Lemon was impressive from the first interaction. I recommend Lemon 100%. In fact, I’ve already recommended them to others. We couldn’t have gotten RealEstateAPI to where it is today without Lemon – unless we completely burnt out our CTO.
- Top engineer hired
- 1
- Week to get started
- 1
- Months of collaboration
- 12
RealEstateAPI is a data architecture that gives developers fast, easy access to property data. Historically, founders trying to build in proptech, lending, or home services only had two options when integrating property data:
- Get a bulk data license from a big box data aggregator, which is prohibitively expensive and complicated to manage.
- Use an aggregator’s API. These are cheaper, but they aren’t designed for app development.
Vince Harris, RealEstateAPI’s CEO and cofounder, set out to remove those barriers, designing a big data as a service platform built specifically for developers. Not surprisingly, RealEstateAPI caught on quickly, powering everything from map-based search tools to automated underwriting models, with nationwide coverage of over 157 million properties.
While this was a welcome success, it came at a cost. Vince’s cofounder, the company’s CTO, was struggling to keep up with the rapid growth. After hearing about Lemon on Jason Calacanis’s podcast, This Week in Startups, Vince decided to reach out.
Lemon was impressive from the first interaction. I recommend Lemon 100%. In fact, I’ve already recommended them to others. We couldn’t have gotten RealEstateAPI to where it is today without Lemon – unless we completely burnt out our CTO. Vince Harris, RealEstateAPI’s CEO
From overload to relief
By the time Vince and his cofounder started looking for help, they were already underwater.
The challenge was a bandwidth issue. My CTO was doing everything, frankly, and he needed someone to step in and own the data engineering piece so he could focus on building out other areas of the product and keep RealEstateAPI’s momentum going.
The team couldn’t afford to go through a long hiring process. Lemon had a reputation for moving fast – and from the very first interaction, they delivered.
A polished, transparent hiring experience
Interpersonally, Lemon was very responsive. They also had great tech – their online portal let us explore CVs, see specific skills, and review case studies of past work. I could even favorite candidates to keep track of who I liked most.
The portal included a lightly gamified feature that showed which developers had recently received offers and were in high demand.
Being able to see that someone was actively being recruited elsewhere, that was huge. It gave us confidence we were looking at top talent.
Global access to talent
Lemon’s deep roots in Eastern Europe were another feather in their cap.
We knew there was a lot of great talent in that part of the world. The fact that Lemon is embedded there was a big green flag early on.
But that’s not the only place Lemon’s developers are from. Clients can choose from talent in virtually every time zone.
We didn’t really care about time zones at the time we were looking for a resource, but it was nice to know Lemon could accommodate us if we did.
Highly vetted candidates
The portal made browsing for candidates easy, but what saved the most time was Lemon’s upfront vetting.
We’ve used other hiring platforms before. Normally, you’re stuck weeding through 30 resumes trying to find the right people. But by the time Lemon presented us a pool of talent, they had done quite a bit of vetting.
Instead of dozens of resumes, Lemon gave Vince and his cofounder a shortlist of three, very qualified candidates. To confirm fit, they gave each engineer a practicum that mimicked the kind of work they’d be doing at RealEstateAPI. The Lemon engineer they hired outperformed the rest.
Fair pricing
For a fast-growing startup, cost is always top of mind. But Lemon struck the right balance for the RealEstateAPI team.
For the caliber of talent we’re getting, I’d say Lemon is very reasonably priced.
With Lemon, RealEstateAPI got immediate impact and lasting value
Lemon’s hire didn’t just ease the CTO’s load, she quickly became an integral part of the team.
Painless onboarding
Originally, RealEstateAPI hoped to bring the engineer on through their HR system. When that didn’t work, Lemon stepped in.
It made more sense for Lemon to manage it, so they did. And it’s been very smooth since.
Within days, the new engineer was fully integrated into the RealEstateAPI team, joining morning standups, making suggestions, and contributing to high-priority data projects.
Not just another contractor
The resource is phenomenal. I mean, she has really become a part of our team. She does not feel like a contractor who is temporary.
Day to day, she runs the data warehouse and manages all the company’s data pipelines – work that underpins the entire RealEstateAPI platform.
She’s been with us for over a year now, and we can’t see us separating from her any time soon.
Proactive support
Lemon isn’t the kind of hiring platform that places an engineer and disappears.
Lemon checks in periodically in a way that’s not pushy, but helpful. Yes, it’s their business to sell more talent, but they’re clearly tracking our growth and reaching out when it makes sense. They ask the right questions about what roles we might need in the future.
To him, Lemon feels like a partner who actually pays attention.
What’s followed is a long-term Lemon partnership
At one point, RealEstateAPI asked Lemon for a second resource. The engineer they hired was talented but more accustomed to large enterprise environments than a scrappy startup.
He was skilled, just not the right cultural fit. But that wasn’t on Lemon. They delivered, it was just a mismatch for our stage.
That experience didn’t shake their confidence – it built trust.
Lemon completely understood. Look, they have really good service, they operate with integrity, like we do, and that’s what we respect and enjoy about them. They’ve built a solid machine we can count on, and we’re continuing to go to them for more talent.
For RealEstateAPI, Lemon’s engineer wasn’t just a quick fix. She’s become an indispensable team member who handles mission-critical work and gives the CTO room to breathe.
With her help, the company has continued to scale. So much so, they’ve already put in a request for another Lemon engineer who can support their next phase of expansion.
Why choose us
We're looking for the right developers, that perfectly suit your team
A four-step vetting process
Our proprietary process includes professional and personal tests, live interviews, and multiple background checks.
Price-quality match
The majority of developers are from Eastern Europe, where startups can stretch their budget to do more with less.
Miraculous 48-hour matching
Two days (or less) to find you a perfect developer for your startup's needs.
98% satisfaction rate
That's the percentage of clients who hired the very first dev they were offered from the platform.
Zero-risk dev replacement
You don't wait for direction. You jump in headfirst, racking up quick wins, calling out improvements, and pushing for architectural decisions that set clients up for scale.
Full-time contributors
You're looking for work you can sink your teeth into, and can commit 20 hours or more a week to see it through.
Case studies More case studies
Fitness
For non-technical founder engineering is a black box. I’ve learned how important it is to have someone in my corner who can really be a partner to me. Lemon has really shown up. They weren’t just a matching tool. They really understood what I was looking for and found me someone I could trust.
AI
With Lemon.io, we had relevant senior candidates within a week — smoother and more cost-efficient than any other channel we'd tried. Their team delivered several vetted profiles within 24 hours.
Marketplace
Everybody we’ve gotten has been incredibly qualified and super passionate. Passion is rare among contractors, but here, we’ve seen a lot of passion for the technologies.
Rocket hiring ride
Top-notch developers within 48 hours, hand-picked for your team.
