1. Target

You cannot build the right project if you don't know who you're building it for!

Phase 1: Target (quick-start)

This is the fast, do-it-now version of the target step. Follow these five steps in order and you will walk away with a clear target and a real company list. The attached doc breaks down the exact process behind each step in full depth, so use this to move, and the doc when you want the deeper why and the details.

The core idea before you start: you are not choosing where to apply, you are choosing who to build for. A project built for a specific type of company in a specific industry beats a generic one every time. Narrow is the advantage.

Step 1: Rank what you actually want

Before you pick a single company, get honest about what you are optimizing for. Rank these, then circle your top 3 and bottom 2.

• Compensation now (high, liquid pay) vs equity upside later

• Learning speed and broad scope

• Impact and ownership

• A recognizable brand on your resume

• Stability and low risk

• Culture, remote vs onsite, and location

• Mission or a domain you actually care about

Output: your top 3 are your filter. Every company on your list has to score well on at least those.

Step 2: Choose your target profile (3 lenses)

Lock a specific intersection across three lenses. "Tech companies" is not a target. "Early-stage AI application companies in fintech" is.

• Lens 1, industry: pick 1 to 3 you have interest in or an edge in (fintech, healthtech, logistics, e-commerce, cybersecurity, legal/insurance, dev tools, climate/energy, media/gaming, and so on).

• Lens 2, stage: seed, Series A/B (often the mid-level sweet spot), late-stage/scale-up, big tech, enterprise/non-tech, agency, or bootstrapped.

• Lens 3, relationship to AI: AI infra and tooling, AI-native apps, or traditional companies adding AI (the biggest and most underrated opportunity). Skip the foundation labs for now unless you have research chops.

Quick priority-to-type guide:

• Want cash now → big tech or late-stage

• Want ownership and equity → seed to Series B

• Want to learn fast → early-stage startups

• Want a brand → known big tech or a hot growth-stage name

• Want stability → profitable, public, or well-funded growth

• Want deep AI work → AI-native app or AI infra companies

Output: one clear profile, for example "early-stage AI app companies in healthtech."

Step 3: Build your raw company list

Turn that profile into a list of 10 to 100 real companies.

If you already know companies you want, dump them all in now. If you are starting from zero, run these moves:

• Start from your advantages: industries you have worked in or near (even non-engineering), tools you use weekly, problems that annoy you, topics you read for fun.

• Consumption audit: list every app and tool you used this week. Each one is a company that hires engineers.

• Follow the pain: where is AI creating urgency, who is hiring hard, who is behind and scrambling to catch up.

• Use discovery sources: YC and Work at a Startup, Wellfound, Crunchbase, LinkedIn (company, jobs, and people tabs), levels.fyi, G2 and Capterra, Product Hunt, hiring.cafe, and GitHub.

Then fill in the brackets below and paste it into ChatGPT or Claude to generate industries and companies fast:

You are helping me choose which companies to target for a software engineering job search. Here is my situation:

- Current role and level: [e.g., mid-level backend engineer, 3 years]
- Tech stack and strengths: [e.g., Python, Node, Postgres, some AWS]
- Domains I know well: [e.g., fintech, e-commerce]
- Education: [e.g., self-taught / state-school CS / bootcamp]
- Location and remote preference: [e.g., Los Angeles, open to remote]
- Target compensation: [e.g., $150K+ total]
- Risk tolerance: [e.g., open to startups / prefer stability]
- What I want more of: [e.g., ownership, AI work, learning speed]
- Role I am aiming for: [e.g., AI engineer building LLM features]

Based on this, do the following:
1. Suggest 5 to 8 industries or market segments where I would have an advantage and where hiring is active.
2. For each segment, explain in one or two sentences why it fits me specifically.
3. Give me 20 to 30 real companies across those segments that hire people with my profile, mixing stages, and note the stage next to each.
4. Flag which of these are actively integrating AI or building AI products, since that is my focus.
5. Point out 3 to 5 obscure, under-the-radar problems in these segments that a small portfolio project could tackle to stand out.

Be specific and realistic. Do not just list the biggest famous companies.

Verify the companies are real, currently hiring, and right for your level, then keep the ones that actually interest you.

Output: a rough list of 10 to 100 companies.

Step 4: Filter for fit (aim where you can win)

Sort the list against your own background so you target companies where you can realistically win and a strong project closes the rest of the gap.

Match on:

• Domain: weight companies in industries you have worked in or near. It lowers their risk and is one of your biggest edges.

• Stack: favor companies whose tools overlap yours, and use the project to prove any new stack (like AI) you have not been paid for yet.

• Level: aim mostly at companies where your experience maps cleanly, plus a few reaches. Do not point your whole list at the most famous names.

• No degree or non-traditional path: weight toward startups, AI-native companies, and anyone who hires on take-homes or work samples. Your Signal Project is the equalizer that replaces the credential.

Then sort every company into:

• Match: your profile fits cleanly. Put most of your list here.

• Reach: a step above you. Keep a handful where a great project plus a referral could tip it.

• Safety: you clearly clear the bar. Keep a few for momentum.

Output: a filtered list weighted toward matches.

Step 5: Lock it in

Finalize the list and write your target statement.

• A final list of 10 to 100 real companies.

• One sentence you can say without hedging, for example: "early-stage AI application companies in health tech, hiring engineers at my level, remote or in LA."

If you cannot write that sentence cleanly, you are not done with Step 2 yet.

Output: your locked target and list. This is the direct input to Phase 2: Market Research.

Avoid these

• "I just want a job anywhere." Too vague to build a targeted project. Pick a direction.

• Targeting all of tech. No focus means no signal.

• Chasing only the famous names. Maximum competition, low conversion for most profiles.

• Ignoring your own advantages. Your past industry and your stack are your edge.

• Picking a space you have zero interest in. Your research and outreach will fall flat.

• Choosing companies you cannot picture a project for. If you cannot imagine the build, it is not on the list yet.

Go deeper: the full doc

This is the quick-start. The attached document walks through the exact process, the full company-type breakdown, the priority mapping, and worked examples for different backgrounds. Read it whenever you want the depth behind any step.