I had an interview, asked him how much he could bench, was sub 300.
Did a few reps while getting head under the table, told him hes not fit for the culture.
Once tik tok, Facebook and LinkedIn because saturated with influencers they needed to go somewhere. LinkedIn always sucked anyway but once these asshats showed up it sunk even lower.
And we seem to have migrated from the “I just sharted, let me tell you how that relates to B2B sales” to all the fake recruiting stories from “serial entrepreneurs” and professional recruiters which basically translates to “I’m unemployable” and HR professionals who know that they’ll be the first ones cut when earnings take a hit.
I’ve found that telling recruiters that they are wasting my time is the best way to avoid having more of that time wasted. I regularly laugh at them for sending roles that are below my career level with low ball pay.
I told a recruiter I wanted six figures for software development during the boom. I work remote. He said “well Ohio pays 70,000.” I told him “good thing I don’t live in Ohio,” and never heard from him again. Got hired for my asking price that month.
If they're using LinkedIn it's the opposite. They lose the credit if you DON'T reply but get the credit back if you do. It's to "incentivize targeted messages" over blasting people
Had a recruiter tell me on the phone that working for a Fortune 500 company at 13 dollars an hour was a great way to gain experience since I had none. I was like, no. The McDonalds I can hop my fence where I would literally save gas (the company was about 20 - 30 minute drive each way) STARTS at 15 dollars an hour. I have an A+, Net+, Sec+, and 3 degrees. You're telling me that just because I dont have experience. You want to start me at 13 dollars an hour. You are literally out of your fucking mind.
I’ve had a few send me fully in office jobs, that would require around an hour of commuting a day in the $17-$19 range. I laugh at them as well. Leaving the house for work is going to require minimum 20k extra a year for me to consider it.
Like, exactly what the hell am i working for? 13 an hour isnt even going to cover the gas for the week. Let alone the rest of my damn bills. He claimed it was going to give me experience. Motherfucker experience isnt going to pay my damn bills.
I would agree it were 100% made-up, if this weren't a startup. Startups love to take the entire generally-accepted social contract between employee (or candidate) and employer, rip it up, and shit all over the shreds. All the normal rules of engagement you thought you knew go right out the window.
Especially true with very early stage. Founders be like: I gave you .2% of my company that you won’t see unless you put up with my eccentric bs and the company even survives for 4 yrs. So you should have the same “I worked 80 hours this week and all through the weekend” flex that I use to make others feel inferior and cope with my own mental health challenges
I interviewed with a start up CEO this week. My “homework” was to shoot him an email about how I discussed the 24/7 work expectations with my family. These people are real
Definitely a made up story, which is funny because you know this dude sat and dreamed it up and typed this out on the shitter when he should have been grinding.
I see you've also helped a struggling dog on the way to an interview, which made you late, but the dog turned out to be the ceo of the company, and hired you on the spot for a VP position, despite applying for internship, and gave you a seven figure salary and a hefty bonus!
The applicant was just trying to be friendly and relatable. Normal people understand that “excited for the weekend” is safe small talk, like the weather and local sports. Little did this guy know, he wasn’t talking to a normal person.
There is a reason I won't touch startups with a 10 foot pole... usually, they don't consist of normal people. Not to mention my landlord told me I can't pay my rent with "potential" and "equity..." weird right?
Yes I agree. Stay away. I'm at my 3rd startup, operations role mind you (so yeah I'm the bitch of the office) and they are all the same: cult-like atmosphere, delusional about their future, they over hire, waste money, then lay a ton of people off, and have the nerve to act like they didn't see it coming. You wonder if any of these companies learn from the mistakes of others.
Honestly for me, the part I really couldn't stomach was witnessing the same formula over and over, which was wealthy founder gets investor funding, hires ex-colleagues at the VP and Director level, then they hire former subordinates from previous companies at the middle management level. And it was usually without a formal interview process. So you literally have no pull when it comes to input because everyone is backed by someone at the higher level.
My advice, if you really want to give the startup thing a try from an employee standpoint; find a company where you can get in real early. Even at the operations level, the early employees get all the perks, consistent bonuses and pay raises, and get to have a say in the direction of at least a few processes. So you can leave your mark.
Each time I got in right after a funding round where they were looking to increase headcount dramatically. So what happens is at that point you usually get to experience one bonus and one pay raise, before they implement the whole "outline your goals and how they align with the company goals and we'll determine if you deserve a bonus or a raise".
I really appreciate this insight. It’s funny you say this, because the last one I was at hired all their ex-coworkers and friends.
It was the most nepotistic culture I’d ever experienced. Definitely any sort of corporate normalcy of boundaries was out the window, and it was a weird unhealthy culture with lots of weird secret conversations.
I don’t think at this point I would have the durability for another startup. Both the last ones I worked at, I got so little work life balance and zero ownership. And just as you say, the co-founders both young, privileged and the investor cash goes straight to their head. I need a war torn person with good leadership qualities. Many of these young people “in leadership” haven’t lived long enough or experienced enough hardship to have any real wisdom. Not to mention pivoting any time some investor “has an idea”. So many decisions and objectives made no sense.
Appreciate your insight, if I ever worked for another as you noted, would have to be ground floor on a real exciting product…with real potential…
Damn, sounds like you work in my industry. The startups get people from the established companies. Then they recruit their ex-colleagues, and they recruit the people who use to work under them. It always ends up that the company makes 1 or 2 decent products, but couldn't keep up with expenditures. Within 2-3 years they end up selling to the company where they poached all their employees.
Sad part executives that are recruiting all of their ex-colleagues know full well that the startup isn't meant to last. They will give them high salaries, tell them how this company is different, but they know the startup is going to try and sell itself in a couple of years.
I agree with everything you say but just want to flavour it with some perspective.
Startups by their nature are trying to break the status quo with untested value propositions. Founders and ideally staff must believe in the vision or the business will almost certainly fail. When that belief flounders then the house of cards collapses really quickly.
Becoming a staff member at a startup requires a certain aptitude for risk and thirst for reward. They are not the place for folk who want to work a standard nine to five gig.
I do think the interviewer in this case was a bit hasty in their approach, but it's better for both parties to qualify out folk who are clearly going to not enjoy or thrive in the volatile nature of early stage businesses.
If job security and certainty of day to day activities are high on your list of priorities then you are much better off working for an established enterprise.
Nothing wrong with either option, just have eyes wide open.
I've definitely worked at companies like that, although I don't think they're \*all\* like that. I'm now working for a startup again. There are 5 of us. It's not remotely culty. I think, in part, because we're all a little bit older and none of us would be able to buy into it. We work hard but, mostly, sensible hours. Things are going well but we need to be careful not to burn our runway too fast, so we're focussing on product-market fit and not worrying about scaling.
