How The Founders of Take2 Are Replacing Resumes With Real Skills
Mar 19, 2026
Imagine applying for a job from the comfort of your bed, interviewing on the spot, and landing an in-person interview the very next day. This is the vision that Kaushik Narasimhan and Yaniv Shimoni, co-founders of Take2 (Techstars 2023), are building.
Kaushik and Yaniv recently shared their journey of disrupting traditional hiring, moving away from a reliance on static resumes, and leveraging AI to focus on what truly matters: a candidate’s skills.
A Mission for Opportunity
For Take2, the motivation is deeply personal. Kaushik, a first-generation college student, experienced firsthand how technology could open doors to opportunities. Together with Yaniv, his classmate from Stanford Business School, they recognized a critical inefficiency in the labor market.
“Our mission has always been the same,” says one of the founders. “How do you unlock people's talent and detective skills in a way that's better than just starting a thousands of resumes?”
They identified frontline roles, starting with healthcare, as a major pain point. Healthcare companies struggle to manage a massive volume of applicants while also facing high turnover rates. Sifting through thousands of resumes is not only time-consuming and expensive but often fails to identify the candidates with the best on-the-job potential.
Building AI Agents for Better, Faster Hiring
Take2 is solving this by building AI agents that act as frontline recruiters. These virtual interview experiences automate the initial screening process. Crucially, they go beyond simple keyword matching, common in older resume-screening software. Take2’s platform focuses on assessing candidates based on the actual skills and scenarios they will encounter on the job.
This approach provides dual benefits. It helps companies “save millions of dollars and hire better people faster,” while also making the application process more interactive and engaging for the job seeker.
Techstars Support
While their idea was strong, navigating the early stages of a startup requires more than just a vision. The founders turned to Techstars for the necessary “discipline and the structure that we felt we needed at that early stage.”
Their time at Techstars proved pivotal. The program provided the framework they needed to hone in on their ideal customer profile (ICP), more clearly define the problem they were solving, and determine how to measure success.
Knowing When to Pivot
A critical part of the Techstars experience was learning to listen to market feedback. The program “accelerated an understanding of needing to pivot and accelerating an understanding of listening to signals in the market.” This responsiveness is key for any early-stage company trying to build a product that truly solves a market need.
This focus and refinement paid off. The founders note that their work within the Techstars program directly led to raising their seed round just two weeks after completing it.
The Power of a Co-founder
One of Take2's core strengths lies in the dynamic between its co-founders. “We have very different perspectives and together it mixes really well,” they explain.
To efficiently run the business, they have a clear division of responsibilities:
Customer-Facing Operations: One founder focuses on market-facing initiatives, managing client relationships and sales.
Product & Engineering: The other manages operations, product development, and the engineering team, ensuring a strong product that meets client needs.
This division of labor is essential as the company matures. They’ve transitioned from an early-stage “saying yes to everything” mentality, where “the process almost doesn't matter as much as the outcomes do,” to investing in structured processes, outcomes, and cadences that will lay the foundation for a “really scalable, successful company.”
Advice for Aspiring Founders
Building a company is a marathon, not a sprint. Kaushik and Yaniv’s advice to other founders is to:
Believe in the mission: A strong core purpose is what sustains a team through unavoidable “ups and downs, and... pitfalls in places where you're kind of discouraged.”
Persevere: The ability to “just stick at it” is one of the most important founder traits. One founder shared a raw truth: “I just don't have it in me to give up. So sometimes I'll suffer, but I won't give up.”
Iterate and learn: Don’t be discouraged by setbacks. Instead, “trust the process, set certain milestones so you can actually learn and iterate.”
Surround yourself with support: Having a strong support system is critical for mental well-being and drawing from their energy during low moments.
Opportunity at the Speed of Intent
Looking forward, Take2 aims to expand beyond healthcare and improve recruiting for all industries touching frontline workers, from hospitality to retail.
Their ultimate goal is a frictionless process where people can easily access a job from their bed, complete an interview, and secure an opportunity by the next day. This vision would “dramatically reduce the time spent interviewing such people, increased access to opportunity, and really opportunity at the speed of intent. That's what we want to be.”
With recent funding in hand and a commitment to replacing resumes with real skills, Take2 is well on its way to making that vision a reality for millions of job seekers.