If you run a small dev agency or freelance, the hard part usually isn't the work. It's knowing which companies have a reason to buy right now, before ten other agencies email them.
These are the five public signals I check every week, in the order I trust them.
1. A fresh funding round (last 14 days)
New money comes with a roadmap that's bigger than the team. The first weeks after an announcement are when founders decide what gets built in-house and what doesn't. Last week, for example: AI voice agents · Series A · $27.5M · Nov 6. After about 30 days the plan is usually set.
2. Engineering roles that stay open
A careers page with several engineering roles means the backlog is growing faster than hiring. Of the 71 freshly funded US companies I checked since mid-October, 24 had engineering roles open at the same time.
3. A new product line or launch
A launch usually brings integrations, a mobile version, internal tools and maintenance that nobody budgeted headcount for.
4. A small team with a big round
A 10-person company that just raised a Series A can't hire 15 engineers in a quarter. That gap is often where an outside team gets its first project.
5. Founder-led technical decisions
At seed and Series A the founder or CTO still picks vendors. You talk to the person who decides, not a procurement form.
How to use them
- Stack them. One signal is noise; two or three together are a reason to reach out.
- Lead with their situation, not your portfolio. "You just raised and you're hiring 4 engineers" says more than "we build great apps".
- Move fast. A list from last month is mostly stale.
Question for you: what was the actual signal behind your last client? Was it on this list, or something completely different (a referral, a job post, a tweet)?
I track freshly funded US companies with these signals and post a short list three times a week, free (sector, round, amount, date; no company names): t.me/usbuyers_dev. I run that channel. Danilo, Xenluma, BD partner for software agencies.
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