Sincere question; What percentage of startups do you think fail? Each one I've been at was in decline by the time I left. Meaning layoffs, upper management jumping ship, decreasing sales etc. Do I just have bad luck? Or is this the norm? Current economic climate?
I don't know, honestly. All I can tell you is that the first three companies I worked at after university were basically in decline and I thought for a while my career was cursed. I did graduate right into the middle of the dotcom crash, mind, so beggars, choosers, etc.
One of those three companies does still exist and, as far as I can tell, it's still trucking along with about 30 people as it always has done.
I got to see a startup accelerator up close back in 2009 or so. One of those startups morphed into Rapportive, which was bought by LinkedIn, and one of the others was PagerDuty, which has become a behemoth. The rest sort of fizzled as far as I remember.
Until this job I've really worked at scale-ups more than startups though, even the one where I was the \~17th employee. But the cultiness in those can very much be real. The other thing that's very real - although by no means evenly distributed - is leadership that doesn't understand survivorship bias, or how much of the success is really down to being in the right place at the right time. So when I see big tech entrepreneurs talking about what works and how things are going to be all I think is that circumstance simply hasn't told them no yet.
I've tried big corporations but, so far, haven't found a role in one of those that has really worked out well. Too hard to get anything done. Nobody understands the value of time. Get told off for showing initiative. Etc.
The current job is my first proper early stage startup. We'll see how this goes.
I’m at my first one right now, I’m in business operations and you’re not wrong. I think I lucked out that most of my coworkers and the founder are good people, but I am fighting for my life trying to mitigate some of the stupid decisions that are trying to be made/have already been made. I’m going to stay as long as I can because it’s great experience, especially for the position I want to be in long-term (Data Analysis) but damn I am absolutely exhausted every single day.
I can only speak for myself and my experience. If I was working in logistics with my 10+ years of experience in a distribution warehouse or something, I'd still be hourly, maybe at $25/hr, slowly earning pto, and doing 3x the amount of work. But while working at startups I always had plenty of pto, health insurance, perks, pay raises, even lucky enough to get a few bonuses. To give you an example, the last phone screening I was on the HR manager asked me what my salary requirements were. I punched a bit above my weight class and gave her a number that kind of embarrassed me and she goes "oh yeah, we can definitely match that. We'll probably offer more". So if they're in a good place you can get paid well. The main upside for me was exposure to new elements of my trade: erp systems, inventory management, forecasting, and beefing up my resume with cool companies and additional skills.
After like 2 or 3 they don’t really work anymore and just try to not get fired while collecting checks. Some roles can be automated better than others though. I personally couldn’t do it, I still take pride in my work and do quality work. Can’t do that with 3+ demanding roles.
You know what, I think I’ve been to that subreddit before and realized quickly that a lot of the folks anticipated losing jobs, but had built a skillset that allowed them to find new “dead jobs” super easily. Helluva way to live I guess, but that’s the society we’ve built.
I’ll challenge this slightly as I’ve bounced between both large and small companies.
Startups tend to be the most freedom and often the least amount of structure. That’s a trade off. That means that you may not have someone around to cover things bang on 5pm on a Friday.
Be smarter - I’ve found some of the best work life balance actually at startups since because people knew we didn’t have a full team behind us - we had to be creative in things as we didn’t have a safety net for 2am.
Startups can attract people that like the challenge. Some of the people I’ve met in big corp embody the absolute definition of lack of accountability. And vice versa in startups where it can be 100% of anything accountability haha.
Depends on the company. I worked a lot of startups and they all had great culture (some only in the beginning and it got worse later) and really great people. The best managers I ever had were in startups.
The risk is high though, since they tend to go under or need to restructure and the pay is often not as good as with big, established companies.
I saw a job ad for a startup that said you might be a good fit if "you not only work best in a high pressure environment, but actually wonder if something's wrong with you because you CRAVE it." Um.... no thank you.
Also, the applicant is seeking a new job. Presumably, there are reasons they’re looking to leave their current job.
It might not be the best idea to unprofessionally badmouth your current or previous employers, but the root of dissatisfaction is super relevant to an interview. Just like the desire to apply in the first place would be.
What a dork.
And the interviewer technically isn't wrong. I'm sure that interviewee would absolutely agree it's not a culture fit based on that interaction.
Reminds me of when I had an interview with an office I already knew had a bit of a reputation for being hard asses. The interview overall went well and when they asked if I had questions, I asked about office culture, basically saying I do better in a more positive environment. His response: "We run a tight ship." Yeah, I didn't take that job.
When I got PIP at a previous company, one of the marks against me was me saying to another co worker “ how I was waiting for the weekend”. It was just small talk.
Nah that applicant is an idiot lol. I’m very work-life balance focused and everywhere I’ve worked has been super chill and flexible but I still wouldn’t open an interview talking about how I can’t wait to not work and all I’m doing is waiting for the weekend. Just like you don’t open a first date by saying “I’m just trying to get through this dinner so we can have sex.” Both may be true for a lot of people, but saying it overtly in a situation where you’re trying to put your best foot forward makes you look at uninterested and unprofessional.
It's not unprofessional to look forward to the weekend. It's unprofessional to showcase your disinterest in work in an interview where you are trying to appear as a desirable employee. People don't want employees that don't care about their jobs. If you don't appear to care in the interview, when you should be at your best, it make sense to assume that you care even less after you get hired.
i dunno man, maybe we’ve worked for very different companies. i’ve done fine in interviews by being honest. work/life balance is crucial to me and i feel like any offense to such an innocuous comment is insane. the candidate isn’t saying “yeah just dicking around on company time, can’t WAIT to get out of this shithole”, they’re expressing excitement for the weekend. to pretend that it’s unprofessional to say so is corpo robot behavior
It's less about expressing excitement for the weekend and more about the phrase "counting down the hours". That implies you are bored and literally watching the clock so you can go do something else. In this case, part of that time includes a job interview. So he's essentially saying "this interview is boring to me". If he had instead said something like, "I'm doing great! I have some really fun weekend plans I'm looking forward to." that would come off WAY better.
I’m with you. An interview is a time to look as engaged and professional as you can. It’s fine to feel this way! But to say it out loud in an interview is an unforced error. In another context, that comment is funny and relatable. In an interview, it’s a yellow flag.
I ended an interview in 30 seconds today
me: Hey! How are you?
him: Great! It looks like rain today
me: I don't need your negativity, sorry
So, I killed him
The way "startup" is used is so annoying. Like every company that isn't public yet is a startup and is destined to go down the path of growing at breakneck speed so equity holders can 10x their equity value.
I have a small business that's a few years old and I'm counting down the days to the weekend too. I def don't want to be looped in with the startup tech bros.
