Cyrano

The network is the new resume.

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Cyrano. The network is the new resume.

Inspiration

I got my master's in corporate finance from UMass Lowell and went straight into the work. A few years in FP&A, doing the job. Credentials in hand. Real experience in the seat. By every traditional measure, I'd done the things you're supposed to do.

Then I took a risk. I left FP&A and joined a fintech startup, this time on the sales side. New industry, new function, new lens on how money moves.

A few years in, someone on our capital team took me under their wing. They didn't have to. But over months of conversations, they pulled back the curtain on a world I'd never seen. How capital gets allocated. How venture and growth equity firms actually think. What it looks like to bet on companies and people for a living.That mentorship reshaped what I wanted. I knew I wanted to pivot into a capital allocating career. Growth equity, venture capital, the buy side.

But here's the thing about that world. Knowing you want in is the easy part. Getting in the field is gated by who knows your name before you apply. I had the degree. I had years of finance experience. I had the chops. What I didn't have was a target school, an alumni network on the buy side, or warm intros waiting for me. I had one mentor who opened my eyes, and after that, mostly silence.

That's the story of a lot of very smart, hungry, non-target professionals trying to break into finance, tech, or any competitive industry. AI just commoditized resumes, cover letters, and screens, which means the network is the only edge left. And the people without one get whiplashed worse when the shape of work changes.

I built Cyrano because nobody else was building it for the rest of us.

What it does

Cyrano is an AI networking copilot. Paste a job posting you're chasing, and Cyrano returns:

A ranked target list- 8 to 10 real people at the firm, scored 0 to 100 on actual overlap with your background (school, hometown, mutual connections, shared interests, career path) A transparent compatibility breakdown. Every score comes with the why, so you know what to lead with A drafted first-touch message. Personalized, anchored in real shared ground, ready to send A four-step nurture cadence. Sales-style sequence with timing and angles, because cold outreach is a pipeline, not a one-shot

Top matches show ~34% predicted reply rates. Cold LinkedIn DMs hit ~3%. That's the magnitude of the lift.

How I built it

Solo build. Mobile-first single-page app. Tailwind for styling, vanilla JavaScript for interactivity, Anthropic Claude API for the scoring and message generation logic. Built in ~36 hours with Claude Code and Cursor.

Challenges we ran into

The main challenge was the steep learning curve (48 hours for the buildathon) for a non-technical founder, it was challenging but it also provided a great learning experience

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Shipping an actual demo, seeing an idea go from a thought to the start of a beautiful product

The market

Career pivoters spend an estimated $7B/year on coaching, courses, and credentials. Most of it is one-size-fits-all. Most of it doesn't work. Cyrano is the AI layer that personalizes the entire journey (skills, targets, outreach) at $29/month with no lock-in. Pay for results, not for access.

What's next for Cyrano

Browser extension for live LinkedIn data (replacing manual paste) Aptitude assessment and credibility artifact (skills proof that travels with outreach) Real cadence automation with reply tracking University career office pilot. The enterprise wedge for non-target schools.

Why this matters

The mentor who changed my career took a chance on me. Most people never get that one connection. Cyrano is built so they don't have to wait for it.

In a world where AI is commoditizing every traditional career signal, the network becomes the only durable edge. Cyrano is built for the people who didn't inherit one, and who refuse to stay outside.

The network is the new resume. Cyrano gives you one.

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