"As a new grad without relevant work experience, or as a career shifter without a relevant degree, getting a first job is very painful" - Absolutely true.
I've spent a good chunk of the past few months mentoring a cousin to help him get his first job in Tech. He studied computer science, has a great GPA, can actually build stuff, but went to a not so well known college in California and didn't have any top tech company internships under his belt.
Very few companies responded to his applications (< 1% positive response) and he really had to hustle his way to get noticed (cold emails, milking his and my personal network for introductions to engineering managers, etc).
Companies like TripleByte seem to have shifted more towards the senior software engineer category, so I see tremendous value in targeting entry-level positions.
Questions: How do you plan to effectively source candidates that are able to pass your assessment? I think an interesting starting point would be to work with graduates of not well-known computer science programs. I think people generally under-estimate the difficulty of getting foot in the door at reputed Tech companies, when you didn't study at a top 10 CS program, and they would probably be the closest group, on average, to passing your technical assessment.
In my conversations with fast-growing companies in the Bay, I got the sense that the demand for senior software engineers far outstrips demand for entry-level / internship positions. Have you noticed the same trend, and as a result are you working mostly with already established larger companies?
Congrats again. Always happy to see more people tackle this problem. We need to create a more accessible, meritocratic pathway to work in Tech.