Superposition vs. Retained Recruiters
Same specificity. A fraction of the cost. Ten times faster.
Retained search is built for an era that's ending
- Retained recruiters.
- LinkedIn Recruiter seats.
- Keyword-matched resumes.
- Templated InMails.
Retained executive search firms charge $30K–$60K+ upfront and take 4-6 months to deliver a shortlist. The fee is paid regardless of outcome. The shortlist is usually 3-5 candidates sourced through warm networks.
At an early-stage startup, you can't pay $50K upfront for a search that might not close. And you can't wait six months for a first engineering leader.
The retained-search model was designed around the idea that humans had a network advantage. In 2026, an AI agent reading the open web has more reach than any recruiter's personal rolodex.
How Superposition is different
No upfront retainer
$500/agent/month operational + success fee on hire. Pay for outcomes, not for effort.
Weeks, not months
ESAI: signed CTO offer in 8 weeks. Plastic Labs: signed Platform Engineer in 5 weeks.
Broader, deeper sourcing
Retained recruiters source through their network. Our agent reads the open web. Thousands of candidates, every time.
Radical transparency
You see the pipeline, the candidates considered, the outreach sent. Retained search is a black box. We aren't.
Questions.
Answered.
Executive roles that turn on personal relationships, and industries where a specific recruiter has spent a decade building trust. That network is worth paying for.
On a $180,000 base, a 25 percent retained fee on total compensation is materially more than 15 percent of base plus a few months of agent fees. The gap widens on senior roles with large bonuses.
You keep it, because it is yours. The agent surfaces candidates with written reasoning; the judgement about who to hire was always going to be your call.
It stays in your account. When a retained search ends, the rejected profiles and the reasoning leave with the firm.
A Paraform alternative for startups
If you like the idea but not the handoff, this is the other shape of the same job.
A Dover alternative for startups
If the blocker is that nobody has time to drive the tool, the tool is not the answer.
Hire a Platform Engineer
The infrastructure hire who makes everyone else faster.
Retained-search specificity, software pricing.
Get the hire in weeks, not months, and keep the $30K retainer.