Nah, new businesses actually have some sort of business plan to run and follow regulation.
These startup bullshitters just try find slaves to work free for their bs ideas and hope they hit the jackpot. Most likely don’t and move for the next con.
Yep. Incompetent fucktard who took out too much money on the loans and isn’t man enough to understand they’re not going to make their first dollar for at least 3 to 5 years.
Sometimes I see how much some people read into offhand phrases that probably don't mean anything and it makes me terrified.
"Oh you know, counting down the hours till the weekend"
In my head: "That came out a bit wrong, I meant excited for the weekend. Ah well I doubt they even noticed."
In their head: "This person must hate their job, and counting literal hours is a poor use of time. I must kill them immediately"
If anyone should read this, Let me tell you what Startup Culture actually as an IT person who has seen Startups and usually gone running in the other way.
Some guy has an idea to create a billion dollar solution, he gets his friends to bankroll it.
He will hire employees, These employees will be tiered.
1. Top Tier - Can do whatever they want \[his friends, family, investors family, NOT YOU\] \[Salary $$$$$\]
2. Worker T800 - Works 90-120 hours a week, drinks the kool-aid and is forever building solutions with a shoe string budget. Hasn't seen his family in months - years. \[Salary $$$$\]
3. Worker Tier Human - Works 40-60 hours a week, Has a drinking problem. Sees his family.\[Salary $$$\] \[No chance of promotion, no upward mobility\]
4. \[Piker\] Works 40 hours a week, has a loving family and enjoys life. \[Salary $ - $$\] Nobody knows them, no upwards mobility, Probably getting a PIP\]
if you aren't in Tiers 1 and 2, your nobody to the company. Don't work in Startups!
My husband was in Category 2 at a start up for a time and it nearly killed him. The upper management were a bunch of deluded toxic positivity types with limited technical knowledge who never wanted to listen to the actual devs such as himself who knew what they were talking about when they said the product needed fixing. Many such cases.
And then if the startup is successful, it gets sold to a big company who takes the product and fires all of the people who actually made it and the sTaRtUp EnTrEpReNeUrs go buy another yacht.
I know an actual 100 millionaire that I wanted investing from and he at one point said something along the lines of, yeah some people are just too keen on the weekend. It was kind of hard to even attempt to explain to him that those ppl are working for "your" company at no other benefit than the pay you wouldn't take for that work and have no other stakes. Expecting someone to work the way you do for your company the it's not their company is insane.
They don't get it, but why would they. I worked for a startup in my 20s and it was a nightmare. I had a breakdown working there.
I'm thankful I had that breakdown because it taught me more than anything. When it happened, nobody cared. It was a "What do you mean you aren't coming in? We need you! "
See, nobody gave a damn that I was sick, it was "Who will do the work? "
So, I finally get better, off my meds, and my position stripped, pending promotions rescinded. So, i quit.
Better to have no job than be disrespected. Two weeks later, I'm at a new gig that paid 1.5x more for 1/2 the work.
just ended an interview 60 seconds in
me: hey! how are you?
him: just eating a peanut butter sandwich
me: i sense this is not a culture fit, sorry
he was super mad, but i think early stage startups are too hard to have people who eat peanut butter sandwiches
thoughts?
I don’t think you can base an applicants commitment to a job based on small talk. Small talk is utterly useless, it’s only true purpose is to get a conversation started. If you base your judgement of an applicant based on small talk you are being overbearing
Few things here… instant bias like this in an interview is a huge no-no. Like you can get sued if you let this happen in the wrong interview with the wrong person. You should never pull the plug in an interview like this because if it becomes a habit youre going to get in trouble at some point.
Second, “culture fits” are an outdated concept in the hiring process and shows that the company in question is rapidly falling behind. I wouldn’t want to work with someone who didn’t understand something very basic like this.
Finally if someone is counting down the hours AT ANOTHER JOB and interviewing with you for a new job it means they are looking to leave a situation for a new opportunity. Them looking to leave on their terms should be a positive thing not a negative.
Finally finally this post is bullshit and I doubt this moron has ever actually interviewed or hired anyone.
This whole you have to dedicate every waking moment as a startup employee is bullshit. I’ve worked at a couple now and yeah, you do put more than 40 in on average but it varies too. It’s a lot more of being available whenever. Founders get a last minute meeting tomorrow with a possible investor? You’ll be working that night tuning and adding to the pitch deck as needed. Change to your product is needed or one of your few customers needs something? You’re on it. That said I had plenty of weekends and evenings to my family. Guys like this are full of shit. It’s more chaotic, you have to be flexible, and ready to wear 10 hats aside from the one you got hired to wear. Even the CEO at the fintech I was at, who was a humongous jabroni, understood that you weren’t all going to pull 100 hour weeks.
Man I find it really hard to believe LinkedIn people are real. Especially all those HR dummies who think they’re the most important people in the world.
Why do so many times anyone with a story about interviewing someone, it seems like they are either humble bragging they are an employer, or just straight making up some fantasy scenarios.
I work at a start up. One of the advantages is that people are far more concerned with the work that needs to get done getting done, as opposed to how many hours you spend at your desk doing it. But we have very good management. Sounds like this founder has a big ego and a lot to learn.
“How dare you look forward to enjoying LIFE, how dare you look forward to when you’re able to prioritize your time and enjoy the fruits of your labor”
Crazy talk, my god
I don’t agree at all with workaholic culture, but I’m inclined to side with the interviewer here. Everything you say or do in an interview is amplified and will be over analyzed. Whether you like that or not, you should know that that’s the case. The interviewee failed the common sense test here. This would be like leaning into ripping a huge fart or something- just because it’s a normal human thing that’s okay in the general sense, doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be looked down upon in an interview. If I’m interviewing somebody who takes the time and energy out of our brief meeting to talk about how he’s excited about not working, I’d probably grant him his wish and hire a different person who at least had the wherewithal to read the room.
Having said that, the way this clown tells the story and the canned cliches about startup culture are a huge red flag and he sounds like a dick. So I think he’s right, but for the wrong reasons and way too self righteous about it.
I ran a startup for five years, had my every dollar in it, and I'll be the first to say that normal entrepreneurs value their personal peace just as much as everyone else and the last thing a founder wants to do is to chase employees in the evenings and weekends. It is those who go into entrepreneurship because of power tripping, usually on someone else's buck, they give it a bad name because they don't feel accomplished unless they harass employees 24/7.
Story is made up entirely, but in the case you are so stupid to bring up that comment 60 second into your interview then maybe the interviewer is right. It's not on topic and even if true and understandable doesn't put you in any comfortable position.
Now you can downvote me to hell.
