DMtheFounder
Free job board of early engineering roles that startup founders post on X and Hacker News, each one checked by a person before it goes live.
Free
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Bottom line
Free job board for early engineering roles at startups. It gathers the hiring posts founders write on X and Hacker News, has a person check each one, and lists it with a direct line to the founder. Founders can submit a role free; engineers apply by email or on X with no form in between. It launched in October 2026.
Stands out for: Every role is written by a founder or early employee, not a recruiter, and a person checks it before it goes live. Engineers skip the application form and write straight to the founder, and each listing shows the company's stage and recent funding.
Watch out for: It is very new, launched in October 2026, so it has no track record or outside reviews yet. It only covers engineering roles at early-stage startups, and much of the list is re-posted from public X and Hacker News threads rather than submitted directly.
Overview
DMtheFounder collects early engineering roles that startup founders post themselves on X and Hacker News. The team finds these posts daily, confirms each one exists and was written by someone at the company, and lists the role with what the company builds, where it hires and its funding stage.
Founders can also submit a role directly through a free form, either by pasting the link to their X post or by filling in the role, location, salary and equity. They are verified by a company email domain or a DM from their X account, and a person reviews every role before it goes live.
Engineers reach the founder directly by email or by replying on X. The founder's email is shown only to signed-in engineers who click to email, so it is not scraped from the page. Listings expire after 30 days unless the founder confirms they are still hiring.
The board can be filtered by stage from pre-seed to Series B+, by role type such as founding engineer, AI/ML, infra, backend, frontend, full-stack and mobile, by remote and by recency. A weekly email sends new roles every Monday. It held about 180 roles at 179 companies when checked on 2026-10-19.
Who it's for
Best for
- Founders hiring a first or founding engineer
- Pre-seed to Series A startups with no recruiting budget
- Founders who already post roles on X and want more reach
- Engineers who want to join a startup early
Not ideal for
- Non-engineering roles such as sales, ops or design
- Agencies and recruiters, who are excluded
- Larger companies hiring at volume
Key features
Founder-posted roles only. Roles come from posts founders and early employees write themselves on X and Hacker News. Recruiters and agencies are skipped.
Checked by a person. Each post is confirmed to exist and to be written by someone at the company, and a person reviews every role before it goes live. Founders who submit directly are verified by a company email domain or a DM from their X account.
Direct line to the founder. Each listing links to the original post and gives the founder's email or X post, with no application form in between.
Company context. Listings show what the company builds, where it hires, its funding stage and recent funding when public records show it.
Filters and weekly email. Filter by stage (pre-seed to Series B+), role type such as founding engineer, AI/ML or infra, remote and recency, or get new roles by email each Monday.
30-day expiry. Listings expire after 30 days unless the founder confirms they are still hiring.
Pricing
Listing a role is free for founders, and the site states this on its post-a-job page. Engineers browse and apply for free, and can sign up for a weekly email of new roles every Monday. No paid plans or promoted listings are published. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.
Checked 19 Oct 2026. Vendors change prices without notice.
Is DMtheFounder expensive?
DMtheFounder starts at Free. We list 73 job boards tools in total. 17 have a free tier, and those with a public price typically start around $250 a month.
- 26 quote-based
- 17 free tier
- 31 public price
Worked out automatically from every job boards listing, so it updates as the directory changes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free for founders to post and for engineers to use
- Every role is checked by a person and comes from the company itself
- Direct contact with the founder, no application form
Cons
- Launched in October 2026, no track record yet
- Engineering roles at early-stage startups only
- No applicant tracking or candidate management for founders
Integrations
X Hacker News
What's new at DMtheFounder
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