The market is bad but there is still demand for top performers. It's hard to give advice without further details. Market rules apply. But MIT and olympiad background is strong enough to get interviews.
We've had to resort back to outbound using headhunters we've worked with. It's okay for us since we can afford it, but I doubt many startups pre-Series B can afford the services of headhunters or even inhouse recruiting.
Open to solutions and new ideas tbh.