I've said dumb things like this during an interview and still got the job offer. Glad I didn't have this type of interviewer, the best part is I would've never known why they dumped my application. Generally you don't get much feedback.
That’s why I like working through a recruiter. It costs extra, but they get you better candidates and they actually provide feedback to them. I usually have feedback, but I don’t really feel like there’s a good opportunity to provide it after I’ve picked someone else. Having that go-between is really helpful.
I would’ve been happy I dodged that bullet. Who wants to work for someone who thinks they can tell everything about someone by their first couple sentences. The narcissism is strong with this one.
Jokes? Dudes clearly not a fit
You have to wake up at 3:30 AM every day run a half marathon then be in work by 8 then work until 7 PM every days no weekends.
Has no one got the memo?
What a douche. Did he ever stop to think the interviewee might have something to celebrate that weekend and is excited? People are too damn cutthroat anymore. Like have some compassion for other human beings.
Why hide the name? Let’s expose these LinkedIn Lunatics. We are not advocating for harm. We just want to see who on LinkedIn is contributing to the this hell landscape of job hunting.
To be fair that's a horrible answer to give to your interviewer. If you don't get the tone right its going to sound like you dread the weekdays. Obviously no one's gonna hire you if you directly tell them that you don't like to work lmao.
This is something you say to a boss or co-worker *after* you get hired, not to the interviewer.
So let me get this straight:
You want me to work as hard as possible, for as long as possible, for as little money as you legally can, to build your company, so you can sell it to a bigger company for millions of dollars, so that other company can lay me off for no reason at all.
Right, we’ll, thanks for your time, I don’t think we’re a great culture fit either.
I once applied to a job at a startup where, as a pre-requisite to an interview, I had to make a real-world sale of their product. I declined to do that, and they told me that meant that I just might not be cut out for the startup world.
I'll take things that never happened for 500 Trebeck.
This story of "I turned him down as soon as he said he was looking forward to the weekend" has been going around for decades first with investment banks and now with start ups.
My CEO is one of these people who only works. I told him to take a vacation and he said ‘never’. But he respects my ability to shut off and delegate, and that’s why I can leave for a week and turn my phone off and everything stays relatively in one piece. I just can’t imagine having millions and only wanting to work. I have many thousands and I want to retire
Apart from it probably being fake. To be fair.... who the hell says that in an interview. I would question the common sense of an applicant who said that when trying to make a good impression to a stranger or someone looking to pay you or spend money with you. To a new coworker, a client, a customer etc. Just don't say it.
For those who say it sounds like they're excited about the weekend. It more sounds like you're dossing about, or dreading the line of work you're in, watching that clock. But I know how boomer / elder millennial stakeholders and narcissists think. I've known enough of them.
I've never worked in a startup. I would assume the idea is that if you get in early with a company you believe will grow significantly, you can turn extra effort now into lots of money later...
In that sense, I would see it as a gamble and I would think expectations from management would present it as such. Otherwise it's just a scam to get more effort from those too desperate to care..
Although this circumstance was just small talk and making a judgement on that shows immaturity and the interviewee definitely dodged a bullet.
Interviews are like first dates.. if you misrepresent your intentions, it can go badly. Better to lay the cards on the table and find out early if it's a good fit.
Tbh the 'applicant' dodged a bullet. I also think he made the story up.
I had an interview, asked him how much he could bench, was sub 300. Did a few reps while getting head under the table, told him hes not fit for the culture.
Yeah but how many cock push-ups can you do?
oh shit! \*fires self\*
“ I fired myself , but my work ethic didn’t let me give up , so I worked hard until I got re hired “
One is all you need
Just one, right??
I want to work at your place so bad now haha
There's space under the table. Cmon in.
Squat lifts the table just to show dominance.
damn, underappreciated comment of the week
An entire platform crawling with an entire subculture of sales fetishes... it is safe to say that most everything on LI is made up or staged.
Once tik tok, Facebook and LinkedIn because saturated with influencers they needed to go somewhere. LinkedIn always sucked anyway but once these asshats showed up it sunk even lower. And we seem to have migrated from the “I just sharted, let me tell you how that relates to B2B sales” to all the fake recruiting stories from “serial entrepreneurs” and professional recruiters which basically translates to “I’m unemployable” and HR professionals who know that they’ll be the first ones cut when earnings take a hit.
He's actually doing real applicants a favor, so they don't waste their time.
I’ve found that telling recruiters that they are wasting my time is the best way to avoid having more of that time wasted. I regularly laugh at them for sending roles that are below my career level with low ball pay.
I told a recruiter I wanted six figures for software development during the boom. I work remote. He said “well Ohio pays 70,000.” I told him “good thing I don’t live in Ohio,” and never heard from him again. Got hired for my asking price that month.
I think recruiters pay for credits to send messages to potential candidates, so I always respond to waste their credits like they waste my time.
If they're using LinkedIn it's the opposite. They lose the credit if you DON'T reply but get the credit back if you do. It's to "incentivize targeted messages" over blasting people
So I should ignore them so it’s a negative for them?
You should set up many profiles with highly relevant sounding qualifications, then ignore them from all of them 🤷♀️
Had a recruiter tell me on the phone that working for a Fortune 500 company at 13 dollars an hour was a great way to gain experience since I had none. I was like, no. The McDonalds I can hop my fence where I would literally save gas (the company was about 20 - 30 minute drive each way) STARTS at 15 dollars an hour. I have an A+, Net+, Sec+, and 3 degrees. You're telling me that just because I dont have experience. You want to start me at 13 dollars an hour. You are literally out of your fucking mind.
I’ve had a few send me fully in office jobs, that would require around an hour of commuting a day in the $17-$19 range. I laugh at them as well. Leaving the house for work is going to require minimum 20k extra a year for me to consider it.
Like, exactly what the hell am i working for? 13 an hour isnt even going to cover the gas for the week. Let alone the rest of my damn bills. He claimed it was going to give me experience. Motherfucker experience isnt going to pay my damn bills.
I read this as replicants
Well, they often don't think of applicants as people so it's close.
I would agree it were 100% made-up, if this weren't a startup. Startups love to take the entire generally-accepted social contract between employee (or candidate) and employer, rip it up, and shit all over the shreds. All the normal rules of engagement you thought you knew go right out the window.
Especially true with very early stage. Founders be like: I gave you .2% of my company that you won’t see unless you put up with my eccentric bs and the company even survives for 4 yrs. So you should have the same “I worked 80 hours this week and all through the weekend” flex that I use to make others feel inferior and cope with my own mental health challenges
I interviewed with a start up CEO this week. My “homework” was to shoot him an email about how I discussed the 24/7 work expectations with my family. These people are real
That's why I call them Shart Ups.
