We here at Lynxsy realize while there are a ton of startups hungry for talent in New York, not all of them are looking for non-technical employees. It could get pretty discouraging for the English, Art History and Business majors when it seems like your dream startup is exclusively hiring for developers. Luckily, we’ve done all the heavy lifting and have compiled a list of the best startups to work for if you don’t happen to have a degree in Computer Science or User Experience Design.
1. Oscar -- Health Winsurance
Why they’re awesome: Gone are the days of having to decipher your healthcare bill like it’s written in Klingon. Oscar’s trying to make health insurance as intuitive and user friendly as watching an entire season of The Blacklist on Netflix or listening to the new Eminem album 15 times on Spotify (what else was I supposed to do in Jersey over Christmas?). You can enter your symptoms in plain English and check out all your visits, prescriptions, and lab work right from their platform.
Who: Founded Kevin Nazemi, Josh Kushner, and Mario Schlosser.
Funding: $80 million in Series A, raised May 2014.
How do you infiltrate? Oscar’s looking for: Product folks, customer service reps, aspiring recruiters, lawyers, and even accountants.
Size: ~116 employees
2. Venmo -- Ca$h Money
Why they’re awesome:
If you don’t have Venmo get Venmo. If your friends don’t have Venmo, make them get Venmo. You’ll be happy you did when you’re bar hopping on a Saturday night and don’t have to fumble with 18 credit cards. By connecting to your bank account, Venmo allows you to pay people back directly through your phone. Gone are the days of 3 year old phone notes reminding you of your debts (Jim, I promise I’ll get you back for that McDonald’s run freshman year).
Who: Kinda like the plot of a Seth Rogen/James Franco movie, Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail were two randomly united frosh roommates, brought together to make the next big thing in pay-tech.
Funding: They got bought by BrainTree which was subsequently bought by PayPal.
How do you infiltrate? Currently hiring for: University Recruiter and Knowledge Manager.
Size: ~73 employees
3. Birchbox -- Beautylicious
Why they’re awesome: Don’t know what to get your Mom/Sister/Girlfriend for Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa? Hit ‘em with a Birchbox (but seriously I had no idea what to get my Mom for Chanukah this year and you guys were a lifesaver). Birchbox sends monthly curated beauty, grooming, and lifestyle samples right to your door. If you fall in love with a certain cream, lotion, soap, shampoo, perfume, fireplace cleaner, or model figurine of the Millennium Falcon you can order more right through the BirchBox platform. They’ve also recently expanded into curated boxes for men as well.
Who: Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp founded the beauty behemoth after meeting at Harvard Business School.
Funding: $60 Million in Series B, April 2014.
How do you infiltrate? Lots of marketing, PR, Retail, Social Media, and branding positions.
Size: ~351 employees
4. BarkBox -- For When Buying Your Dog One Pair of Booties Isn’t Enough
Why they’re awesome: They’re just like Birchbox, but for Dogs! Choose your dog size, choose your plan, and have dog treats and toys delivered right to your dog’s home (which is probably also your home). It’s the perfect gift to get your canine pal...Plus, BarkBox buys you the assurance that you’re a better pet-owner than 80% of your dog-walking friends, which is really what matters.
Who: Founded by Henrik Werdelin, Carly Strife, and Matt Meeker
Funding: $15 million in Series B, raised July 2014.
How to infiltrate: On their jobs page they have a “Social Media Manager” role as well as the pun-tastic “BarkPost Junior Video Pawducer”.
Size: ~64 employees
5. Oyster -- Too Many Books
Why they’re awesome: Oyster’s been called everything from the Spotify of books, to the Netflix of books, to the Tinder of books (actually scratch that last one…though if that did exist it would probably be an app dedicated entirely to anthropomorphized books taking selfies with or without their covers and then meeting other books). For $9.95 a month (less than the price of a single hardcover book) you can have instant access to 500,000 of the titles currently in the Oyster Library. Oyster is currently available on iOS, Android, Nook HD, Kindle Fire, as well as their own web-based platform.
Who: Founders Eric Stromberg, Andrew Brown, and Willem Van Lancker: three dudes who are making bookworms feel hip again.
Funding: $14 Million in Series A, raised January 2014.
How to infiltrate? They advise fellow reading enthusiasts to email and tell them why you “think it’d be a good fit.” We here at Lynxsy concur: jobs@oysterbooks.com
Size: ~25 employees
6. FlatIron -- Data Doctors
Why they’re awesome: In case you didn’t know, we’re only able to efficiently gather data from the 4% of cancer patients who participate in clinical trials. That means 96% of cancer data is falling into a black hole of lost information (I’ve been watching way too much Cosmos…). FlatIron’s fixing this problem by leveraging the analytics tools employed by countless other industries and applying it to all that unstructured cancer data.
