I read the public footprint, grade the candidate, and tell you what the resume won't.
Both start free, both come back within 24 hours. Public-source research, AI-accelerated, human-graded judgment. Currently focused on AI/ML and AI-infra hires for seed–Series B startups.
Free Scout
Send me a candidate you're actually working — I'll scout them and send back a Scout's Preview within 24 hours:
I take a limited number of free scouts each week — first come, first scouted. Public sources only. Your request stays confidential; the candidate is never contacted.
The Gap
You've sourced them. You've screened them. They're through the initial rounds and an offer is on the table — or about to be. A $300k hire is about to happen, or not. The gap isn't in finding candidates. It's in actually understanding them.
That's the research your team doesn't have time for. I do it.
Think of me as the scout behind your roster.
What You Get
Full scouting report with ratings, career timeline, network map, and recruiter notes. Everything you need to approach the right person the right way.
A 1-page candidate pre-screen with key signals, red flags, and a go/no-go recommendation. Perfect for thinning a pipeline fast.
10-20 profiled candidates for a specific role, each with recruitability scores. Your shortlist, pre-researched.
The Scouting Card
Plus-plus systems instincts with research credentials to match. Floor is a Staff IC at any frontier AI lab — already in band. Ceiling is founding engineer at the next major inference startup. Tenure pattern says they'll move; the question is whether for the right founder. Recruit them now while comp bands undervalue compiler-savvy serving engineers.
Full interactive reports include radar charts, career timelines, combine measurables, projection (floor / ceiling / bust), and risk-factor callouts.
The Verdict
Five recommendations, plus an optional profile tag. No hedging, no committee-speak — this is what a scout would say if you cornered them at a bar.
Top of board. Frontier-caliber. Drop everything to land them.
High conviction. Pursue actively, run the warm-path play first.
Solid hire. Standard recruiting effort. No surprises.
Depends on role, stage, comp, or fit. Pursue with eyes open.
Not a fit for this brief. Save the cycles.
Profile tags layer on top: Sleeper (undervalued), Boom-or-Bust, High Floor, Steady, Flight Risk.
How It Works
Someone already in your pipeline — a final-round candidate, an exec search shortlist, a name you're about to make an offer to.
Research across 20+ public sources. Code contributions, publications, patents, network connections, and more.
A polished candidate scouting report with ratings, analysis, and a clear recruiting angle.
When To Use This
Know everything before the offer. No surprises after the handshake.
$50k+ fees deserve real due diligence. Go into the close with receipts.
When you need an edge on comp, culture fit, and warm paths to the yes.
What You Get
1-page candidate summary: key signals, red flags, and a verdict. For pre-screening before a first call.
Request a briefComplete scouting report: verdict, scout's take, ratings, radar chart, career timeline, combine measurables, projection, risk factors, network map, recruiter notes. The full picture before an offer.
Request a dossier10–20 candidates profiled and ranked for a specific role. Network graph, recruitability scores, prioritized shortlist with verdicts. Bespoke scope — let's talk.
Discuss a mapFor Hiring Teams — The Draft Board
Remote postings pull hundreds of applications in days now — and a growing share are AI-written, padded, or outright fake. Screening software can't save you, because it's grading documents a machine wrote. I don't grade documents. I verify the people behind them — then hand you a ranked board, the way a GM gets one before draft night.
The whole pool, screened against your hard requirements. Stack, seniority, timezone, salary alignment. The obvious mismatches are out before a human ever needs to look.
Every surviving claim checked against the public record. GitHub, publications, employment history — the footprint a real career leaves. Fabricated and AI-padded resumes get cut here. This is the pass no screening tool does.
Your board, in order. A Quick Brief on each of the top 10 — key signals, red flags, verdict. You know exactly who to call first and why.
Complete scouting reports on the finalists. Ratings, career timeline, projection, risk factors, recruiter notes — everything you saw above, on the people you're about to interview.
Send applicants as an export from your ATS — any format your system produces works. Your files stay yours: used for this engagement only, never retained, never used to build a candidate pool, deleted after delivery. Applicants are never contacted during research. And every ranking is reviewed by me personally — the board informs your hiring decisions; it doesn't automate them.
Free Pool Scan
Before you buy the board, get the diagnosis. Send your applicant export and I'll run the first two passes on the house — you get back a Pool Report Card within 24 hours:
One pool per week — first come, first scanned. You'll get a reply with a secure way to send your export — Greenhouse, Lever, Workable, or just a folder of resumes; whatever your ATS produces works. Files are deleted after the scan; applicants are never contacted.
Sample
A full Staff ML Systems Engineer scouting report — verdict, scout's take, scouting card, combine measurables, floor / ceiling / bust projection, career timeline, risk factors, network, and recruiter notes. Composite profile, real format.
View Sample ReportEverything Else
Talent Maps, multiple candidates, an ongoing arrangement, or just a question — drop it here and I'll get back to you, usually within the same business day.
VettLab is built and run by Pedro Garduno — a software engineer who's sat through dozens of technical interviews. Every report is researched, graded, and written personally.