re-factor
Re-factor is a private, bootstrapped recruiting firm that places senior-to-C-level engineers and product talent at US early-stage technology companies from Seed through Series G, using a referral-led, candidate-first model anchored by founder Matt Hoffman.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What re-factor does
Re-factor, Inc. is a private US-based engineering recruiting firm operating as Re-factor from Chicago, Madison, and remote. Founded in 2017 by Matt Hoffman as Founding Partner, the firm sells outsourced recruiting services to early-stage technology companies, covering placements from Seed through Series G. Its two-offering structure combines a Candidate Experience service—vetting opportunities, coaching candidates through interview timelines, providing offer-decision tools, and negotiating offers—with a Client Experience service delivering compensation benchmarking, hiring strategy, sourcing, initial screening, and onboarding support to hiring partners. Verticals covered include Software Engineering, Product, Product Marketing, Demand Gen, and SaaS Sales, with placements spanning senior to principal to C-level roles.
The business operates on a professional-services, placement-fee model under non-public quote-based pricing; the firm does not disclose contract terms or unit economics. Go-to-market is community-led: 60-70% of placements originate from referrals within what the firm describes as a decades-in-development network, supplemented by content marketing via blog.re-factor.co and SEO on its website. Customer logos include Jackbox Games, One Design Company, divvyDOSE, Avant, Jellyvision, Home Chef, and SpotHero, spanning startups and mid-market firms across fintech, healthcare, gaming, food and beverage, and parking technology.
The firm is founder-owned and bootstrapped with no disclosed institutional funding, parent company, or subsidiary structure. Headcount is reported as 1-10 employees and the firm operates remotely with physical presence in Chicago, IL and Madison, WI. Lifetime operating scale is approximately 300 engineers placed, supported by 30+ years of cumulative operating experience on the founding team. No AI/ML capabilities, patents, certifications, partnerships, or M&A activity are reported in the source material.
re-factor firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- re-factor
- Legal name
- Re-factor, Inc.
- Website
- https://re-factor.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Re-factor is a private, bootstrapped recruiting firm that places senior-to-C-level engineers and product talent at US early-stage technology companies from Seed through Series G, using a referral-led, candidate-first model anchored by founder Matt Hoffman.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
re-factor industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Engineering Recruiting Services
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Executive Search Services (561312), Employment Services (5613)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Campus / Early Careers RPO (BPACABAJ)
Keywords
Where re-factor is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
re-factor business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Engineering Recruiting Services: Placement-based recruiting services for technology companies. The firm places candidates in software engineering, product, product marketing, demand gen, and SaaS sales roles. Revenue is generated through successful placements, with the firm acting as an outsourced recruiting team for early-stage companies.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom recruiting services for early-stage tech companies |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
re-factor product offering
Product offeringCore offering
re-factor is an engineering recruiting firm that places senior to principal to C-level candidates into software engineering, product, product marketing, demand gen, and SaaS sales roles at early-stage technology companies. The firm offers a dual service: Candidate Experience Services that vet and coach candidates through interview timelines and offer negotiations, and Client Experience Services that provide sourcing, screening, and onboarding support to hiring partners.
Product overview
Re-factor is a recruiting firm offering a unified service for engineering hiring, encompassing two integrated components: Candidate Experience Services (which treats candidates as the client, providing vetting, coaching, and negotiation support) and Client Experience Services (which provides benchmarking, sourcing, screening, and hiring strategy support to tech companies). The company focuses on placing senior to principal to C-level candidates across Software Engineering, Product, Product Marketing, Demand Gen, and SaaS Sales verticals.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Candidate Experience Services
Quantifiable outcome
- 60-70% of placements are referrals year over year
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use re-factor
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
re-factor technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
re-factor partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights3 records
re-factor competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Honeypot: A tech talent platform focused on permanent placement of software engineers and tech professionals. Operates a similar curated, candidate-centric model and competes for the same engineering placement demand that re-factor serves.
- Toptal: A global marketplace that connects companies with pre-vetted freelance and full-time software engineers, product managers, and designers. Overlaps with re-factor in vetting and matching senior engineering talent, though Toptal is far larger and tech-platform-led.
- Riviera Partners: A boutique executive search firm specializing in engineering, product, and design leadership for venture-backed and public technology companies. Directly comparable in the senior-to-C-level engineering and product placement segment re-factor targets.
- Hired: A tech recruiting marketplace that matches software engineers, product managers, and data talent with companies. Comparable to re-factor in targeting the same candidate pool and offering an outsourced sourcing/screening function for employers.
- Underdog.io: A curated marketplace that connects early-stage and growth-stage tech companies with vetted engineering, product, and design candidates. Closely comparable to re-factor in serving Seed-to-Series G startups with a curated, candidate-friendly model.
Emerging players
- Karat: Provides technical interviewing infrastructure and recruiting support for engineering hiring. Adjacent to re-factor's outsourced recruiting function, particularly on the screening and assessment side of engineering hiring.
Broad incumbents
- Heidrick & Struggles: A global executive search firm with a dedicated technology and product practice placing senior engineering, product, and CTO-level leaders. Comparable to re-factor in the C-level engineering/product search segment, though operating at much larger scale and global reach.
- Insight Global: A large staffing and recruiting firm with a strong technology practice serving enterprise and growth-stage clients. Overlaps with re-factor in providing outsourced recruiting and placement services to companies hiring engineering and product talent.
- Robert Half: A large, publicly traded staffing and recruiting firm with a dedicated technology practice placing software engineers, developers, and IT professionals. A broad incumbent competing in the same engineering placement category as re-factor, but at significantly larger scale and breadth.
- TEKsystems: A large IT and engineering staffing provider that places software developers, infrastructure, and product professionals. A broad incumbent in the same engineering recruiting category that re-factor serves.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
re-factor financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
re-factor leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
re-factor funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
re-factor M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about re-factor
What does re-factor do?
re-factor is an engineering recruiting firm that places senior to principal to C-level candidates into software engineering, product, product marketing, demand gen, and SaaS sales roles at early-stage technology companies. The firm offers a dual service: Candidate Experience Services that vet and coach candidates through interview timelines and offer negotiations, and Client Experience Services that provide sourcing, screening, and onboarding support to hiring partners.
Is re-factor a public or private company?
re-factor is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was re-factor founded?
re-factor was founded in 2017. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is re-factor based?
re-factor is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does re-factor make money?
One revenue line is on record: engineering Recruiting Services.
Who are re-factor's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Honeypot, Toptal, Riviera Partners, Hired and Underdog.io. Karat is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Heidrick & Struggles, Insight Global, Robert Half and TEKsystems.
Does re-factor have an API?
No public API is recorded for re-factor.
What industry is re-factor in?
re-factor's product category is Engineering Recruiting Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACABAJ, Campus / Early Careers RPO. Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.