Some employers ask candidates for a polished cover letter. LemonLime asked for something far more permanent.
Jordan Zietz, co-founder of the AI startup LemonLime, is now facing backlash after a hiring stunt offered job seekers an immediate interview if they agreed to get the company’s logo tattooed on their body.
Zietz, whose company is backed by Y Combinator, has been trying to contain the fallout after the stunt at LemonLime’s afterparty during Y Combinator’s Startup School in San Francisco drew widespread attention online for all the wrong reasons.
At the event, the startup hired a tattoo artist and told attendees they could secure an “instant interview” by getting a LemonLime tattoo on the spot.
“We are bold, we take risks, and we do things that haven’t been done before,” Zietz wrote in a LinkedIn post that was later deleted.
He went further in the same post, writing: “Being committed to our mission is paramount. Pre-requisites for building the future. If you’re reaching out to us to apply for a job, you might want to take notes.”
The reaction was swift and overwhelmingly negative. After screenshots circulated on X, critics accused the startup of taking advantage of eager tech workers hoping to break into a difficult job market.
Others said the spectacle felt like something lifted from an episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror.
Still, seven people took the company up on the offer and walked away with permanent LemonLime logo tattoos.
Zietz and the company’s CTO, Daniela Munoz, also got the startup’s logo tattooed.
As the backlash snowballed, Zietz admitted he “messed up” in a lengthy apology posted to X.
He also pledged that LemonLime would cover laser tattoo removal costs for anyone who later experiences “delayed regret.”
Despite the controversy, the company told Inc. Magazine that all seven participants remain in the interview process for AI and engineering roles.
The damage did not stop there.
Dimple Amitha Garuadapuri, an independent women’s health startup founder who appeared in photos from the original announcement, later said LemonLime had used her image without permission.
She said she was not applying for a job, did not get the company logo tattooed and had simply received a personal tattoo while attending the event.
