# Mirror Placement

> Mirror Placement is a Boston recruiting firm that places senior software engineers and engineering leaders with startups and growth companies, through twenty-five years of personal relationships rather than job boards or automated outreach.

Engineers answer when Brian texts. Founded 2006, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Serves United States, remote and on-site, with the deepest roots in Boston and New England. Technical recruiting and engineering search: Senior software engineers, staff and principal engineers, and engineering leaders (tech leads, managers, directors, VPs, CTOs) for startups and growth-stage companies.

## Key facts

- Founded: 2006
- Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Founder: Brian Mariani (Founder). Brian founded Mirror Placement in 2006 and has personally placed engineers ever since. He came out of a software agency, not a staffing firm, and still reads every message sent through the site. He hosted The Ruby on Rails Podcast for years and has been a guest on many other podcasts.
- Partner: Jonathan Soo Hoo (Partner). Jonathan does the research and first outreach on many searches. A former neuroscience major, he is known for messages written specifically for the person receiving them.
- Parent company: Atlantis Technology Corporation (founded 2001, https://www.atlantistech.com). Mirror Placement grew out of Atlantis Technology, a custom software development agency, in 2006. Its founder has been inside engineering teams since 2001.
- Terms: Pay for performance: a contingency fee, earned only when the hire starts. No retainer, no exclusivity. Net 10 from the start date; paying on time is what keeps the guarantee in force. Guarantee: 100 days, pro-rated at one percent per day, so there is no hard decision cliff at the end of the period. Mirror pioneered the 100-day no-cliff guarantee, the first of its kind in the industry. Nothing is submitted to a company without the engineer's consent, and every candidate knows which company it is before agreeing to an introduction. Fee percentage: Discussed in a fifteen-minute conversation, not published.
- First warm introductions: within about 72 hours. Offers that stuck: about 80 percent. Shortlist: a handful of vetted people, typically three to five, not a stack.
- Roles placed: Senior Software Engineer, Staff and Principal Engineer, Full-stack Engineer, Backend and Systems Engineer, Frontend Engineer, Platform, DevOps and SRE, Data and ML Infrastructure Engineer, AI / ML Engineer, Tech Lead and Engineering Manager, Director and VP of Engineering, CTO
- Technologies: Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Node.js, Go, Java, Rust, Elixir, Ruby on Rails, Vue, Angular, PostgreSQL, AWS, GCP, Kubernetes, Docker, GraphQL, ML infrastructure, LLM and AI application engineering
- Engineering teams hired for: Coinbase, Venmo, Zillow, MasterClass, Labcorp, Blue Apron, Doximity, Handshake, YNAB, Splitwise, Kajabi, UserTesting, Litmus, Guru, Kolide, DataGrail, Close, Mutiny, Bold Penguin, Tripleseat, Man Crates
- Not a fit for: Junior hires, where job boards do fine. Volume hiring, where a larger firm fits better. Searches where the lowest fee is the only criterion.
- Contact: brian@mirrorplacement.com, +1-978-808-1859, book 15 minutes at https://calendar.app.google/YkcZY4WTP1pnauap9

## How it works

1. Tell Brian what you actually need: what the person does on day one, what the team is like, what's keeping you up at night. Not the formal job description.
2. Brian already knows someone. Most of the engineers he reaches aren't job hunting; they answer because they know him, and he tells them your story.
3. Within about 72 hours you meet a small group of real people he has personally vetted, each with a custom-written vignette and his honest take. Not a stack of résumés.

## What makes Mirror different

- The founder came out of a software agency and has spent twenty-five years inside engineering teams, so candidates are vetted by an engineer.
- The same person has run every search since 2006. Clients and engineers deal with Brian, not a platform or an outreach sequence.
- Engineers get the company name, the salary range and the real details in the first message, and nothing is sent anywhere without their consent.
- Searches start from people Brian already knows, not from job boards, résumé databases or AI-generated outreach.
- A small, vetted shortlist with a written vignette per person, within about 72 hours.
- Pay-for-performance terms with no cliff: contingency, the industry's first 100-day guarantee that pro-rates daily, fee due net 10.

## Pages

- [Brian’s Story — How I discovered the best job in the world](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/about): Brian Mariani founded Mirror in 2006 after listening to developers at his software agency describe what recruiters were doing to them. Radical transparency and long-term relationships, since.
- [Brand Facts — Mirror Placement at a glance](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/brand-facts): The facts about Mirror Placement in one place: founded 2006 in Boston, founder Brian Mariani, partner Jonathan Soo Hoo, who we place, how it works, the terms, key numbers, and contact. Also available as JSON and plain text.
- [FAQ — Fees, guarantee, speed, and how Brian works](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/faq): Plain answers from Brian Mariani: what Mirror Placement charges, the 100-day pro-rated guarantee, warm intros in about 72 hours, who he places, how outreach to engineers works, and what it costs engineers (nothing).
- [For Companies — Our secret? We already know them.](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/for-companies): Senior engineers through twenty-five years of relationships. Warm intros in 72 hours, candidates vetted by an engineer, and terms with no cliff.
- [For Engineers — Recruiting that respects you](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/for-engineers): If Brian texts, it’s because he knows someone you should meet. Company name and salary range in the first message, nothing submitted without your consent, honest advice even when it costs him a fee.
- [Mirror Placement — They answer when Brian texts](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/): Senior engineers from a software agency founder. Twenty-five years of relationships with engineers who answer, and a real person who knows your search.
- [Terms & Privacy](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/legal): The short version: we don’t do anything weird with your data. The long version is here.
- [Who’s Talking? — Two decades of engineers on Brian](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/testimonials): Two decades of engineers, by name, on what it’s like to work with Brian Mariani and Mirror Placement.
- [Brand facts (JSON)](https://www.mirrorplacement.com/brand-facts.json): the same facts as structured data

