Jordan Zietz, CEO and cofounder of Y Combinator-backed AI automation startup LemonLime, is facing intense backlash after offering instant job interviews to anyone who got a company tattoo at a recent YC Startup School after-party.

Y Combinator, one of the most influential startup accelerators in Silicon Valley and an early backer of companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit, hosts Startup School events to connect founders with its broader community. The after-party where the tattoo offer was made followed one such gathering.

In a now-deleted LinkedIn post, Zietz said seven people accepted the offer and received tattoos from an artist the company had brought to the event. The five-month-old, five-person company hosted the gathering, Zietz wrote, "to meet exceptional people, and find out which of them are just as crazy as we are." He added that prospective applicants "might want to take notes."

The post sparked immediate criticism online, with many questioning whether a punishing job market had driven people to such extremes merely to secure an interview. The tech industry has experienced significant layoffs and tightened hiring since 2023, intensifying competition for roles at early-stage startups—particularly those carrying the YC badge, which often signals credibility to investors and applicants alike.

"Imagine getting branded with the LemonLime logo for a job interview, then getting rejected," one user wrote on X.

"The job market cannot be this cooked that kids have to get permanent tattoos to get interviews," wrote another.

Zietz and Y Combinator did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment.

Following the outcry, Zietz removed the LinkedIn post and issued an apology. He clarified that the company had offered free tattoos to all attendees and that no one was compelled to get the LemonLime logo. However, his original post had explicitly promised an interview to anyone who got "a LemonLime tattoo" — not a tattoo of their own choosing.

"What I thought would be a fun, memorable way to meet people was, in reality, reckless, and instead came across as tying a permanent tattoo to job opportunity, which showed poor judgement," Zietz wrote.

He noted that interviews were open to everyone regardless of whether they got a tattoo. All seven tattoo recipients remain in the interview process, and Zietz along with several LemonLime founding team members also received the tattoo themselves.

Dimple Amitha Garuadapuri, founder of women's health startup Stri Health, was featured in Zietz's deleted post. In a separate post on X, she said that while she personally did not get the company logo, "almost everyone else got a LemonLime logo tattoo." Garuadapuri said she opted for an unspecified "personal" tattoo instead, adding, "I love it."

Not everyone condemned the stunt. Palmer Luckey, founder of defense technology company Anduril, replied to Zietz's apology on X telling him not to apologize because "The critics will never be satisfied."

"I have no problem with adults deciding to get a tattoo. We don't need to infantilize college-educated adults as kids who need to be protected by their betters," Luckey wrote in a follow-up post.

The incident highlights the increasingly blurred lines between startup recruiting, brand stunts, and social media spectacle—a culture that has produced viral hiring campaigns from companies across the tech sector. Whether such tactics attract genuine talent or primarily generate attention remains an open question for early-stage founders navigating a crowded market.

In his apology, Zietz acknowledged that the "company stunt was poorly exercised judgement" and that he had gotten "carried away."

"We've taken the posts down and have spoken to everyone who participated. We're also ready to cover associated removal costs with anyone facing any delayed regret," he wrote.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.