It always surprises me to see startups limiting their hiring to cities like Seattle, SF, NYC, London, or Zurich.
The world is full of incredible engineering talent. In South Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, France) and LATAM, you can often build an entire team for the cost of a single engineer in those high-cost hubs.
In my experience, engineers outside those expensive markets are equally (if not more) skilled, deeply motivated, and focused on delivering value, not just chasing the highest total compensation package.
Global talent is a huge opportunity. Limiting your search to a few cities or just your country might mean missing out on extraordinary people and smarter ways to scale.