SmartHires launches out of the W15 batch of YC:
“Finding good tech talent is a challenge right now. The Obama administration poured $100 million into the new TechHire initiative this last month to fill half a million open IT jobs in the U.S. for that reason. Y Combinator-backed SmartHires (not to be confused with the recruiting site SmartHire or job search site Smart Hires) tackles that challenge with the creation of a startup referral network for strong job candidates.
The idea behind SmartHires is that it’s better to keep talent within investor portfolio networks. “Many startups end up rejecting great candidates but it’s better if they stay in the family,” SmartHires co-founder Stephan Kletzl told TechCrunch.
Kletzl and his co-founder and identical twin brother Christian Kletzl started SmartHires, along with David Pichsenmeister, after seeing how difficult it was to find top talent. “Smart people are getting passed on and added to the rejection list when there might be someone within the hiring manager’s network that needs them,” Stephan said.”