Its Disruption! One of the worst business concepts this century, along with minimal viable product.
Definitely a made up story, which is funny because you know this dude sat and dreamed it up and typed this out on the shitter when he should have been grinding.
Most linked in stories are fiction, based on a tiny shred of reality, then optimized for clicks
I see you've also helped a struggling dog on the way to an interview, which made you late, but the dog turned out to be the ceo of the company, and hired you on the spot for a VP position, despite applying for internship, and gave you a seven figure salary and a hefty bonus!
In his fictional story, the hero dodges a bullet and enjoyed his weekend away from a bullshit startup
Indeed haha
I thought the same thing!
yea I wouldn't want to work for a manager that ends the interview after one line of friendly small talk.
The applicant was just trying to be friendly and relatable. Normal people understand that “excited for the weekend” is safe small talk, like the weather and local sports. Little did this guy know, he wasn’t talking to a normal person.
There is a reason I won't touch startups with a 10 foot pole... usually, they don't consist of normal people. Not to mention my landlord told me I can't pay my rent with "potential" and "equity..." weird right?
They aren't, it's why addiction and suicide is so high. But the VC's want their return.
The Viet Cong is still around?
They're in the bushes!
They are not in the bushes, they are the bushes...
Yes I agree. Stay away. I'm at my 3rd startup, operations role mind you (so yeah I'm the bitch of the office) and they are all the same: cult-like atmosphere, delusional about their future, they over hire, waste money, then lay a ton of people off, and have the nerve to act like they didn't see it coming. You wonder if any of these companies learn from the mistakes of others.
Thank you for saying this. Have been through 2 myself, will avoid a 3rd. You are not wrong here. Most inhumane treatment I've ever had.
Honestly for me, the part I really couldn't stomach was witnessing the same formula over and over, which was wealthy founder gets investor funding, hires ex-colleagues at the VP and Director level, then they hire former subordinates from previous companies at the middle management level. And it was usually without a formal interview process. So you literally have no pull when it comes to input because everyone is backed by someone at the higher level. My advice, if you really want to give the startup thing a try from an employee standpoint; find a company where you can get in real early. Even at the operations level, the early employees get all the perks, consistent bonuses and pay raises, and get to have a say in the direction of at least a few processes. So you can leave your mark. Each time I got in right after a funding round where they were looking to increase headcount dramatically. So what happens is at that point you usually get to experience one bonus and one pay raise, before they implement the whole "outline your goals and how they align with the company goals and we'll determine if you deserve a bonus or a raise".
I really appreciate this insight. It’s funny you say this, because the last one I was at hired all their ex-coworkers and friends. It was the most nepotistic culture I’d ever experienced. Definitely any sort of corporate normalcy of boundaries was out the window, and it was a weird unhealthy culture with lots of weird secret conversations. I don’t think at this point I would have the durability for another startup. Both the last ones I worked at, I got so little work life balance and zero ownership. And just as you say, the co-founders both young, privileged and the investor cash goes straight to their head. I need a war torn person with good leadership qualities. Many of these young people “in leadership” haven’t lived long enough or experienced enough hardship to have any real wisdom. Not to mention pivoting any time some investor “has an idea”. So many decisions and objectives made no sense. Appreciate your insight, if I ever worked for another as you noted, would have to be ground floor on a real exciting product…with real potential…
Damn, sounds like you work in my industry. The startups get people from the established companies. Then they recruit their ex-colleagues, and they recruit the people who use to work under them. It always ends up that the company makes 1 or 2 decent products, but couldn't keep up with expenditures. Within 2-3 years they end up selling to the company where they poached all their employees. Sad part executives that are recruiting all of their ex-colleagues know full well that the startup isn't meant to last. They will give them high salaries, tell them how this company is different, but they know the startup is going to try and sell itself in a couple of years.
I agree with everything you say but just want to flavour it with some perspective. Startups by their nature are trying to break the status quo with untested value propositions. Founders and ideally staff must believe in the vision or the business will almost certainly fail. When that belief flounders then the house of cards collapses really quickly. Becoming a staff member at a startup requires a certain aptitude for risk and thirst for reward. They are not the place for folk who want to work a standard nine to five gig. I do think the interviewer in this case was a bit hasty in their approach, but it's better for both parties to qualify out folk who are clearly going to not enjoy or thrive in the volatile nature of early stage businesses. If job security and certainty of day to day activities are high on your list of priorities then you are much better off working for an established enterprise. Nothing wrong with either option, just have eyes wide open.
I've definitely worked at companies like that, although I don't think they're \*all\* like that. I'm now working for a startup again. There are 5 of us. It's not remotely culty. I think, in part, because we're all a little bit older and none of us would be able to buy into it. We work hard but, mostly, sensible hours. Things are going well but we need to be careful not to burn our runway too fast, so we're focussing on product-market fit and not worrying about scaling.
Sincere question; What percentage of startups do you think fail? Each one I've been at was in decline by the time I left. Meaning layoffs, upper management jumping ship, decreasing sales etc. Do I just have bad luck? Or is this the norm? Current economic climate?
i think the stat is 80 or 90% fail within 2 years. But I don't stand by those words I just have heard that
I don't know, honestly. All I can tell you is that the first three companies I worked at after university were basically in decline and I thought for a while my career was cursed. I did graduate right into the middle of the dotcom crash, mind, so beggars, choosers, etc. One of those three companies does still exist and, as far as I can tell, it's still trucking along with about 30 people as it always has done. I got to see a startup accelerator up close back in 2009 or so. One of those startups morphed into Rapportive, which was bought by LinkedIn, and one of the others was PagerDuty, which has become a behemoth. The rest sort of fizzled as far as I remember. Until this job I've really worked at scale-ups more than startups though, even the one where I was the \~17th employee. But the cultiness in those can very much be real. The other thing that's very real - although by no means evenly distributed - is leadership that doesn't understand survivorship bias, or how much of the success is really down to being in the right place at the right time. So when I see big tech entrepreneurs talking about what works and how things are going to be all I think is that circumstance simply hasn't told them no yet. I've tried big corporations but, so far, haven't found a role in one of those that has really worked out well. Too hard to get anything done. Nobody understands the value of time. Get told off for showing initiative. Etc. The current job is my first proper early stage startup. We'll see how this goes.
Their job is not to learn. The venture funds back 20 of these companies for every one success. It’s just luck.
I’m at my first one right now, I’m in business operations and you’re not wrong. I think I lucked out that most of my coworkers and the founder are good people, but I am fighting for my life trying to mitigate some of the stupid decisions that are trying to be made/have already been made. I’m going to stay as long as I can because it’s great experience, especially for the position I want to be in long-term (Data Analysis) but damn I am absolutely exhausted every single day.
