Questions founders ask us

Alteam is a London-based tech talent partner for pre seed and seed founders. We provide vetted contractors on a monthly retainer, or a permanent placement with a first shortlist in 72 hours. Every search is led by a product expert who has built startups, supported by Anne, our AI sourcer.

Alteam works with early-stage founders who need to build product and can't afford a wrong hire or a London agency. Most of our clients are pre seed to Series A startups, often in climate, energy, education, social impact and wellbeing.

Alteam specialises in AI Product Managers, Product Builders, Full-Stack Engineers, Data Engineers and UX/UI Designers. These roles are growing fastest for startups that need senior output without a top 1% salary or an expensive CTO.

Alteam's contractors come from talent hubs across the EU, Eastern Europe, Latin America and South East Asia. That lets us match strong senior talent to your time zone and budget.

Alteam contractors range from £200 to £450 a day, from junior to senior. Rates are all-inclusive under a statement of work, with no hidden fees.

Alteam has two fixed pricing models, both exclusive of VAT. A monthly retainer for contractors starts from £5,000, usually covering one or two contractors. A permanent placement is a one-off fee of £7,000 for junior to mid-level roles and £10,000 for senior to C-level roles.

Yes. Alteam is around 33% cheaper than recruitment agencies and tech consultancies, because we charge a fixed fee and work directly with our own talent network.

A percentage fee rewards recruiters for pushing salaries up, which works against a founder's runway. Alteam's fixed fee keeps our incentive on finding the right person, not the most expensive one.

Yes. Once a contractor has proven themselves, Alteam can convert them to a permanent employee for a one-off fee.

Alteam follows five steps.

1. A product expert assesses your company and works out what you actually need.
2. We recommend the right hiring route: contractor, team or permanent.
3. We write a best-in-class brief and job description, and keep improving it during the search.
4. We query our network of trusted talent, using AI to search and score.
5. We match, score and streamline the process, so a solo contractor, a team or a placement can start within weeks.

Alteam delivers a first shortlist within 72 hours for placements. Most contractors and permanent hires start within a few weeks.

Alteam uses Anne, our AI sourcer, to scout talent, match candidates across different data sources and write candidate summaries. AI makes the search faster and wider. It never makes the final decision.

Yes. A human interviews every candidate Alteam puts forward. AI only filters candidates and supports vetting. Our CPTO reviews the shortlist and talks you through it.

Alteam vets every candidate on three pillars: problem solving, relevant experience and cultural fit with your team.

For permanent placements, Alteam offers a free replacement during the first three months, including if the person leaves during their trial period. Contractors can be cancelled with 15 to 30 days' notice, and we'll source a replacement.

Alteam focuses only on tech and specialist roles, such as AI Product Managers, Product Engineers and AI engineers, and a human expert validates every candidate before you see them. Jack & Jill is an AI recruiter built for a broad range of roles. If you are hiring your first product or AI team and want someone who has built product to vet the shortlist, Alteam is built for that.

Juicebox and Metaview are software for in-house recruiting teams: Juicebox to search for candidates, Metaview to capture interview notes. Alteam is not a SaaS, an ATS or an HR platform. We use our own trained AI internally and run the contractor or placement search for you, which suits startups and small businesses with no recruiter or HR team.

Alteam combines a trained AI with product builders who run the search, rather than matching candidates on keywords and years of experience. We go beyond the job description to understand what your product needs, and charge a fixed fee of £7,000 or £10,000 instead of a percentage of salary. That makes Alteam around 33% cheaper than agencies and tech consultancies.

Alteam isn’t a marketplace or contractor management software. Upwork and Malt let you browse freelancers yourself, and YunoJuno, Deel and Remote are great tools for managing contractors. Alteam brings a fractional CPTO and hands-on recruiting to find and vet the right people for you. When you need an employer of record, we work with Deel through our partnership.

Hire a full-time CTO when technology is your core advantage and you have enough traction or funding to justify a senior salary and equity. Before that point, most startups get further with a fractional CPTO and one or two strong product engineers. A CTO hired too early often costs more runway than the problem they were hired to solve.

A fractional CPTO is a part-time Chief Product and Technology Officer who leads product and tech strategy for a few days a month. You get senior leadership without the cost of a full-time executive.

There are three common moments. Very early, for tech startups that can't yet afford a full-time CTO. For tech-enabled businesses that need tech leadership but not full time. And later on, to prepare for fundraising, due diligence or M&A.

Alteam isn't a marketplace for fractional consultants. When a client needs one, we can introduce trusted people from our network.