Startup Recruitment: Uthana’s experience with Wellfound’s wellfound:ai Autopilot

Introducing Wellfound's wellfound:ai Autopilot x Uthana.

wellfound:ai Autopilot x Uthana

The Startup's Mission

Uthana is dedicated to the field of generative AI for 3D animation. With a focus on building models that assist game developers in creating animations from scratch without the need for motion capture or extensive editing, CEO and Founder Viren Tellis, has a clear vision. This case study explores how Uthana leveraged wellfound:ai Autopilot, an innovative recruitment platform, to achieve high-quality hiring results at rapid speed for Uthana’s growing team.

Facing the Hiring Dilemma

Viren shared the challenges he faced when hiring as the CEO of Uthana. The goal was to hire two more ML engineers and one back-end engineer, two niche roles within engineering. Hiring can take a substantial amount of time and effort - while continuing the responsibilities as the CEO. The need for top-tier talent fast was evident, and the founder was determined to find the right individuals to help his company thrive.

Viren used standard hiring practices including reaching out to his network and leveraging LinkedIn to search for back-end engineers and ML engineers but it was clear he was not getting the volume of candidates he was aiming for. Additionally, in the current hiring market, many engineers are happy in their current role or are looking for a stable role at a larger company.

Discovering wellfound:ai Autopilot

After having mixed results through traditional hiring methods, Viren turned to RecruiterCloud to help with sourcing and saw results within a couple weeks.

I was saying yes to 80% [of candidates from RecruiterCloud]. That gave me enough first meetings that I could find people that I wanted to continue the conversation with.

As the volume increased, Viren was accepting a significant portion of the candidates, leading to more first meetings and opportunities to continue valuable conversations.

Speed to Hire

One of the top benefits Uthana received from working with wellfound:ai Autopilot was speed to hire.

“I didn't have to spend the time trying to do the sourcing myself. Having more flow [of candidates] allowed us confidence in knowing the hire was right.”

In a hiring market where there is less talent, oftentimes you’ll want to hire someone you may not be 100% confident in because there isn’t a steady flow of candidate options or interest from potential job applicants. With wellfound:ai Autopilot, Uthana was able to make more confident decisions in moving candidates onto the next phase of the interview.

You want to feel at that moment in the first conversation ‘this person would crush this job’. Sourcing with wellfound:ai Autopilot helped me get to that point where I was getting enough great candidates that I could feel confident about my recruiting process.

Stay on Track with Hiring

In this case study, Viren is running the company while simultaneously trying to make new hires. Like many CEOs, he juggles a million things on his plate at once. With wellfound:ai Autopilot's reminders and check-ins with your sourcing lead, Viren was able to stay on track with hiring. On the candidate side, applicants didn’t get ghosted in the process and knew the status of their application every step of the way. Viren shares, “If I didn't respond on something, my sourcer would follow-up with me the same day or early the next morning! I thought it was very helpful.”

Get started with wellfound:ai Autopilot

In reflecting on his experience, Viren offers strategic recommendations for talent sourcing, particularly emphasizing their suitability in situations where the required skills are highly specialized or specific, such as in the search for a 'full stack engineer'.

Uthana’s experience with wellfound:ai Autopilot showcases how startups can overcome the challenges of limited resources and tight budgets to build a high-performing team. wellfound:ai Autopilot not only provided cost savings but also offered an agile and efficient hiring process that supported Uthana's rapid growth. With wellfound:ai Autopilot as a trusted partner.

Learn more about wellfound:ai Autopilot here.