pace, ambiguity tolerance, and ownership. Most have shipped a YC, seed, or Series A MVP.

Equity-Friendly Contracts

Standard contracts work with your option pool — vest from your cap table directly, with our EOR as employment record.

No Procurement Theatre

One-page contract. Sign with DocuSign. Start within a week. No SOWs, no MSAs, no legal review marathons.

Pause & Resume

Hit a fundraise crunch? Pause your engineer for up to 60 days at no cost. Resume when the wire lands.

Convert to FTE Anytime

Hit your seed extension and want them on your cap table? Convert with zero fee — keep the engineer, keep the team.

Founder-Direct Support

No ticket queue. Slack the founder of RemoteEngine directly during your first 90 days. Yes, really.

WHO IT'S FOR

The Startups We Build For.

🌱

Pre-Seed Solo Founder

Non-technical founder needs a CTO-quality builder for an MVP. We pair you with a senior generalist who can ship v1 in 6–8 weeks.

🪴

Two Founders, One Engineer

You have a co-founder but not engineering depth. Augment the founding team with a senior who treats your problem as theirs.

📈

Seed-Stage Velocity

You've raised. Hiring is hard. Bridge the next 6 months with 2–3 engineers shipping shoulder-to-shoulder with your team.

🤝

YC / Accelerator Companies

Demo day in 12 weeks. We staff for that exact shape — generalists who can ship, demo, and iterate fast.

🧪

Validation Sprint

Test an idea before raising. Engineer for 60 days, get a prototype, and decide if it's worth a seed round.

🛠️

Series A Scale-Up

Roadmap is bigger than your team. Add a 4-person Squad that owns a workstream while you hire FTEs in parallel.

HOW IT WORKS

From "Yes" to First Commit in 5 Days.

15-Min Founder Call

What you're building, where you are (pre-seed, seed, A), and what shape of help you need. No deck. Just talk.

Matched in 48 Hours

2–3 startup-bred engineers with prior MVP work to show, founder fit scores, and availability dates.

One-Hour Working Session

Skip the classic interview. Spend an hour pair-coding or whiteboarding with your top pick. Decide afterward.

Build Starts in 5 Days

One-page contract, equipment shipped, accounts created, first commit by Friday. No three-week onboarding.

WHY REMOTEENGINE FOR STARTUPS

Why Founders Pick Us Over Marketplaces.

5 days

To first commit

Marketplaces send résumés; we deliver matched engineers building by Friday.

Setup & conversion fees

No platform fees, no setup costs, no 25% conversion if you hire them later.

100%

Startup-bred talent

Every engineer in this pool has shipped MVPs before — not enterprise specialists pretending.

60 days

Free pause when you need it

Hit a runway crunch? Pause without canceling. Resume when the next wire lands.

FAQ'S

Common Founder Questions

Book a Founder Call →

Can the engineer get equity in my startup?

Yes. Our standard EOR contract supports option grants from your cap table. The engineer is employed via our EOR (so you don't need a local entity) but vests from your option pool directly. Most founders grant 0.2–1% over 4 years.

What if I run out of runway?

Pause for up to 60 days at no cost. Resume when the next round lands. Or end the engagement with 14 days' notice — no early-termination penalty.

How is this different from a freelancer marketplace?

Marketplaces give you résumés and walk away. We pre-vet for startup fit, run a structured working session as the interview, handle EOR/payroll/equipment, and own quality with a 90-day replacement guarantee.

Can I convert the engineer to a full-time hire later?

Anytime. Zero conversion fee. We move them onto your entity (or keep them on EOR if they're in another country). They stay on the cap table either way.

How much does it actually cost?

Solo Builder from $3.5K/mo. Two-Up from $6.4K/mo. Squad from $11.2K/mo. Everything bundled — engineer, EOR, equipment, replacement, CSM. No hidden setup, conversion, or per-payment fees.

Founders Don't Need 10 Engineers.They Need 2 Good Ones.