Who: Zach Weinberg and Nat Turner, two Penn grads who in a past life founded Ad-Tech company Invite Media, which was eventually acquired by Google for $81M
Funding: $130 million in Series B, raised May 2014.
How do you infiltrate? FlatIron’s currently hiring for: biz dev, sales, events, and recruiting.
Size: ~120 employees
7. Bonobos -- Khaki Sack
Why they’re awesome: Pants. Pants. Pants. Bonobos is a perfect example of an ecommerce brand that did it right. They got really, really good at one thing (pants) and then started expanding offerings once they gained their customers’ loyalties. Plus, they removed all possible mental barriers for online shopping. “What if it doesn’t fit?” No questions asked returns and exchanges. “But won’t it be a hassle getting it back?” Nope, they give you a box with free shipping both ways. They even have 365 day returns, a claim I’m tempted to test by dosing myself in a bath of condiments, getting in a fight with Edward Scissorhands, and then attempting to return my well-worn Bonobos chinos.
Who: Founded by Stanford Business School housemates Brian Spaly and Andy Dunn after they were sick of buying ill-fitting pants from their future competitors.
Funding: $55 million in Series D, raised July 2014.
How to infiltrate? Their “Customer Experience Ninjas” are some of the best in the business. Throwing stars not included.
Size: ~214 employees
8. FlyCleaners – Airing out New York’s Dirty Laundry
Why they’re awesome:
No longer is “I don’t want to drag my laundry bag 5 blocks in the snow” a valid excuse for why you’ve been wearing the same pair of underwear the last four days. FlyCleaners is door to door laundry pickup and delivery service. “But they’re probably only open when I’m at work.” WRONG. They operate from 6 AM to midnight 7 days a week and have already handled 500,000 pounds of laundry in NYC.
Who: Thought up by David Salama and Insomnia Cookies co-founder Seth Berkowitz
Funding: $2 million in seed funding, raised December 2013.
How to infiltrate? Lots of options. Know how to drive? FlyCleaners is looking for “FlyGuys and FlyGirls” to operate the FlyCleaners trucks. Besides that they’re looking for Customer Logistics Analysts, the primary point of contact between the customers receiving the laundry and the FlyFolks delivering it.
Size: ~19 employees
9. Hinge -- Matchmaker Matchmaker Make Me an App
Why they’re awesome: If Tinder is the freshman guy from your hall banging everything with a pulse, Hinge is the recent grad who finally wants to settle down and find a girlfriend (at least for the winter). Hinge is a dating app for people who want to make genuine human connections. The app curates a finite list of potential matches, all of whom are friends of friends (or friends of friends of friends). Also, it’s been rumored (by me) that employees get exclusive access to the Hinge backend allowing them to only match with the most attractive users. One can imagine this experience to be akin to touring Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but for app-based dating.
Who: Justin McLeod founded this people-matching engine, and was partly inspired by a Last Chance Crush Party held at Harvard Business School.
Funding: $12 million in Series A, raised December 2014.
How to infiltrate? For the job-seekers with film, photography, or new media experience Hinge is looking to hire a Creative Content Producer/Designer a contracting role with the potential to evolve into a full time position!
Size: ~15 employees
10. Refinery29 -- Words with Trends
Why they’re awesome:
Girl number 1: “So I was reading this article about how to wear pastels in winter on Refinery29 and-”
Girl number 2: “Wait what’s that?”
Girl number 1: “Oh my God. You don’t read Refinery29?”
Girl number 2: “No I’m more of a Buzzfeed person-”
Girl number 1: “Honestly, if you’re a millennial woman in 2014 and you’re not reading Refinery29, I’m not sure if I can trust any of your life perspectives.”
This dramatized scene is fairly common since Refinery29 became the fastest growing media company of 2013. Their editorial team works tirelessly, generating editorial content that’s both culturally relevant and consistently entertaining. On a business level they’ve become so good at incorporating sponsored content into their articles that half the time you don’t even know you’re being advertised to…though that one week where they incorporated Pop Tart references into all their posts made me a bit suspect.
Who: Philippe von Borries and Justin Stefano
Funding: $20 million in Series C, October 2013.
How to infiltrate? Plenty of jobs in ad sales and marketing for the right candidates.
