Google's Agents, AI Hiring & Milei's Argentina
Behind the Hiring: Why I Said No to a VP Hire
Hey there,
Here’s what’s on my radar this week:
Argentina’s currency plot twist—and what it means for hiring, Google quietly drops an agent protocol that might wipe out half of YC, and why your next dev might be more prompt engineer than programmer.
Also debuting an occasional new section 🎬 Behind the Hiring.
First up: a startup that thought they needed a VP and ended up with something way smarter.
Let’s get into it.
🌐 News Shortlist
1. Google Killed Half of YC in Silence After 2 Years—You Could Be Next
While AI startups were busy flexing demos, Google moved in silence for the past 2 years. Built quietly. Struck clean.
This month, they just dropped a real game-changer: a full-stack toolkit for autonomous agents and a protocol to sync them.
No noise. No hype. Just cold execution, the kind that wipes out companies before they even realize.
Advice:
AI agents aren't coming. They're already running ops faster and cheaper than human teams.
If your ops team still thinks automation is a Zapier flow, you're not behind — you're prehistoric.
The winners? They're embedding AI deep in workflows, cutting costs and speeding up everything.
If your team can't build around that, you're not competing, you're fading out.
2. Google Just Quietly Killed Half of YC
A Columbia student built an AI tool to help with coding interviews.
Building the AI tool wasn't the problem. Sharing confidential university documents without consent got him suspended. While he was already making $2M/year with his startup.
That wasn't a punishment — it was a head start.
Here's the real takeaway:
If you're still testing candidates like AI doesn't exist, you're already behind.
Every sharp dev is using ChatGPT and the smartest ones are prompting during interviews.
Advice:
You're not testing coding skills anymore — you're testing understanding.
In a world where AI spits out answers instantly, surface-level tests are worthless.
Top engineers aren't hiding AI, they're building faster with it. If your hiring process hasn't evolved, top talent will slip away.
3. Argentina's Talent Market Just Flipped, Stop Hiring Like It's 2023
Argentina's president Milei did the unthinkable: he cut the peso loose. No more controls, no fake floors — just raw market forces.
And instead of crashing? The peso surprisingly rallied.
It's not bulletproof — it's Argentina — but confidence is back, and the market's listening.
Advice:
If you're still hiring based on 2023 salaries, you're already falling behind.
Candidates are savvy, they are more up-to-date with current salaries and your “competitive package” from three months ago? It's starting to look like a lowball.
Remote hiring moves fast — and if you're not recalibrating constantly with real market data, you're either burning cash on the wrong hires or losing the best people to smarter competitors.
🎥 Behind the Hiring: Forget the VP, Hire the Team That Actually Ships
A startup came to me with the usual early-stage puzzle, an ambitious roadmap, a tight budget, and plans to hire both a VP of Product and a Product Manager.
Most agencies would've nodded and chased the bigger fee.
I didn't.
I told them straight: skip the VP.
What you really need is two builders — people who can move ideas into product without a middleman slowing everything down.
We shifted the search.
Targeted product managers with engineering backgrounds, people who could think in code, ship fast, and translate vision into real traction.
What happened?
They saved 30%, hired sharper operators, and started shipping immediately.
The lesson's simple:
When you stop hiring for titles and start hiring for traction, everything moves faster and smarter.
It's not about filling a role. It's about building momentum.
🔎 Remote Jobs Shortlist
Here's a shortlist of the hottest jobs our clients are hiring for this week. You don't have to be job hunting to care—sometimes it's just useful to know what great companies are hiring for right now:
1. AI Developer
My client is seeking a highly skilled AI Developer to design, develop, and implement AI-driven business solutions.
💵 $5,000 - $7,000 CAD
📍LatAm Remote
2. Solutions Engineer
A rapidly expanding New York City-based startup, focused on pioneering low-code financial service tools, is on the lookout for a Senior Solutions Engineer.
💵 $5,000 - $6,200 USD
📍Colombia
3. Full Stack Developer
Our client, a fast-growing SaaS company transforming the real estate space, is seeking a seasoned Full Stack Developer to become the first technical hire on their team.
💵$6,000 - $8,000 USD
📍LatAm Remote
4. Product Manager
Our client is seeking an experienced Product Manager to join their growing R&D team, focusing on developing advanced tools and products for the emerging online video market.
💵$6,000 - $8,000 USD
📍Brazil
The peso's flexing. AI is eating ops. And the best devs are already part-machine. If your hiring hasn't caught up, you're playing defense in a game that just went full offense.
If you're ready to stop falling behind and start building a future-proof team, let's talk.
Drop me a note. No fluff. Just results.
Until next time,
Joseph Burns
CEO & Founder, Lupa