The startup interview process, stage by stage: what each round is for and how to handle it

A startup interview loop is shorter and less standardised than a big company's, which makes it both faster and more confusing. Here is what each stage is for, from the other side of the table.

Stage 0: the application

Read by a human, usually the hiring manager or a founder, usually within a day or two of posting. What they're looking for: one line that shows you understood what they do, and one link that shows what you've made. Long cover letters are skimmed; a résumé that lists outcomes ("cut p95 latency from 800ms to 120ms", "grew paid signups 3× in two quarters") is read.

Stage 1: the screening call (20–30 minutes)

Held by a recruiter if the company has one, otherwise the hiring manager. The purpose is to answer three questions: are you eligible (location, work authorisation, start date), is your salary expectation in range, and can you explain your last two jobs coherently. It is also your chance to ask the questions that would rule the role out — remote policy, core hours, the range for the role. Ask them here; it's cheaper than finding out at offer.

Stage 2: the technical or functional exercise

Three formats, and companies should tell you which before you agree:

• Take-home. A scoped task — build a small feature, analyse a dataset, write a go-to-market plan for a fictional launch, redesign a flow. Reasonable take-homes are time-boxed to two to four hours and say so; reasonable companies either pay for longer ones or replace them with a live session. A take-home that would take a weekend and looks like real company work is a red flag.
• Live exercise. Pairing on a problem for 60–90 minutes with someone from the team, in a shared editor, document or whiteboard. What's being judged is how you think, communicate and respond to hints, not whether you finish.
• Portfolio or work review. Common for design, product and marketing. You walk through something you shipped; the interviewer probes decisions. Choose the piece where you can explain trade-offs, not the prettiest one.

At a startup the exercise is usually close to the actual job — that's the point, and it's a good sign. Generic algorithm puzzles at a ten-person company suggest a process copied from somewhere else.

Stage 3: the team round

One to three conversations with people you'd work with. They're checking whether they want to sit next to you for the next two years, and you should be doing the same. Ask each of them the same two questions: what's the hardest thing about working here? and what would you change if you could? Consistency between answers tells you whether the company is honest with itself.

Stage 4: the founder round

At companies under about fifty people the CEO or a co-founder meets every hire. This is not a formality. Founders are deciding whether you believe in the thing, whether you'll be low-maintenance, and whether you'll raise the average. Come with a specific view on their product — what you'd fix, what you'd build — and with the questions only a founder can answer: runway, the plan for the next raise, what keeps them up at night. A founder who answers plainly is worth working for; one who deflects on runway is telling you something.

Stage 5: references and the offer

Startups do check references, and they call people you didn't list — a former manager at a shared connection is normal. Then a verbal offer, usually from the founder or hiring manager, followed by a written one within a few days.

How long the whole thing takes: one to three weeks at a startup that's serious, versus six to ten at a large company. If a startup goes quiet for two weeks between stages, either you're the backup candidate or the company is not as organised as it seemed — ask directly.

Negotiating

You have more room than you think and less than a big-company recruiter would give you. Base salary at a startup is usually inside a band that's hard to move more than 10–15%; equity is more flexible, and so is the exercise window, the start date, a signing payment to cover a lost bonus, and a title. Ask for what matters to you once, clearly and in writing, with a reason. Make sure the written offer states base pay, equity (number of shares and fully diluted count, vesting, strike, exercise window), notice period, probation, and start date. Anything only said on a call was not offered.

Questions to ask at every stage

• How many people are on the team I'd join, and how many were there a year ago?
• Who left recently, and why?
• What does the first 90 days look like?
• How does the company decide what to build?
• What happens when something breaks at 2am?

Their answers, and how comfortably they give them, are your due diligence. Do the rest of it before you accept.