Ask HN: What Are Some Startup Red Flags from a Candidate Perspective? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What Are Some Startup Red Flags from a Candidate Perspective?

5 pointshyper_rant6 comments

I'm going to have an interview with a very early-stage startup soon. What should I watch out for? What smart questions can I ask to uncover red flags?

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"If it sounds too good to be true – it ain't"

I like to ask if I'm replacing someone. Why did they leave?

If the interview process to acquire talent takes too long / too short – what's the rhythm of management / hiring. If there's obvious issues in this department, what makes me think their products are any better?

I go through a methodology:

1) Do they offer routine / standard perks? If not, that tells me they're not competitive and out-of-touch. This includes things like a sane salary expectation and PTO.

2) Are they overselling on perks / mission / culture? I'm getting paid GOOD money to do this job, I really don't care if it means I get a "Free Lunch" or I get to "solve hard problems".

3) Do the people I talk to seem like people I'd work with? Would I trust these people with my money, moreover my space/time/privacy?

4) What's their presence look like? Do they open-source popular tools? Do they publish books / articles / papers? Do they maintain a healthy social media presence / blog? Do their employees do publicity?

LAST AND MOST IMPORTANT: Can they even put up a decent website?

Ask about their runway/burn rate, and how they plan to raise more money (i.e. what milestones they plan to reach and how that gets them through a new round). This should be an easy question. Not being able to answer it or dissembling is a big red flag.

Ask to meet the co-founders and see if you get along with them. If not, bail. If something about them seems odd, bail. Trust your instinct on this. You’ll end up spending a LOT of time with them, it’s not worth it if they’re jerks (even brilliant ones).

Find out how many people are working for the startup and their backgrounds. This is super important to do either as research before or after, to find out if you are going to be working with truly A-players. Overlooking this aspect might be ok in the short run but as with many startups, people do get laid off at some point (or the idea fails to take off) so to get maximum benefit during your time, expose yourself to excellent colleagues who will grow your skillset.

I would make sure to do your dd on the founders, especially if it is pre-funding, and make sure they can walk the talk. Do this on your own not over the phone. Also any amateurish moves like asking for NDAs. Or asking you to build their app for them as a work sample. (Literally have had this happen.)

- They have their corporate culture on the walls.

- They do not have a one year roadmap, on what customers they plan to attract.

- Median employee length of stay.

- Open work desks - no, it does not mean they have an Open culture. In fact, it often means the opposite.

- employee turnover - immaturity of hiring manager - what experience do they have leading - given a simple task, what is their estimate of the time required - did they let any leadership go already - where did the funding come from

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