About
Early-career hiring works badly for everyone. We think that's fixable.
Twin Lanterns is an early-career recruiting firm. We connect ambitious college students with early-stage startups — one careful match at a time, with a person accountable at every step.
Why we exist
Both sides are searching in the dark.
A founder with eight people needs help with growth, ops or research — not a full-time senior hire and not a five-figure agency retainer. So the work piles up and the company slows down.
A sophomore with real skills and no internship on the résumé sends forty applications into a void. The roles where they'd learn the most never reach a job board, because early-stage companies hire through networks they aren't part of yet.
Both problems are the same problem: no one is doing the matching. Software can rank keywords, but it can't tell a founder that this particular student will figure things out with no manual. That takes conversations, judgment and someone willing to put their name on the recommendation.
That's the whole job. We do it by hand, and we do it well.
Our approach
A recruiting firm built around one specific problem.
Twin Lanterns exists for a single market: early-stage startups hiring early-career talent. We don't run generalist searches, we don't sell software, and we don't charge retainers for a database anyone can license.
Every engagement follows the same operating model. We scope the role with the founder, build a targeted pool from our university network, screen candidates ourselves, and deliver a short, written shortlist with reasoning attached — usually inside two weeks. Founders interview three to five people, not fifty.
On the student side, every applicant is read by a person, spoken with before any referral, and told honestly where they stand. That's what keeps the pool strong enough for founders to trust the shortlist.
Narrow focus, human judgment, accountable process. That's the product.
Leadership
Who runs your search.
Twin Lanterns is founder-led. The two people below handle every engagement personally — no junior sourcers, no handoffs.
Political Science & Global Studies, UCLA
Carlos leads the talent side of Twin Lanterns: sourcing, screening and the conversations that decide whether a candidate goes forward. His background in political science and global studies is built on research, interviewing and reading people accurately — the same skills that make a shortlist trustworthy. He owns our campus partnerships and speaks with every student we put in front of a founder.
- Candidate screening & interviews
- Campus and club partnerships
- Shortlist quality control
Economics & Biology, UCLA
Cameron runs the company side: scoping roles with founders, translating vague needs into a real job description, and keeping every search on schedule. An economics and biology background gives him an analytical, evidence-first way of working — he tracks what actually predicts a good hire and adjusts the process around it. He's the founder's point of contact from intake through start date.
- Role scoping with founders
- Search operations & timelines
- Placement outcomes tracking
How we work
Principles we don't trade away.
Two lights, one path
Startups and students are looking for the same thing from opposite sides. We hold both lanterns up at once — the match only works when it's genuinely good for each.
Humans read everything
No keyword filter decides who gets seen. Every application is read, every candidate spoken to, every shortlist written by a person who can explain their reasoning.
Specific beats impressive
We'd rather know exactly what someone shipped last semester than see a polished résumé of titles. Specifics predict performance; prestige doesn't.
Honest either way
If a role isn't right, we say so — to the student and to the founder. A fast no is worth more than a slow maybe.
The name
Two lanterns: one carried by the founder, one by the student. Neither sees the whole path alone. Held together, the light is enough to move.