This Bootstrapped Recruitment Company That Grew Entirely by Word of Mouth

Most recruitment companies place a candidate and move on. Zoran Lazić didn’t want to build that kind of business. After more than a decade as a software engineer and engineering leader, he launched FatCat Remote in 2018 with no funding, no safety net, and a completely different idea about what hiring should look like.

In this interview, Zoran shares how he bootstrapped a remote hiring company from scratch, why he went years as the lowest-paid person on his own team, and what finally pushed him to take growth and marketing seriously. He also talks about the hard lesson of becoming a bottleneck in your own company and how he worked his way out of it. If you’re building a service business on referrals alone or trying to figure out when to start investing in sales, this one’s worth your time.

Tell us about yourself and your business.

I started my career as a software engineer back in 2006. Over the years, I worked in senior and lead engineering roles, and at one point, I was deeply involved in hiring and scaling teams. In one of my early roles, I helped hire around 70 engineers for a product company. That experience shaped how I think about people, teams, and long-term quality in hiring.

In 2018, after years of building software and teams for other companies, I decided to start my own business. Initially, FatCat Remote began as a mix of outsourcing and freelance recruitment. Over time, we realized that neither classic outsourcing nor traditional recruitment fully solved client problems. Today, we focus on managed hire and direct hire, combining long-term hiring with hands-on involvement to make sure placements actually work in real teams.

FatCat Remote works primarily with companies looking to build reliable engineering teams without the usual hiring risks. Instead of placing people and walking away, we stay involved, support performance, and ensure both clients and engineers succeed long-term.

How does your business make money?

We make money in two main ways. The first is through direct hire, where we charge a placement fee for successfully hiring engineers and specialists for our clients. The second is managed hire, where clients pay a monthly fee while we actively manage, support, and monitor the engineers working with them.

The core idea is simple: We don’t just place people to earn a fee. Instead, we focus on long-term success so clients trust us, stay with us, and come back when they need to grow again.

What was your inspiration for starting the business?

The main inspiration came from frustration with how many companies measure work. In one of my previous roles, promotions and recognition were based on how long someone sat in the office, not on output or quality. I was delivering more than most people, but because I didn’t want to spend unnecessary hours in the office, that didn’t matter.

That experience pushed me to create a company where performance, quality, and work-life balance matter more than appearances. At the beginning, FatCat Remote wasn’t really about building a business. It was about building a healthier environment for people. The business side grew naturally later.

How and when did you launch the business?

I officially launched FatCat Remote in 2018. I left my previous job in May, took a few months off, and started the company in September.

At the very beginning, I had no funding and no safety net. I secured two outsourcing projects, hired a small junior team, and personally mentored them while working as the technical lead. That’s how the business started, step by step.

How is the business funded? 

The business was completely bootstrapped. There were no investors and no external funding.

In the early days, I had no real income and reinvested everything back into the company. The first few projects allowed us to survive, hire people, and slowly stabilize operations.

How did you find your first few clients or customers?

My first clients came through my personal network. I had worked with many people over the years, and they trusted how I hired, built teams, and delivered results. When they needed outsourcing or hiring support, they reached out directly.

We didn’t do any marketing or sales outreach at the beginning. Everything came through referrals and word of mouth from people who had already worked with me.

What was your first year in business like?

The first few years were intense. I was the lowest-paid person in the company and worked full days, often covering only basic living expenses. For a long time, I didn’t really earn anything.

I was acting as the tech lead on most projects, mentoring teams, building recruitment processes, and supporting clients directly. Until around 2021 or 2022, the focus was survival and stability, not profit.

What strategies did you use to grow the business?

Honestly, we didn’t have a traditional growth strategy. We didn’t do marketing, sales campaigns, or SEO. Everything came through referrals and reputation.

Looking back, that was both a strength and a weakness. The quality of our work and reliability helped us grow organically, but we also delayed building proper sales and marketing processes. That’s something we’re focusing on more seriously now.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?

The biggest challenge was becoming a bottleneck myself. In the early days, I was involved in everything. People depended on me too much because I tried to help everywhere.

As the company grew, that became unsustainable. Letting go, delegating, and building independence inside the team was one of the hardest but most important lessons.

What have been the most significant keys to your business’s success?

The biggest factor has always been reliability. When we promise a deadline, we deliver. When we recommend a candidate, clients trust that decision.

We focus on long-term success instead of short-term profit. That approach led to strong retention, repeat clients, and a reputation that continues to drive growth through referrals.

Tell us about your team.

Today, we operate with a lean core team of four people internally, supported by four to five freelance recruiters. Most engineers work directly with our clients rather than inside our internal organization.

This structure allows us to stay flexible, efficient, and focused on quality rather than unnecessary overhead.

What was the turning point when you knew your business was successful?

There wasn’t a single dramatic moment where everything suddenly felt “safe.” Instead, confidence in the business grew over time as we proved we could handle both growth and pressure responsibly.

One of the more challenging periods came when a large client reduced their team after a management change. While difficult, it reinforced what matters most to me as a founder: taking responsibility for people. We supported everyone through the transition, ensured financial stability during the change, and helped them secure new roles quickly.

That experience confirmed that success isn’t just about growth numbers, but about running a business with integrity, accountability, and long-term thinking, even when circumstances change.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned growing the business?

The most important lesson is to focus on revenue first. Without revenue, nothing else matters. Good intentions don’t keep a company alive. Once revenue is stable, everything else becomes easier to manage.

What separates your business from your competitors?

We take a very personal, tailored approach. We don’t run generic processes or mass placements. We operate in specific regions where people are known, tested, and trusted. We stay involved after hiring and make sure decisions actually work long-term.

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

Focus on sales and marketing before building too much. If you can’t sell it, building it is pointless.

Sell first. Then build.

What are your future plans for the business?

Our focus going forward is on strengthening and refining how we deliver our core services. We’re gradually improving our internal processes and tooling around candidate evaluation, productivity insights, and reporting, primarily to support our clients and teams more effectively.

Any tools we build are designed to improve decision-making and transparency, not to chase technology for its own sake. We prioritize practical improvements that directly support hiring quality, team performance, and client trust, and we only introduce new capabilities when there is a clear, real-world need.

If you had to start from scratch, where would you begin?

If I started from scratch, I would probably build something new. After many years, you naturally want a change. For now, the focus is on strengthening the business, improving sales and marketing, and carefully evolving the platform only when it makes sense.

What is your favorite quote?

“The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people don’t make excuses for their failures.”