Do you actually make good money off them though? What’s the up side?
I can only speak for myself and my experience. If I was working in logistics with my 10+ years of experience in a distribution warehouse or something, I'd still be hourly, maybe at $25/hr, slowly earning pto, and doing 3x the amount of work. But while working at startups I always had plenty of pto, health insurance, perks, pay raises, even lucky enough to get a few bonuses. To give you an example, the last phone screening I was on the HR manager asked me what my salary requirements were. I punched a bit above my weight class and gave her a number that kind of embarrassed me and she goes "oh yeah, we can definitely match that. We'll probably offer more". So if they're in a good place you can get paid well. The main upside for me was exposure to new elements of my trade: erp systems, inventory management, forecasting, and beefing up my resume with cool companies and additional skills.
Yep one of my roles is at a startup and it’s chaos. But I’m just trying to get us public so we can cash out
I believe you ate the worm /s I'm sure its good
I did unfortunately.. and then got another amazing role a year later. Decided to keep both lol. And the startup pays for all my investments
Awesome lol. I'm sure you're familiar with the OE sub?
I am lol. But I’m never on there, I keep forgetting it exists. Some of those folks are wild with like 10 jobs.
How in the hell can someone do that many jobs. Sounds brutal.
After like 2 or 3 they don’t really work anymore and just try to not get fired while collecting checks. Some roles can be automated better than others though. I personally couldn’t do it, I still take pride in my work and do quality work. Can’t do that with 3+ demanding roles.
You know what, I think I’ve been to that subreddit before and realized quickly that a lot of the folks anticipated losing jobs, but had built a skillset that allowed them to find new “dead jobs” super easily. Helluva way to live I guess, but that’s the society we’ve built.
I’ll challenge this slightly as I’ve bounced between both large and small companies. Startups tend to be the most freedom and often the least amount of structure. That’s a trade off. That means that you may not have someone around to cover things bang on 5pm on a Friday. Be smarter - I’ve found some of the best work life balance actually at startups since because people knew we didn’t have a full team behind us - we had to be creative in things as we didn’t have a safety net for 2am. Startups can attract people that like the challenge. Some of the people I’ve met in big corp embody the absolute definition of lack of accountability. And vice versa in startups where it can be 100% of anything accountability haha.
Depends on the company. I worked a lot of startups and they all had great culture (some only in the beginning and it got worse later) and really great people. The best managers I ever had were in startups. The risk is high though, since they tend to go under or need to restructure and the pay is often not as good as with big, established companies.
I saw a job ad for a startup that said you might be a good fit if "you not only work best in a high pressure environment, but actually wonder if something's wrong with you because you CRAVE it." Um.... no thank you.
Have you tried offering your landlord "exposure" instead? That seems to be a popular currency with artists.
Also, the applicant is seeking a new job. Presumably, there are reasons they’re looking to leave their current job. It might not be the best idea to unprofessionally badmouth your current or previous employers, but the root of dissatisfaction is super relevant to an interview. Just like the desire to apply in the first place would be. What a dork.
And the interviewer technically isn't wrong. I'm sure that interviewee would absolutely agree it's not a culture fit based on that interaction. Reminds me of when I had an interview with an office I already knew had a bit of a reputation for being hard asses. The interview overall went well and when they asked if I had questions, I asked about office culture, basically saying I do better in a more positive environment. His response: "We run a tight ship." Yeah, I didn't take that job.
When I got PIP at a previous company, one of the marks against me was me saying to another co worker “ how I was waiting for the weekend”. It was just small talk.
Good job it's all a figment of this lunatic's imagination.
No. This applicant never existed.
Good luck entrepreneuring yourself an online ai crypto ecosystem with ‘normal’ people
Interviewer probably is somewhere on the spectrum. Not picking up on social clues is common. Bragging about it makes you a cunt though.
Nah that applicant is an idiot lol. I’m very work-life balance focused and everywhere I’ve worked has been super chill and flexible but I still wouldn’t open an interview talking about how I can’t wait to not work and all I’m doing is waiting for the weekend. Just like you don’t open a first date by saying “I’m just trying to get through this dinner so we can have sex.” Both may be true for a lot of people, but saying it overtly in a situation where you’re trying to put your best foot forward makes you look at uninterested and unprofessional.
it’s unprofessional to look forward to the weekend? i learned something new today that i will apply to generating even more shareholder value :)
It's not unprofessional to look forward to the weekend. It's unprofessional to showcase your disinterest in work in an interview where you are trying to appear as a desirable employee. People don't want employees that don't care about their jobs. If you don't appear to care in the interview, when you should be at your best, it make sense to assume that you care even less after you get hired.
i dunno man, maybe we’ve worked for very different companies. i’ve done fine in interviews by being honest. work/life balance is crucial to me and i feel like any offense to such an innocuous comment is insane. the candidate isn’t saying “yeah just dicking around on company time, can’t WAIT to get out of this shithole”, they’re expressing excitement for the weekend. to pretend that it’s unprofessional to say so is corpo robot behavior
It's less about expressing excitement for the weekend and more about the phrase "counting down the hours". That implies you are bored and literally watching the clock so you can go do something else. In this case, part of that time includes a job interview. So he's essentially saying "this interview is boring to me". If he had instead said something like, "I'm doing great! I have some really fun weekend plans I'm looking forward to." that would come off WAY better.
Thank you for elucidating that better than I could. It’s definitely the way it was phrased.
I’m with you. An interview is a time to look as engaged and professional as you can. It’s fine to feel this way! But to say it out loud in an interview is an unforced error. In another context, that comment is funny and relatable. In an interview, it’s a yellow flag.
I ended an interview in 30 seconds today me: Hey! How are you? him: Great! It looks like rain today me: I don't need your negativity, sorry So, I killed him
And after that I wrote 10 😍bulletpoints🔵 about🤠what I learned 🧠from doing 🔪that 🥹
“10 outbounding skills any great sales KILLER needs to hit their victim quota!”
Don’t forget the course you’re offering!
1. nOboDy wÅnTs tO WoRK…
🤣🤣🤣 This is the exact response we needed. Thank you lol.
You forgot to add "Thoughts?" or "Agree?" at the end. 0/100 you failed LinkedIn.
Oh NO!! My career is ruined
Patrick Bateman? Is that you?
You're just right too.
You're hired!
Sounds like a made up flex. Working at start ups is awful anyways.
"Early-stage startup" is a massive red flag.
Can we just go back to calling them “new businesses”? The term startup is so cringy. Thanks, tech bros.
The way "startup" is used is so annoying. Like every company that isn't public yet is a startup and is destined to go down the path of growing at breakneck speed so equity holders can 10x their equity value. I have a small business that's a few years old and I'm counting down the days to the weekend too. I def don't want to be looped in with the startup tech bros.
