With so much competition in today’s job market, it’s common to focus on prepping for the interview. You want to bring your best self, so you research the company, market, and people you’re meeting with.
These are all great practices, but it leaves out one critical component. When interviewing at a new company, especially at a startup, you need to interview the company just as thoroughly as they are interviewing you.
Risk and reward
Startups are risky, which won’t surprise anyone reading this. In the information space, only about 29% of companies will make it a full decade.
Still, the upside is hard to find anywhere else. A startup gives you the opportunity to own and influence more than would ever be possible in an established corporation. You’ll work across functions, make big calls, and you’ll see the results of the work in real time.
No, not every startup will succeed. However, the judgment, maturity, and relationships you develop stay with you. That’s why you need to enter an interview with the mindset of mutuality. The question isn't only: “Will this startup succeed?” It's also: “What will I learn here? What will I build? Who will I become? And will this be a worthwhile investment of my time?”
I've spent most of my career at early-stage companies, building and scaling teams. Along the way, I developed a checklist for deciding where to spend my time. I used it 6 months ago when I decided to join WisdomAI, and now that I'm on the other side of the table, it's the framework I'd encourage every candidate to use.
1. Product: Would you care if this existed?
You don't necessarily need to be the user of the product you're building, but you should understand why someone else cares about it. WisdomAI passed this test before the demo was over, because it’s a product I can actually use.
As a nontechnical person, my data lives in an HRIS, an ATS, and a handful of spreadsheets, and in the past, getting answers meant asking someone else to pull me whatever slice of data they decided I should see. Being able to ask and answer my own questions in plain language felt freeing. For the first time, the story I could tell with my data would be my own.
Half a year in, our India site lead helped spin up a private WisdomAI instance for recruiting. Now, I work with the product team and use it as a real-world testing ground. I learn about our hiring funnel, and the product team learns where WisdomAI can improve. That collaboration and ability to influence the product has been priceless for me.
For you, this means looking past the pitch deck. Ask for a demo, find out who uses the product and why, and get into what’s working vs. what’s not. Find out what the company plans to do to build on the good and fix the bad. Then decide whether you care, because you’ll be investing a meaningful part of your life into building it.
2. People: Do you want to build with them?
Early-stage work is deeply collaborative. You spend a lot of time together, responsibilities often overlap, and you’re always in a position where priorities can shift. Something you spent 3 weeks building gets thrown out on a random Tuesday.
Smart interviewers are one thing, but the actual question you have to be answering is, “Can I see myself building with these folks when things get messy?”
When I was interviewing at WisdomAI, I had several conversations with Sharva about recruiting, his team, and the scaling challenges they faced. I came away convinced I could partner with him. Yes, he’d expect a lot from me, but he'd also give me room to bring 150% of myself to the table.
Then I met Gee, who would be my partner on our 2-person People team. I could immediately picture myself building alongside her. And then, Soham gave me a different kind of confidence – he’d been around the block with Rubrik, so he knew exactly what I was signing up for.
Throughout my interview process, I was looking for people to build with, and I found them.
Today, I get to work with an inspiring team of deeply technical builders who value curiosity, innovation, and quality. I’m surrounded by future founders and inspirational leaders who hold strong convictions and stay open to better ideas.
As a candidate, pay attention to that. Look for people you want to learn from and emulate, because through sheer proximity, you'll pick up their habits and values. I encourage you to ask yourself two things: Do these people move me closer to who I want to become? And could I slot in quickly and feel free to make a real contribution?
3. Impact: What could have your fingerprints on it?
This one matters most to me. At an early-stage company, your impact shouldn't be limited to the bullet points on your job description. Boundaries are still being drawn, processes are emerging, culture is forming, and many important issues may not have an owner yet.
That’s where chaos and opportunity meet.
I joined WisdomAI as the only recruiter, hiring across two countries. There was a recruiting engine to understand, assemble, improve, and eventually build a team around. I owned it entirely, including the parts that went right and those that didn’t. It was exciting!
Half a year later, recruiting is only part of what I own. I've taken the lead on our employer brand, events, candidate experience, and relationships with our investors' talent teams. I'm getting to help shape critical pieces of our culture.
Sometimes a colleague pulls me into a project. Other times, I ask to join one because I see a gap and I know I can fill it. There aren’t artificial boundaries around where you can contribute, and so much important work has yet to be identified. If you’re willing to take it on, you can own the outcome.
So, while your offer letter may name a team, you're really joining WisdomAI, period. But timing matters, and if this sounds like the environment you want, the window at WisdomAI is now.
In the last 6 months alone, we've grown from 70 to 100 people, and we’ve increased our enterprise customer roster by more than 30%. Week over week, the product, revenue, processes, and team keep getting stronger. Next year's WisdomAI will be unrecognizable to today's.
No matter what role you're interviewing for, ask what could have your fingerprints on it a year from now. If the answer is bigger than your job description, good. That's how one year at a startup can count for 10.
4. And then there's your "-ness"
I didn't really have a name for this until recently. Your "-ness" is everything you bring that doesn't fit neatly onto your résumé: your energy, your instincts, your curiosity, and the things you care about a little more than anyone asked you to.
It's your engineer-ness or your salesperson-ness or your designer-ness, and ultimately your you-ness.
My title says head of talent, but my "-ness" is that I really care how people feel here, from the moment a candidate walks through our doors to a new hire's 6-month mark. I also take laughing seriously. I'm usually the one rounding people up for lunch together, because that's where a lot of the best jokes, and plenty of good ideas, get started. Outside our walls, I want people to see the incredible work happening in here, so I also spend time telling that story.
Getting to shape a place with my own values doesn't happen at every company, but Sharva follows through with the promise to give me room to bring 150% of myself.
I didn't have a word for it back then, but I was checking for that room when I interviewed. You should, too. Culture fit is a fine question to ask, but a better one is whether a company has room for the fullest version of what you bring.
That kind of freedom comes with responsibility, and I'll happily take that over a tightly drawn box any day. Find the place that gives it to you.
Interview us back (we mean it)
One thing surprises me sometimes as a recruiter: candidates will finish an entire interview process with unanswered questions. Please don’t.
The interview process belongs to you, too, and the stakes are very real for both of us. At WisdomAI, I make this invitation early, often in my very first conversation with a candidate: Interview us back.
To get you thinking, here are some things I’m happy to set up:
A product demo where you get to tell us what you'd change
A second conversation with a founder
Coffee with someone who'd be your peer
A seat at a team lunch, so you can see what a normal Tuesday looks like
For marketing candidates, time to share your screen and walk us through what you'd change on our website
A straight answer on what's broken right now, or what we'd do differently if we could go back
Your recruiter is more than a scheduler. I want you to feel empowered by the fact I’m here to help you make a confident, informed decision.
We're curious about you, so be curious about us.
I'd much rather a candidate leave our process knowing exactly what they're saying yes or no to than have us "sell" them without answering what matters to them.
Say you do all of this and decide not to join, that’s a perfectly fine outcome! The goal is mutually beneficial.
Understand the bet
You can't take the risk out of joining a startup, but you can feel good about what you're betting on. Get real answers to these four questions, and a jump into the unknown becomes a deliberate investment of the most valuable thing you have: your time.
Half a year into my own bet, I've found my village. Come interview us back and see whether it could be yours, too. Find open roles here
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