Dover

How Dover Reached $7M ARR by Revolutionizing Recruitment with AI

February 14th, 2025

Founded By

Max Kolysh

Monthly Revenue

$583K

Founders

Profitable

Yes

Year Started

2019

Customer

B2B

Founded By
Max Kolysh: Monthly Revenue
$583K

Founders
3: Profitable
Yes

Year Started
2019: Customer
B2B

Who is Max Kolysh?

Dover was co-founded by George Carollo, Max Kolysh, and Anvisha Pai. Anvisha Pai is a graduate of MIT with a background in computer science and experience working at Dropbox. Max Kolysh also has a background in tech, having worked on projects such as Zinc.io and holds a degree from MIT. George Carollo previously founded TopFunnel, a recruiting tool, and has experience in private equity.

George Carollo, Max Kolysh, and Anvisha Pai, Dover.com Cofounders

What problem does Dover solve?

Dover helps companies effortlessly find the best candidates by automating tedious recruiting tasks, saving them time and ensuring they focus on quality hires.

Dover.com Homepage

How did Max come up with the idea for Dover?

The idea for Dover began to take shape when the founders, George, Max, and Anvisha, realized that the recruiting process was fraught with inefficiencies. As experienced founders themselves, they noticed that a staggering 80% of recruiting efforts were mired in repetitive operational tasks, leaving only 20% for strategic activities. This imbalance revealed a glaring deficiency in how recruitment was conducted, primarily relying on luck and intuition rather than a streamlined, data-driven approach.

Observing these inefficiencies firsthand, they saw an opportunity to develop a solution that could automate the laborious aspects of recruitment like sourcing, scheduling, and managing processes. Before diving fully into building a tech solution, they validated their concept by initially offering manpower using no-code tools and manual processes to demonstrate tangible results. This validation phase helped them to gauge interest and gather insights which would later inform the development of their software platform.

As they refined their idea, they faced challenges in ensuring their solution was scalable and could truly address the core problems faced by companies. The founders persisted, learning from each interaction, eventually creating a platform that improved both the hiring experience for candidates and the efficiency and effectiveness of recruiting teams. This insight into the broken recruiting system, coupled with iterative development and validation, set the stage for Dover's growth and success.

How did Max Kolysh build the initial version of Dover?

Dover initially approached product development through a no-code strategy, leveraging tools like Airtable and various APIs to manually piece together the recruiting process before writing code. This process involved aggregating candidate data from assorted ATS platforms to better structure and analyze resumes, initially using Google Sheets for organization. The team rapidly iterated to identify pain points and necessary features, working intimately with their early customers to refine their offering without a heavy reliance on automation. Building a fully integrated platform took longer than expected, demanding robust manual processes while identifying which tasks could be systematically automated over time.

What were the initial startup costs for Dover?

Funding: Dover raised a $23 million funding round from top venture capitalists, including a $20 million Series A led by Tiger Global, with additional participation from Founders Fund, Abstract Ventures, and YC.

What was the growth strategy for Dover and how did they scale?

Networking and Partnerships Dover utilized its founders' networks extensively in the early stages to acquire initial clients. George Carollo and his co-founders leveraged existing relationships from past entrepreneurial and professional experiences to introduce Dover's services to potential customers.

Why it worked: Networking and leveraging personal connections helped Dover establish credibility and gain early adopters without a heavy reliance on marketing dollars. Their connections within Y Combinator and among MIT alumni provided access to a network of startup founders who were struggling with recruitment, making it a fertile ground for Dover's offerings.

Referral and Word of Mouth As Dover accumulated satisfied clients, word of mouth became a significant driver of new business. Many of the companies initially onboarded referred Dover to other businesses experiencing recruitment challenges.

Why it worked: Recruiting is a critical function for companies, and a reliable service that reduces pain points is likely to be mentioned in entrepreneur circles, especially if it saves time and money. This natural growth through referrals underlined strong product-market fit and customer satisfaction.

Content Tools and Resources Dover developed free tools like the "RateMyJD" job description enhancer and the "One Soft Landing" platform for laid-off tech workers. These tools served as valuable resources for startups, gaining traction and drawing attention to Dover's services.

Why it worked: By offering genuinely useful free tools, Dover engaged with its target audience, showcasing its expertise and establishing itself as a thought leader in recruiting. These tools attracted potential clients who might later consider or recommend Dover's paid services, helping increase its client base efficiently.

Y Combinator and Ecosystem Advantage Participating in Y Combinator provided Dover a platform to showcase its value proposition to a wide audience of startup founders, investors, and industry experts. It offered strategic guidance and allowed Dover to refine its model rapidly.

Why it worked: Y Combinator's community support, coupled with the badge of trust it confers, helped Dover grow its reputation. The demo days and exposure to a collective of entrepreneurs accelerated its client acquisition and additional funding, vital for scaling operations and enhancing product offerings.

What's the pricing strategy for Dover?

Dover offers a flexible recruiting service that starts at $3,000 per month, focusing on finding top candidates by optimizing job postings and managing the hiring process through automation.

Dover.com Pricing

What were the biggest lessons learned from building Dover?

Iterate and Learn: Dover initially used no-code solutions and manual processes to understand customer needs deeply. This taught them to iterate quickly, enabling them to develop a software platform that truly addressed pain points in recruiting.
Adapt to Market Changes: During COVID, Dover faced uncertainty, but they adapted by creating tools like "One Soft Landing" to stay relevant. This flexibility to pivot based on market conditions was crucial for resilience.
Focus on Product-Market Fit: Rather than aggressively scaling sales, Dover prioritized refining their product to fit the market needs, which naturally drove customer referrals and growth. Product-market fit was seen as key to sustainable success.
Streamline Workflows: They identified that 80% of recruiting work was operational and tedious. By automating these processes, Dover allowed companies to focus on strategic hiring efforts, proving the value of focusing on workflow efficiency.
Build Strong Team Dynamics: Dover's success was underpinned by a team with high intellectual honesty and mutual respect, demonstrating that startup success is often built on solid team foundations and collaboration.

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