Size: ~333 employees
11. Harry’s -- Blade Runners
Why they’re awesome: Want an awesome shave but don’t want to pay 15 dollars for the Mach 8, Ocho Blade? Look no further than Harry’s an ecommerce startup that’s trying to do for razors what Warby Parker did for glasses. If affordability is chocolate, and shave quality is peanut butter, Harry’s is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of the male grooming business. For 15 dollars you can get 8 blades, that’s $1.88 per cartridge for the best shave on the internet.
Who: Co-Founders are Andy Katz-Mayfield and Warby Parker Co-Founder Jeffrey Raider.
Funding: $75 million, raised November 2014
How to infiltrate? Customer Experience Associate and Retail Experience Associate positions are available on their website.
Size: ~74 employees
12. Betterment -- Banker’s Club
Why they’re awesome: Have you been hearing the words “investing” “finance” and “portfolio diversification” from your banker friend, accountant, or the red faced bald man screaming at you on CNBC? Betterment is your money on autopilot; a low-fee, consistent-returns investment resource for the Netflix generation. Tell Betterment your financial goals and realities and let them handle the rest.
Who: Betterment brethren Jon Stein and Eli Broverman.
Funding: $32 Million in Series C, raised April 2014.
How to infiltrate? Marketing, Operations, and even an Executive Chef?
Size: ~75 employees
13. onefinestay -- House-Squatting, Not Just for the Homeless
Why they’re awesome: onefinestay allows globe-trotting vacationers to sleep in houses occupied by real humans. Though as opposed to other hotel alternatives, by the time you get there they’ll already be long gone. This means you can do whatever you normally do alone in your house without the occupants shooting you judging looks or posting pictures of you on Tumblr. Want to walk around naked and play the Saxophone? Fine! Trying to organize a collection of cherry tomatoes on the bathroom floor? Totally cool. Just want to put on a Michael Cera outfit and hang out with like 30 Jonah Hill lookalikes? Again, no questions asked. Just don’t leave a mess, stay out of the jewelry box, and try not to open the latch that will awaken the thousand year old ghost and you should be fine. Plus, unlike AirBnB, OneFineStay offers top of the line concierge service!
Who: Founded by Greg Marsh, Demetrios Zoppos, Tim Davey, and Evan Frank. Two of them are Fulbrights, one has a degree in Theoretical Physics, and the last one has the title “President of the Americas.”
Funding: $12.2 million in Series B, raised June 2012.
How to infiltrate? Recent grads can apply to be a Wolf. A “Get Shit Done” generalist who is passionate about sleeping in other people’s homes.
Size: ~281 employees
14. Justworks -- Friends with HR Benefits
Why they’re awesome: Imagine for a second that you run a bakery that creates cakes in the shape of zoo animals. Business is booming, but unfortunately you’re spending way too much time navigating the purgatory of payroll and HR. This is where JustWorks comes in. JustWorks is an easy, intuitive payroll and HR solution that allows small business owners to focus their time and energy on what they do best, which in this case is making a layer cake that looks like a giraffe.
Who: Founded by Isaac Oates.
Funding: $6 million in Series A, raised October 2014.
How to infiltrate? Currently hiring for: Account Executive, Office Manager, and Paralegal!
Size: ~50 employees
15. littleBits -- Bit’s Electric
Why they’re awesome: LittleBits are basically Legos for the 21st century. But instead of taking 7 painstaking months to build an awesome model Millenium Falcon that just winds up in the basement or gets tripped over by your brother’s idiot friend, you get to actually build things you can use! Basically LittleBits are an ever-expanding library of tiny electronic gadgets that you can snap together to build cool stuff. You can automate your curtains to open at sunrise. You can make a remote controlled pet feeder. You can even create an animatronic hand. Or you can buy some Legos, make a race track for the fiftieth time, and hear your friends lie to you about how cool it is.
Who: Ayah Bdeir, named one of Inc. Magazine’s 35 under 35 and one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.
Funding: $11.1 million in Series B, raised November 2013.
How to infiltrate? At littleBits, Sales and Marketing jobs abound!
Size: ~57 employees
16. CrowdTap -- Crowd Control
Why they’re awesome:
People like games. People like free stuff. People don’t like advertising or being forced to advertise. By rewarding social media posts and brand interaction with tangible rewards, CrowdTap mobilizes a brand’s user base to do the advertising for it. This is the first logical step to a truly ubiquitous age of ads, where conversations between friends are monitored and aptly placed brand references are rewarded in real time. “How was your day, Brian?” “Pretty good. I went to work, met with a few clients, drank a delicious bottle of Coca-Cola soda, played some Grand Theft Auto 9 on my Playstation8, and then went to Walmart, a store with super low low prices.” “...Why are you talking like that man?”
