The Vision of Planetary Talent — Launch Podcast With ICT Podcast

Last week, our co-founders Jacob Schlittenhardt and Mark Janzen joined the ICT Podcast to pull back the curtain on the vision, mission, and origin story behind Planetary Talent. If you’ve ever wondered how a sci-fi fitness game turned into a global hiring platform—or why we say things like “Deep Matching™” and “Earthlings only”—this is the episode to tune into.

Here are some highlights from the conversation:

From Sci-Fi Workouts to Global Hiring Systems

The origin of Planetary Talent wasn’t a traditional business plan—it was a weekend project. Mark and Jacob were building a sci-fi audio game that responded to your heart rate during workouts. It used AI to tell dynamic, immersive stories in real time. That same storytelling-first tech would soon be reimagined for a new purpose: solving the hiring crisis.

As they told it, recruiting is storytelling. A candidate’s journey. A company’s mission. The meeting point? That’s the match. And that insight became the catalyst.

“Talent is Equally Distributed. Access Isn’t.”

One of the most powerful moments came when Jacob shared a core belief at Planetary Talent: “Since the dawn of time, talent has been equally distributed—it just hasn’t been equally accessible.” That belief shaped everything. If the best person for the job lives in Argentina, why shouldn’t a startup in Kansas hire them? The answer: they should. And Planetary Talent makes it easy.

Not Just Global—Interplanetary

Okay, not yet. But we’re thinking ahead.

Mark explained that as space exploration evolves, Earth will always need to support humans off-planet. “Every person in space is going to have a staff of 100 people back here on Earth,” he noted. So yes, our long-term vision includes Mars. For now, we’re focused on Earth—and we guarantee all our hires are human. Verified Earthlings only.

Human-Centered, AI-Powered

While others explore AI-based candidates, Planetary Talent is human-first. Our proprietary system blends AI screening with human curation. We even write a fictional “perfect candidate” profile and match real applicants to that persona. No more resume roulette. Just 3–5 deeply matched candidates in less than 10 days.

We also provide equipment, onboarding, and localized benefits across borders. If a candidate needs a laptop or better internet, we handle it. If a hiring manager needs a dream team yesterday—we’re already on it.

Work Should Be Fun

At Planetary Talent, we believe work should be meaningful, global, and yes—fun. That’s why our site includes lore, not just job listings. We tell stories, build worlds, and help companies see talent as characters in their future—not just lines on a resume.

We’re not just building a staffing platform. We’re reverse engineering the hiring system of the year 2125 using today’s tools.

🎧 Want to hear the full origin story?
Listen to the Planetary Talent Launch episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch the video on YouTube.