Hashlist’s clients are both companies and coders. Hashlist is initiating contact and facilitating trust between companies and remote developers faster than ever. “So really what we strive to do is to enable recruiting companies to go from sourcing, directly to onboarding a developer into a company’s own team with only a few clicks. It’s all about making things easy”, says William Engblom, Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board, Hashlist.

The company is owned by three young talents. Together, William Engblom, Carl-Wilhelm “Calle” Unnérus and Maximilian Wittmer make a unique and multitalented team. They come from different backgrounds, but what they all have in common is curiosity, a strong will and creative thinking.

Maximillian Wittmer, CTO of Hashlist, breaks the stereotype of a typical programmer being a silent, introvert behind the computer. “If I were a stereotypical coder, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far”, he says. Max is responsible for the engineering side of the business, while William oversees the business and selling, and Calle is responsible for the business operations. As a leader, Calle is very hands on and tactical. He asks a lot of questions to make sure that everybody understands what they are doing, and most importantly, he understand what everybody are doing as well. He helps employees set goals and he makes sure that everybody enjoys working at Hashlist.

“I do believe that a company’s success is a lot about taking responsibility and ownership. To me, taking responsibility means that when you are told to do something and you promise to do it, you always deliver what is promised. “Taking ownership means taking responsibility over how the outcome of your work affects the company as a whole - and trying to maximize that impact” CEO & Co-Founder Calle Unnérus explains.

 “You can learn everything twice: Firstly, when you are told something and secondly when you actually make the mistake. At Talentrator we allow bets to happen.”

/ Maximilian Wittmer /

Why is recruiting a programmer so hard?

The market is filled with entry level coders, which makes it hard for tech teams to find the right talent. In other words, it’s not hard to find a coder, but it can be extremely difficult to find a coder with just the right skills and experience. Moreover, it’s easy to get a hundred job applications from coders, but it’s hard to tell which two or three applicants are the best fit for the project and the team. Hashlist has a system that tests all programmers who applies through Hashlist’s online platform. Through this process, Hashlist is able to find the best 2-4% of the applicants, which the tech team can further interview and hire.

The programmers that are hired through Hashlist’s platform are not consultants. Also, they are not Hashlist’s developers, but independent developers. The vision is that the programmers find meaningful jobs, not just a financial agreement though which a programmer works for a company and earns some money. “The idea is to enable companies to find developers that are truly passionate about what they are building, who understand the problem and the vision and who would want to be a part of their new company even for their whole career. “, William Engblom explains.

To whom would you recommend co-operation with Vencubator?

When Hashlist was an early-stage startup, Vencubator provided us with an office space as well as with invaluable knowledge around legal documents and help with starting up the business, says William. Vencubator is a brilliant partner for a very early-state start up. You can be a first- or second-time founder, either way, it is useful service just to get the company started. Vencubator understands both the corporate and the startup side, but you should not approach Vencubator empty handed. Have a brilliant business idea that solves a real problem. Then show up, learn and make the tough calls. In other words, you are still the one who needs to do the work.

This is what Hashlist has done too. The founders have a huge passion, they enjoy their work and they have good connection with each other. However, they strongly believe that there must also be life outside of work. You can easily be involved with a startup for 5 to 7 years, so they believe in approaching it as a marathon, not a sprint. “Because we are still very young, it’s important to realize that there is so much for us to learn. Therefore, we need to understand when to ask for help and feedback”, William says.