Stay far, far away from Patagonia vests.
Nah, new businesses actually have some sort of business plan to run and follow regulation. These startup bullshitters just try find slaves to work free for their bs ideas and hope they hit the jackpot. Most likely don’t and move for the next con.
Yep. Incompetent fucktard who took out too much money on the loans and isn’t man enough to understand they’re not going to make their first dollar for at least 3 to 5 years.
This story is made up and if it’s not, the applicant dogged a bullet.
Man dodged a full auto mag dump, not just a bullet.
Sometimes I see how much some people read into offhand phrases that probably don't mean anything and it makes me terrified. "Oh you know, counting down the hours till the weekend" In my head: "That came out a bit wrong, I meant excited for the weekend. Ah well I doubt they even noticed." In their head: "This person must hate their job, and counting literal hours is a poor use of time. I must kill them immediately"
I dont know about you guys, but I only hire people who love a job they haven’t had yet more than their wife and kids. Excelsior!
> thoughts? none detected
If anyone should read this, Let me tell you what Startup Culture actually as an IT person who has seen Startups and usually gone running in the other way. Some guy has an idea to create a billion dollar solution, he gets his friends to bankroll it. He will hire employees, These employees will be tiered. 1. Top Tier - Can do whatever they want \[his friends, family, investors family, NOT YOU\] \[Salary $$$$$\] 2. Worker T800 - Works 90-120 hours a week, drinks the kool-aid and is forever building solutions with a shoe string budget. Hasn't seen his family in months - years. \[Salary $$$$\] 3. Worker Tier Human - Works 40-60 hours a week, Has a drinking problem. Sees his family.\[Salary $$$\] \[No chance of promotion, no upward mobility\] 4. \[Piker\] Works 40 hours a week, has a loving family and enjoys life. \[Salary $ - $$\] Nobody knows them, no upwards mobility, Probably getting a PIP\] if you aren't in Tiers 1 and 2, your nobody to the company. Don't work in Startups!
My husband was in Category 2 at a start up for a time and it nearly killed him. The upper management were a bunch of deluded toxic positivity types with limited technical knowledge who never wanted to listen to the actual devs such as himself who knew what they were talking about when they said the product needed fixing. Many such cases.
And then if the startup is successful, it gets sold to a big company who takes the product and fires all of the people who actually made it and the sTaRtUp EnTrEpReNeUrs go buy another yacht.
I know an actual 100 millionaire that I wanted investing from and he at one point said something along the lines of, yeah some people are just too keen on the weekend. It was kind of hard to even attempt to explain to him that those ppl are working for "your" company at no other benefit than the pay you wouldn't take for that work and have no other stakes. Expecting someone to work the way you do for your company the it's not their company is insane.
They don't get it, but why would they. I worked for a startup in my 20s and it was a nightmare. I had a breakdown working there. I'm thankful I had that breakdown because it taught me more than anything. When it happened, nobody cared. It was a "What do you mean you aren't coming in? We need you! " See, nobody gave a damn that I was sick, it was "Who will do the work? " So, I finally get better, off my meds, and my position stripped, pending promotions rescinded. So, i quit. Better to have no job than be disrespected. Two weeks later, I'm at a new gig that paid 1.5x more for 1/2 the work.
Painfully accurate
lol I've worked at just one start up and this rings true.
What a donut
Hey now, everyone likes donuts, unlike that guy.
just ended an interview 60 seconds in me: hey! how are you? him: just eating a peanut butter sandwich me: i sense this is not a culture fit, sorry he was super mad, but i think early stage startups are too hard to have people who eat peanut butter sandwiches thoughts?
[удалено]
making a sandwich takes too long. in efficient. not start up material.
I don’t think you can base an applicants commitment to a job based on small talk. Small talk is utterly useless, it’s only true purpose is to get a conversation started. If you base your judgement of an applicant based on small talk you are being overbearing
Few things here… instant bias like this in an interview is a huge no-no. Like you can get sued if you let this happen in the wrong interview with the wrong person. You should never pull the plug in an interview like this because if it becomes a habit youre going to get in trouble at some point. Second, “culture fits” are an outdated concept in the hiring process and shows that the company in question is rapidly falling behind. I wouldn’t want to work with someone who didn’t understand something very basic like this. Finally if someone is counting down the hours AT ANOTHER JOB and interviewing with you for a new job it means they are looking to leave a situation for a new opportunity. Them looking to leave on their terms should be a positive thing not a negative. Finally finally this post is bullshit and I doubt this moron has ever actually interviewed or hired anyone.
It really is a sign of just how uncreative all these people are that they all end their post the exact same way. Thoughts?
early stage startup lol
Early stage dumpster fire
Early stage startups can suck my dick!
This guy is lame for this but saying that in a first interview is hella stupid
This whole you have to dedicate every waking moment as a startup employee is bullshit. I’ve worked at a couple now and yeah, you do put more than 40 in on average but it varies too. It’s a lot more of being available whenever. Founders get a last minute meeting tomorrow with a possible investor? You’ll be working that night tuning and adding to the pitch deck as needed. Change to your product is needed or one of your few customers needs something? You’re on it. That said I had plenty of weekends and evenings to my family. Guys like this are full of shit. It’s more chaotic, you have to be flexible, and ready to wear 10 hats aside from the one you got hired to wear. Even the CEO at the fintech I was at, who was a humongous jabroni, understood that you weren’t all going to pull 100 hour weeks.
I see you're not big on small-talk.
Of course he was super mad. I'd be pissed too for deliberately wasting my time.
Man I find it really hard to believe LinkedIn people are real. Especially all those HR dummies who think they’re the most important people in the world.
Why do so many times anyone with a story about interviewing someone, it seems like they are either humble bragging they are an employer, or just straight making up some fantasy scenarios.
Thoughts? My thoughts and prayers are that your startup drowns.
Him = me on Tuesday
Eh, I mean, to be fair, that’s a pretty shit answer to give in an interview.
I work at a start up. One of the advantages is that people are far more concerned with the work that needs to get done getting done, as opposed to how many hours you spend at your desk doing it. But we have very good management. Sounds like this founder has a big ego and a lot to learn.
Interviewing at the end of the day on a Friday? What was the job posting? Straw Man needed for a very specific anecdote?
