Process was extensive - had multiple interviews with the success team (who were amazing), and a few with the upper management. Really solid success team! There was a standard QBR presentation included to highlight speaking skills and data ability. I ended my journey after 7 connects (over 4-5 weeks) with an interview with one of the cofounders who I could tell would have rather have been anywhere else, and found him quite pompous and challenging to connect with. Everyone else was super nice, inquisitive, and easy to speak with.
Ultimately, I am giving this a negative review as I felt very connected to the team with whom I would have been working, and had really positive reinforcement throughout the process. That said, the interaction with the cofounder was both uncomfortable and unnecessary, and ultimately what I was able to glean the ultimate “no” after many rounds of “yes” (reinforcement was confirmed I’d be a great fit by the recruiter and team members - not just in my head.) It was both confusing and disappointing.
After working startups for many years and seeing this more than once, I believe that once a team has hit a certain size, that unless the founders are working closely day to day w/the individual, the team leader(s) should have ultimate decision making ownership, and it’s unnecessary to have interviews with members that ultimately rarely interact with the role. It puts extra time strain on the candidate, and honestly just a test of if the founder/ceo likes them or not. Not the team with whom the candidate would be working.
Unrequested advice: team culture is as important as company culture - so don’t push for interviews with founders who have trouble relinquishing control/no interest in hiring someone different from them, and trust the leaders you’ve hired to build out the vision underneath.