ZipRecruiter started as a side project: four friends wanted a way to post one job to dozens of job boards at once. It grew into a marketplace that used software to match employers with job seekers, and it spent heavily on TV ads to reach small businesses. When it went public in May 2021, the economy was reopening, employers were struggling to hire, and help-wanted signs hung in shop windows across the country.

Built for the Small Employer

Ian Siegel, Ward Poulos, Joe Edmonds, and Willis Guo founded ZipRecruiter in Santa Monica in 2010. Big companies had recruiters and expensive hiring software. A dentist or a plumber hiring one person did not. ZipRecruiter's bet was that small employers would pay a simple fee to post a job widely and have the software rank applicants for them. It paid for growth with radio and TV ads.

A Direct Listing

ZipRecruiter went public through a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange on May 26, 2021, selling no new shares. The NYSE set a reference price of $18, the stock opened at $19.80, and it closed at $21.10, up 17 percent. Hiring cooled after 2022, and revenue shrank. By August 2026 the shares traded below $5, and ZipRecruiter still trades on the NYSE as ZIP.

Cover: Workmen at Carrara, John Singer Sargent. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for workmen at a quarry (people at work).