How Vapi Saved $100k+ on Founding Leadership Hires

Hypergrowth and Building a World-Class Team

Vapi is building infrastructure for voice AI, enabling developers to embed realistic programmable voice agents into their applications. However, their rapid growth - led to the need for rapid hiring. 

Rather than turning to a search firm, they looked for a solution that could grant everyone visibility and participation into the hiring process—founders, recruiters, and hiring managers alike, while maintaining speed and precision.

Juicebox quickly became the foundation for their in-house recruiting engine.

A Collaborative, All-Hands on Deck Approach to Hiring

At Vapi, hiring for the early team was always a company-wide effort. Founders led outreach. Hiring managers owned calibration. Recruiters worked across functions. 

With Juicebox, the entire team could collaborate in one unified place. 

The platform provided access to shared projects, reliable data-rich searches, and built-in outbound sequencing that made it easy for anyone (technical or not) to jump in and contribute. And within a month, Juicebox became the default starting point for every new role search.

This adoption allowed the team to move fast without the handoffs, blockers, or guesswork that typically slow down early-stage hiring.

High-Quality Outreach at Scale

Rather than rely on volume alone, Vapi prioritized high-quality, personalized outreach. They sent over 3,500 personalized emails through Juicebox and achieved results beyond what was believed possible with a lean team — a 70% open rate, and 12% interested rate on outbound emails. 

The combination of speed and precision meant the team could reach strong talent before competitors did, and do so in a way that felt intentional and human.

Filling Key Roles Entirely In-House

Among the hires made was a VP of Engineering—a role that typically commands a $100,000–$150,000 executive search fee.

By keeping this work in-house, Vapi saved significant budget, while remaining full in control of the process. Juicebox’s high-signal filters gave them the precision and structure they needed to confidently hire for senior leadership without outsourcing.

A Repeatable Recruiting Engine, Built In-House

Juicebox helped Vapi scale without compromising quality. The platform gave their team accessible, but powerful recruiting tools to move fast, recruit strategically, and stay aligned as they grew.

• Built their founding team across engineering, design, and sales

• Reached over 3,500 high-quality talent profiles with personalized outreach

• Achieved a 70% open rate and 12% interested rate

• Filled executive and IC roles without relying on a search firm