Who: Brandon Evans and Nick Miller
Funding: $5 Million in Series B, raised March 2014
How to infiltrate? Lots of non-tech roles on their Jobs page including Recruiter and Client Success Operations & Fulfillment Manager.
Size: ~83 employees
17. WeWork -- The Office
Why they’re awesome: Do you ever go to work and think, I wish there were more strangers in my office? WeWork knows you have and that’s why they’re the leading innovators in the multi-billion dollar co-working space movement. WeWork brings together early stage startups, freelancers, artists, and other creators, and throws them together on the same floor of a building. It’s like one of those restaurants that sits you with strangers, and one turns out to be the love of your life, and then you get married and have kids and they make a movie about it and Hugh Grant plays you. But instead of experiencing that sort of serendipity once a year, you can get it every time you go to work!
Who: Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey
Funding: $355 Million in Series A, raised December 2014.
How to infiltrate? Check out their Social Media Manager role as well as their New Member Development Associate role. Both are on their jobs page.
Size: ~235 employees
18. ClassPass -- Fitpickers
Why they’re awesome: Want to try out the next new fitness trend but have no idea where to begin? ClassPass has you covered by allowing members access to the best fitness classes across multiple gyms and studios, right from their website. On ClassPass you can find fitness trends ranging from hot yoga, to pilates, to cycling, to fitness regimens that haven’t even been invented yet. Things like cold-boxing (normal boxing where people donning mysterious black hoods throw buckets of freezing water at you), or Krav Ma-Claw (Krav Maga classes taught by giant mutated crabs), or Thumping Jacks (Diplo DJs a party where everyone does jumping jacks for like two hours). Regardless, if it’s a thing and if it even remotely involves fitness, you can find it on ClassPass.
Who: Payal Kadakia and Mary Biggins
Funding: $12 Million in Series A, raised September 2014.
How to infiltrate? Account Manager, Operations Coordinator, and Customer Experience are just some of the non-technical openings at ClassPass.
Size: ~64 Employees
19. GlamSquad - A Salon in Your Palm
Why they’re awesome: It’s like if Uber and your favorite hair stylist conceived a beautiful, well-groomed, but ruthlessly efficient baby. Glamsquad allows you to order top of the line beauty professionals right from that pocket super-computer you usually play Angry Birds with. The best part is you can book appointments anywhere, including your home, office, a hotel room, under the bridge where you’re squatting, a fifth dimensional tesseract, anywhere! Welcome to a world where people will be getting their hair done, eating Seamless, having their apartment cleaned, and booking doctor appointments all simultaneously. Schedule within the app, sit back, and watch yourself be beautified.
Who: Victoria Eisner, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Jason Perri, and David Goldweitz.
Funding: $7 Million dollars in Series A, raised October 2014.
How to infiltrate? E-mail jobs@glabsquad.com and let them know why you’d be a great fit
Size: ~44 employees
20. KeyMe - Disrupting a 3000 Year Old Space
Why they’re awesome: KeyMe’s making lockouts a thing of the past (Lockouts will be joining “calling up a human to make a reservation,” “Going to a Duane Reade to develop pictures” and “Buying those NOW CDs to bump last year’s hits”). KeyMe allows users to save a picture of their keys straight to the KeyMe cloud, which they can then use to make copies. Get locked out of your apartment in a classic sitcom-esque mixup? Just head down to a KeyMe kiosk (located at various 7/11, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Rite Aid stores) and print out a new key on the spot. Don’t want to do that? Head down to your local locksmith, show him the copy of your Key on your KeyMe app, and have him make you a new one.
Who: Key-player is founder Greg Marsh
Funding: $7.8 Million dollars in Series A, raised April 2014
How to infiltrate? Current non-technical openings: Operations & Analytics Analyst, Analysis & Fulfillment Analyst, and Customer Support Associate. E-mail them to find out more: careers@key.me
Size: ~27 employees
If you’re a non-technical grad who wants to break into the New York startup scene, this list serves as a great jumping off point. These startups range from small to big, from seed funded to late stage. The best part is they all might be looking for people with your background.
At the same time, if you don’t feel like writing 20 different cover letters, but still want to land a job at a startup, check out Lynxsy.