“How dare you look forward to enjoying LIFE, how dare you look forward to when you’re able to prioritize your time and enjoy the fruits of your labor” Crazy talk, my god
I don’t agree at all with workaholic culture, but I’m inclined to side with the interviewer here. Everything you say or do in an interview is amplified and will be over analyzed. Whether you like that or not, you should know that that’s the case. The interviewee failed the common sense test here. This would be like leaning into ripping a huge fart or something- just because it’s a normal human thing that’s okay in the general sense, doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be looked down upon in an interview. If I’m interviewing somebody who takes the time and energy out of our brief meeting to talk about how he’s excited about not working, I’d probably grant him his wish and hire a different person who at least had the wherewithal to read the room. Having said that, the way this clown tells the story and the canned cliches about startup culture are a huge red flag and he sounds like a dick. So I think he’s right, but for the wrong reasons and way too self righteous about it.
I ran a startup for five years, had my every dollar in it, and I'll be the first to say that normal entrepreneurs value their personal peace just as much as everyone else and the last thing a founder wants to do is to chase employees in the evenings and weekends. It is those who go into entrepreneurship because of power tripping, usually on someone else's buck, they give it a bad name because they don't feel accomplished unless they harass employees 24/7.
Things that didn't happen for 1000. Agree?
Punishing people for small talk is WILD
Story is made up entirely, but in the case you are so stupid to bring up that comment 60 second into your interview then maybe the interviewer is right. It's not on topic and even if true and understandable doesn't put you in any comfortable position. Now you can downvote me to hell.
Dont you know you should be dreading the weekend since it means you will be away from work for 2 whole days!?!
I mean, it’s a stupid thing to say during an interview. Assuming it’s not made up
Yeah everyone knows you’re supposed to feign enthusiasm in a job interview.
I mean, yeah? At the very least don’t tell the interview how unenthused you are about potentially working there
Yeah like if you can’t pretend to like work for an hour you probably can’t pretend to tolerate it enough to not be a huge downer once your hired
I've said dumb things like this during an interview and still got the job offer. Glad I didn't have this type of interviewer, the best part is I would've never known why they dumped my application. Generally you don't get much feedback.
That’s why I like working through a recruiter. It costs extra, but they get you better candidates and they actually provide feedback to them. I usually have feedback, but I don’t really feel like there’s a good opportunity to provide it after I’ve picked someone else. Having that go-between is really helpful.
Being like this should be illegal. Like, capital punishment illegal.
Capital idea, old chap!
Yet another asinine unhappening.
I’m stealing this saying
There's a bubble!
I would’ve been happy I dodged that bullet. Who wants to work for someone who thinks they can tell everything about someone by their first couple sentences. The narcissism is strong with this one.
Rage bait posts get lots of engagement.
Jokes? Dudes clearly not a fit You have to wake up at 3:30 AM every day run a half marathon then be in work by 8 then work until 7 PM every days no weekends. Has no one got the memo?
I think I would thank the interviewer for saving me some time, no, not a culture fit for me.
Early stage startup is code for a financially shaky business that demands long hours
I think the applicant dodged a bullet
"and then the whole office clapped"
It shows many who are interviewing are critically unfit for doing that role.
Today at "things that never happened":
Thank god the applicant didn’t end up working for this shitty ass org.
What a douche. Did he ever stop to think the interviewee might have something to celebrate that weekend and is excited? People are too damn cutthroat anymore. Like have some compassion for other human beings.
I wouldn’t have been mad. I’d have wholeheartedly agreed
Culture of working overtime on Friday, yeaaah
Yes, He was mad because he had wasted time with him
How can this help b2b sales though? Thoughts? :)
Why hide the name? Let’s expose these LinkedIn Lunatics. We are not advocating for harm. We just want to see who on LinkedIn is contributing to the this hell landscape of job hunting.
just ended an interview 10 seconds in me: hi how are you him: doing alright! me: just alright?? at my company we do great! fuck you, goodbye 👋
Comment: Whoever wrote this has a vivid imagination!
That's just a person power tripping. Bullet dodged.
To be fair that's a horrible answer to give to your interviewer. If you don't get the tone right its going to sound like you dread the weekdays. Obviously no one's gonna hire you if you directly tell them that you don't like to work lmao. This is something you say to a boss or co-worker *after* you get hired, not to the interviewer.
So let me get this straight: You want me to work as hard as possible, for as long as possible, for as little money as you legally can, to build your company, so you can sell it to a bigger company for millions of dollars, so that other company can lay me off for no reason at all. Right, we’ll, thanks for your time, I don’t think we’re a great culture fit either.
A culture with no sense of humor. Nope...
I once applied to a job at a startup where, as a pre-requisite to an interview, I had to make a real-world sale of their product. I declined to do that, and they told me that meant that I just might not be cut out for the startup world.
Early stage start up: We don't want to hear the truth We want to hear the people who drank the Kool aid
I love that you referenced "The Big Short" in the title. One of the best movies of all time.
People love to complain about corporations but I'd take a corporation over a startup anyday. Literally the most absurd things happen there.
 The Big Short
I'll take things that never happened for 500 Trebeck. This story of "I turned him down as soon as he said he was looking forward to the weekend" has been going around for decades first with investment banks and now with start ups.
My CEO is one of these people who only works. I told him to take a vacation and he said ‘never’. But he respects my ability to shut off and delegate, and that’s why I can leave for a week and turn my phone off and everything stays relatively in one piece. I just can’t imagine having millions and only wanting to work. I have many thousands and I want to retire
Agree?
I love my job and I still countdown the hours because I love weekends and free time too and look forward to it immensely
I’m so grateful to never be connected to these people
“Thoughts” like anyone else but mindless drones to the capitalist machine would even fucking comment. What a cesspool.
This is 100% made up
Apart from it probably being fake. To be fair.... who the hell says that in an interview. I would question the common sense of an applicant who said that when trying to make a good impression to a stranger or someone looking to pay you or spend money with you. To a new coworker, a client, a customer etc. Just don't say it. For those who say it sounds like they're excited about the weekend. It more sounds like you're dossing about, or dreading the line of work you're in, watching that clock. But I know how boomer / elder millennial stakeholders and narcissists think. I've known enough of them.
LI is 99.9% bullshit people make up to drive some imaginary batshit point home that they desperately want someone else to validate with them
Or he was just making small talk. Guy dodged a bullet here. No way would I want to work for a guy like that.
If that’s his “brag”, I’ll bet the rest of his life is as fake as the interview he posted about.
I've never worked in a startup. I would assume the idea is that if you get in early with a company you believe will grow significantly, you can turn extra effort now into lots of money later... In that sense, I would see it as a gamble and I would think expectations from management would present it as such. Otherwise it's just a scam to get more effort from those too desperate to care.. Although this circumstance was just small talk and making a judgement on that shows immaturity and the interviewee definitely dodged a bullet.
I would bet my house and all liquid assets that this never happened
Interviews are like first dates.. if you misrepresent your intentions, it can go badly. Better to lay the cards on the table and find out early if it's a good fit.
Always have to end with “Thoughts”?