How do I write a job description that actually gets good people to apply to an unknown startup?
The short answer
Stop copying corporate JDs. Lead with the problem you're solving and the specific impact this hire will have in the first 90 days, not a laundry list of 12 'must-haves.' Name the stack, the salary band, and whether it's in-office or remote up front, because vague listings self-select for desperate applicants. Write it like a message to one specific person you'd love to work with, not a legal document.
Go deeper, your way
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Why we picked it
This is real India data, not a US survey with an Indian byline: 46 percent of Indeed India postings disclosed salary in 2023, with sector-level jumps (Finance up 122 percent, Engineering up 107 percent) and city-level splits. It tells an Indian founder that naming a band is now table stakes for competing on engineering roles, and flags the reality that there is no mandatory pay-disclosure law here, so it is a competitive choice, not a compliance one.
Salary disclosure in Indian job postings hit 46 percent in 2023 and is growing fastest exactly in the roles startups fight over (engineering, finance, AI)
Adoption is concentrated in Delhi and Mumbai, so disclosing a band is still a differentiator that makes serious candidates self-select in
India has no mandatory pay-transparency law, so putting the band in your JD is a deliberate signal of seriousness rather than a legal box to tick
Why we picked it
Written by the talent team at a VC that hires for its portfolio full-time, so it is a recruiter's actual playbook, not generic filler. It opens with the exact thesis you need (a boring JD implies a boring job) and gives you a fill-in-the-blanks structure that forces you to name the mission, the growth path, the real collaborators, and the comp/equity package up front instead of a wall of must-haves. Copy the structure, then rewrite it in your own founder voice.
From
SignalFireby Crystal Guerrero (Director of Talent Operations)15 min read
Treat the JD as marketing collateral aimed at one ideal candidate, not an HR checklist, so lead with growth and impact over a list of duties
Its six-part skeleton (role, values, responsibilities, traits, perks, company) makes you state comp, equity, and how the role collaborates cross-functionally explicitly
Highlighting what makes the role unique is what stops your post from reading like every other copy-pasted listing
