Prepping for job interview at startup

Disney
wellin

Go to company page Disney

wellin
Nov 10, 2021 9 Comments

I have an interview with a recruiter at a startup. I’m very excited about the role, but I am not familiar at all about employment at startups. In the past 10 years I’ve only worked in large, medium corporate companies.

What kinds of questions should I be asking to better understand their outlook, stability, compensation, etc? Thanks in advance!

Edited: the company has about 51-200 employees per LinkedIn and is hiring a bunch of roles so they seem to be growing.

#Interviewing
#startup

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TOP 9 Comments
  • New
    Cryptonyte

    New

    Cryptonyte
    1) what round of funding is the startup in?
    2) what are the founders background? Do they have a history of successful exits?
    3) How many options will you be given? What % of ownership do these options represent? What’s the strike price for said options? What’s the vesting schedule? How much time do you have to exercise these options when you leave?
    4) Who will you be reporting to? Will this be a leadership role?

    I’ve done back to back startups now and I’m ready to go back to boring and stable. Think carefully and make sure this is going to benefit your career because no matter what people say, startups are inherently risky and you need to make sure you’re up for the chaos.
    Nov 10, 2021 2
    • Great advice. Also in shockingly large number of cases they refuse to answer what percentage of ownership do the granted options represent. You have no way to know if you are getting anything of value when they do it.

      Additionally, keep in mind that with early stage startups, whatever they give you can and will be easily diluted. You can start with 5% ownership and end with 0.05% after several rounds of raising money. The only time you can assume some stability is if the company doesn't intend any more investment rounds and is prepping for IPO or acquisition. Nobody will disclose that to a random candidate though.

      Bottomline: startups are very high risk and usually chaotic.
      Nov 10, 2021
    • Disney
      wellin

      Go to company page Disney

      wellin
      OP
      Thanks for the great advice! I had the initial screening with the recruiter. The company is in series C funding with $600-$700M valuation—so they seem to have less risk than I thought. I will ask the other questions about IPO date, options, etc. when I follow up. Thank you!
      Nov 10, 2021
  • Splunk
    Dr.Octopus

    Go to company page Splunk

    Dr.Octopus
    IPO date
    Nov 10, 2021 0
  • Snap
    enigmatic0

    Go to company page Snap

    enigmatic0
    One way to stand out is to talk to the startup’s customers and bring a few learning to the table.

    As for questions to ask them: https://www.productlessons.xyz/article/good-questions-to-ask-interviewer
    Nov 10, 2021 2
  • New
    hbghx57dx

    New

    hbghx57dx
    Ask about ARR growth yoy and targets going forward.
    Nov 10, 2021 0
  • run
    Nov 10, 2021 0