How to Actually Get Hired
Who reads applications, which channel gets a reply, and what they screen for.
Don't make these mistakes
Don't frame this as adtech or another marketing SaaS tool — the founders' entire origin story is that SMB owners are exhausted by tools and agencies. Pitching enterprise-grade complexity or agency-style services misses the point. Also avoid treating SMB as a downmarket stepping stone; both founders chose this market deliberately after Square and Toast.
What gets their attention
Knowing the Tekmetric partnership (15,000+ auto repair shops) and the Moxie/Supercuts case study (65 salons, double-digit YoY sales growth) shows you understand the distribution model is the moat, not the AI. CEO Syed Ali's quote captures the thesis: 'Every owner I talked to said some version of the same thing: I need more customers, and I can't afford an agency.' An F-Prime investor's split of the two founders is useful outreach intel: Akhil is the zero-to-one product builder, Syed is the go-to-market outlier who scaled to thousands of businesses while still in stealth.
Why applying the normal way doesn't work
There's an ATS, but at Pie, referrals get priority. Your cold application competes with sourced candidates and internal recommendations.
Who to contact at Pie
What to show them
Shipped production voice AI: real-time speech pipelines, telephony integration (Twilio/LiveKit), latency optimization for natural conversation (their pipeline targets ~300ms per turn), and handling of booking/scheduling logic with real-world edge cases. A demo of a voice agent you built that handles interruptions and ambiguity gracefully beats any resume line. Awareness of AI-disclosure laws (CA AB 2905, Texas) is a differentiator almost no candidate will have.
A cold email that works at Pie
What Pie screens for
Knowing the Tekmetric partnership (15,000+ auto repair shops) and the Moxie/Supercuts case study (65 salons, double-digit YoY sales growth) shows you understand the distribution model is the moat, not the AI. CEO Syed Ali's quote captures the thesis: 'Every owner I talked to said some version of the same thing: I need more customers, and I can't afford an agency.' An F-Prime investor's split of the two founders is useful outreach intel: Akhil is the zero-to-one product builder, Syed is the go-to-market outlier who scaled to thousands of businesses while still in stealth.
A tailored CV beats a generic one. Use Pie's job description language to clear filters.
Mistakes that kill applications
Generic CVs stand out at a -person company — and not in a good way. Fastest path to rejection.
Don't open with what you want. Open with what Pie is dealing with right now — Two signals stand out, and what you'd do about it.
Applying and waiting = silence. Follow up at day five — it roughly doubles your odds of a reply.
Frequently asked questions
How do I apply to Pie?
Through the roles on our Pie jobs page, or directly to the hiring manager if you can reach them. At null people, direct outreach outperforms the form.
Does Pie respond to cold emails?
Not enough data yet on Pie's cold email response rates.
Who is the hiring manager at Pie?
At this size, hiring is usually run by the hiring manager.
How competitive is it to get hired at Pie?
Typical applicant count for AI roles ( people): 100-250 in two weeks. Apply fast.
Have your application sent for you
We find roles at companies like Pie within 48 hours of them appearing, build a CV tailored to the posting, and send it while you're still applicant number ten.
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