Applications for our Winter 2026 PearX cohort just opened. PearX is our exclusive, small batch accelerator program for pre-seed companies. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing more about the unique benefits of PearX. Today’s featured post comes from Nate, PearX’s dedicated recruiter.
Being a founder often feels like trying to figure out an endless game of prioritization: how can you build and find customers and hire the right people and fundraise and still get the minimum number of hours of sleep needed in a day? After years of investing at the earliest stages, we knew we could build something that helped.
That is why we decided to build PearX: to support founders through all the parts of company building. At Pear, we are experienced builders that can support founders in whatever area they need most: GTM, fundraising, product/market fit, community, and even office space.
One of the unique offerings we have is that we help founders hire their first employees starting from day 0. That way, founders can spend less time on recruiting and more time on building.
What we offer
Before joining Pear, I spent fifteen years in talent acquisition at places like Uber and Meta. In those roles, I recruited AI and machine learning engineers before “AI” became the hottest acronym in Silicon Valley. The teams I hired went on to build surge pricing at Uber and Llama at Meta. Like the rest of the team at Pear, I was an operator before I worked in venture and I bring that to my relationship with our PearX founders.
In working with hundreds of founders, we realized that one of the first thing that founders need to get right is hiring their initial team. So as part of PearX, we offer our earliest stage founders:
- One-on-one support from a dedicated recruiting partner: I’m a core member of the PearX team and am a dedicated resource for PearX founders. What this means is that I’m focused on PearX founders only, so my expertise is focused on helping companies grow at the pre-seed stage.
- A personalized roadmap to success: I work hand-in-hand with founders to create a customized plan to navigate all the stages of hiring. From identifying the needs of the team to building candidate pipelines to extending and closing offers, I’m here as a partner for our founders through the whole thing.
- Actual hires: Over the last two PearX cohorts, we hired an average of two people per company. We love being in the trenches from day 0. We hope to help our founders build enduring teams.
How to apply to PearX
Hiring well in the early days is critical to a company’s success. That’s why we’re committed to helping our founders find the best talent, not just by introducing them to the right people, but by helping them do the hard work.
If you’re interested in building with us, we’re looking for the next generation of category-defining companies for PearX Winter ‘26. You can apply now at pear.vc/pearx-application.