Why
- We believe that life is too short to work at a boring company.
- We believe that engineers, designers and product managers should be able to find all the cool startups that are out there.
- We believe that engineers, designers and product managers should be able to control which ones they meet.
How
- We accept only the best people and talk personally with each one of them.
- We accept only the best startups and talk personally with each one of them.
- You control your info and which startups can see it.
- We personally introduce you to only to the startups you are interested in.
- We host VIP member events for you to meet other VIP’s like you.
For VIP’s
We believe that meeting cool startups should be easy, friendly and fun. Brendan McManus personally talks with every engineer, designer, and product manager that joins StartupDigest VIP.
Once accepted we will send you your VIP credentials and we’ll walk you through each of the VIP startups and you’ll be able to tell us which ones you are interested in and which ones you aren’t. If one of the startups you’re interested in is interested in you too, Chris McCann will personally introduce you via email to the person who makes the hiring decisions there – no dealing with nameless email addresses, resumes, or recruiting bs.
We also believe that VIP’s should be able to meet and learn from each other in person. Every other month we throw a private event for all our current and alumni VIP members to meet each other and have fun together.
What Brendan looks for in a VIP’s is remarkable experience building or designing products and clear signs that your work in tech is much more than just a job to you through side projects and building useful things for fun.
Tip: People referred by current or alumni VIP’s will be looked at first.
For VIP Companies
We believe it should be easy and fun for the best startups to meet the best engineers, designers, and product managers (VIP’s) who are excited about what your company is creating.
To start Chris McCann personally screens every startup that applies to StartupDigest VIP. He looks for companies that are driven by a higher purpose, led by remarkable entrepreneurs, backed by world class investors and supported by a growing user base. We want companies with substance – not another Groupon clone.
Tip: Companies referred by current VIP companies or their investors will be looked at first.
If your startup is accepted, we will send your VIP credentials to you and you will get notifications of VIP’s who are specifically interested in your company. You will then be able to select which VIP’s you are interested in meeting. If there is mutual interest we’ll personally introduce the two of you and get out of the way after that.
We charge 20% of first year’s salary only when you directly hire a VIP – no charge for joining or taking intros. This fee goes into throwing VIP events and finding more great people to join your company.
Startups apply here to meet VIP’s
FAQ:
How is this different from other networks?
VIP is different because we’re highly selective on both sides, you’re in control of which startups you meet, we’re transparent (all the names and info of the companies are completely open), and we’ve created a community to allow current and alumni VIP’s to meet each other in person.
How many people and startups are involved?
Over 6,000 VIP’s and 500 companies have applied. So far we’ve accepted 200 VIP’s and 50 companies which gives us a 3% and 10% acceptance rate, respectively.
Can I find an internship with a startup through the VIP?
Yes.
Have VIP’s joined startups through this?
VIP’s have successfully joined meaningful startups like TaskRabbit, TinyCo, Addepar, Sencha, Chartbeat, Stackmob, Chirpme, Locbox, Thumbtack, and Causes.
Do you accept international startups or VIP’s?
Yes.
Does it cost VIP’s anything to use this?
No. For VIP’s it’s completely free, just like it should be. For companies, you only pay if you successfully hire a VIP.
Is there a time constraint on using the VIP
No.
Do you do special VIP events?
Yes! We organize fun events for our current and alumni VIP’s. In February we took the current VIP group go-kart racing. We’ll have more on this for you after you’re accepted :)