## FAQ

Q: What does Mirror charge?
A: You pay for performance. The fee is a contingency fee: a percentage of first-year salary, earned only when your hire starts. Nothing up front, no retainer, no exclusivity. The percentage is a fifteen-minute conversation; the fee is due net 10 from the start date, and paying on time is what keeps the guarantee in force.

Q: What's the guarantee?
A: One hundred days, and it pro-rates one percent a day instead of falling off a cliff. If a hire leaves on day forty, you're covered for the remaining sixty percent. We pioneered the one-hundred-day no-cliff guarantee, the first of its kind in the industry. Most contracts hide the risk in the fine print; I'd rather say it out loud.

Q: How fast will I see people?
A: Warm introductions within about 72 hours of a real conversation about the seat. You'll meet a handful of people, typically three to five, each with a custom-written vignette and my honest take. Not a stack of résumés, not a dashboard.

Q: How is this different from a job board, LinkedIn Recruiter or a bigger agency?
A: They all buy the same pile: hundreds of AI-polished résumés and a few bots. I'm not searching. I'm messaging people I've known for years about a seat I understand, and most of them aren't looking, which is exactly why they're worth meeting.

Q: Who do you place?
A: Senior engineers and up: backend, frontend, full-stack athletes, platform and SRE, data and ML infrastructure, AI engineers, and the people who lead them, from tech lead to CTO. Not junior hires, and not volume. The job boards do fine for those.

Q: Do you work outside Boston?
A: Yes. Mirror is in Boston, and most of my searches today are remote or in US tech hubs. Where the person sits is a filter you set, not one I impose.

Q: Do you place AI and machine-learning engineers?
A: Yes. The engineers building with large language models today are, more often than not, senior people I've known for years who moved into it. Applied AI, ML infrastructure, data platform: same approach, same network.

Q: Will you vet candidates technically?
A: Yes. I came out of a software agency and have spent twenty-five years inside engineering teams, so I can talk through someone's work before you do. A code test if you want one, and every candidate comes with a written vignette, not just a résumé.

Q: What do you need from me to start?
A: Fifteen minutes and an honest conversation. What does this person really do on day one? What's the team like, what's the stack, what's the range, what's keeping you up at night? Skip the formal job description; the more honest you are, the better I match.

Q: What if Mirror isn't the right fit?
A: I'll tell you. Honest advice is the whole business, even when it costs me a fee. If you need juniors, volume, or the lowest price in the market, I'll point you somewhere better and we'll talk when the next senior seat opens.

Q: Who is Jonathan?
A: Jonathan Soo Hoo is my partner at Mirror. He does the research and the first outreach on many searches, and every message he sends was written for the person reading it. If you hear from him, that's why.

Q: Why did Brian message me?
A: Because I know someone you should meet. I only reach out when it's worth your time, and I tell you who the company is in the first message. No stealth startups, no keyword soup.

Q: Will you tell me the company and the salary range up front?
A: Yes, in the first message, along with the team, the stack, the stage, and what the role actually does on day one. Other recruiters tell me this is crazy. Engineers tell me it's rare.

Q: Will my résumé be sent anywhere without my say-so?
A: Never. I only submit you to an opportunity you've reviewed and asked me to pursue, and the company knows you agreed before they see anything. I assumed every recruiter worked this way; I was wrong.

Q: I'm not looking. Should I still answer?
A: Yes. Most of the people I've placed weren't looking. Tell me what you're working on and what would make you pick up, and I'll keep you in mind for the right thing, not the next thing. No pressure, ever.

Q: Does it cost me anything?
A: No. The company pays the fee when you start, and I'm not paid unless it works. That's also why you'll get honest advice from me even when it costs me a placement.

Q: What happens once I decide to go for it?
A: I run your fan club. I'm as involved in the interview process as you want me to be: advocacy, preparation, tips, and steady support through whatever comes up, including the offer and the counteroffer.

Q: Do you only place Rails engineers?
A: No. Mirror's roots are in Rails, and plenty of the people I know came up on it, but today I place senior engineers across stacks: Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, Rust, Elixir, and the AI and platform work built on top of them.

Last updated 2026-10-27.