Field notes · AI startup careers

Career Hacks

Data-driven insights from analyzing AI startups, hiring patterns, roles, and market signals. Research you can use before you apply.

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Latest Guides

01

We Rescued Salary Data From 22,000 Startup Job Postings. The 'Series D Trap' Was An Averaging Artifact.

Most public datasets disclose comp for fewer than 1% of postings. We extracted base-pay ranges from 22,000 JD bodies and crossed them with funding stage, headcount, and industry. Three of our prior findings broke under the new evidence.

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02

We Analyzed 35,000 AI Startup Job Listings. Only 1.3% Are Entry-Level.

We analyzed 35,450 AI startup job listings — only 1.3% are entry-level. Here's where those 458 jobs are by department and funding stage, and what early-career candidates should actually do about it.

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03

47% of AI Startup Jobs Aren't Engineering Roles. Here's the Data.

Nearly half of all AI startup job listings are outside engineering departments. We analyzed 35,450 jobs across 1,542 AI startups to show exactly which non-engineering roles are hiring, how the numbers break down by company stage, and what that means for your career.

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04

The AI Startup Tech Stack Map 2026: What Technologies Do 1,500 AI Companies Actually Hire For?

We scanned job titles and company profiles from 1,500+ AI startups on fastaijobs.com, then cross-referenced with industry data. Here's the real tech stack behind the AI boom.

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05

AI's Middle Layer Is Collapsing: Why Unicorns Are Buying What Big Tech Won't

OpenAI made 18 acquisitions since 2023. Databricks, Anthropic, Perplexity followed. The AI middle layer — dev tools, infra, vertical SaaS — is being absorbed.

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06

The Acqui-Hire Map: How Big Tech Is Swallowing AI Startups Without Acquiring Them

Between 2024-2026, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta spent $20B+ hiring away AI startup teams through licensing deals that bypass antitrust review. We mapped every deal and its aftermath.

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07

When a $2 Billion Seed Round Is Normal: Real Funding Data from 1,190 Startups

We verified funding data for 1,190 startups and found that stage labels have become meaningless. $2B seeds, $900M Series A rounds, and 40% of early-stage funding going to $100M+ deals.

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08

$442 Billion Poured Into AI, But 67% Went to Just 10 Companies

We analyzed funding data from 1,044 AI startups and found a concentration so extreme it makes global wealth inequality look tame. Here's what it means for your career.

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09

46.5% of AI Startup Jobs Don't Require Writing Code

We analyzed 29,215 open roles across 1,044 AI startups. Nearly half aren't engineering positions. Here's the data on the most underrated career tracks in AI.

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