I applied through their website. The recruiter respond really fast since I received an invitation for a 30-minute standard Python algorithm quiz on the next day. I've already finished the quz and I'm still waiting on their response with next step.

The whole process took about 2-3 weeks. First they sent me an online assessment which took me 30 minutes to finish. Not very difficult. Just a dozen of multi-choice questions. You will pass it as long as you are good at data structure and algorithms. After that a Senior HR called me to talk about his company. He tried his best to convince me that his company was the best startup in the world and it will be correct to choose them. I had to confess that he did a wonderful job. Then it came the phone screening session. Online meeting, two engineers watching me coding to solve a FizzBuzz problem. It's more complicated than the original problem. It's a step by step process. Once you solve a problem, they will present your with a follow-up problem. Then I was told that I could take the full-day final round. I prepared for about a week. The first 3 interviews on that day was for the same problem: code a game server. It's not hard but there were lots of details. It's not about algorithm but about your ability to get a real project done (from scratch.). After that the senior HR again met me to let me ask questions. But the technical interview was not over yet. The 4th interview is about system design. It's about a real performance tuning issue they faced several years ago. In the 5th interview, there were two directors from their company. One of them kept asking me lots of questions while the other guy was pretty silent. They asked me to summarize the technical sessions I just had. Asked about my background, asked me to tell them a very difficult project that I did...etc. And they also reserved some time for me to ask them questions. And they really gave me very comprehensive answers. The interviews went pretty well, then the second day I received an email from the senior HR: "It is my pleasure to inform you that Academia.edu is making you an offer! We are excited about the prospect of you joining our team and hope you are too." They scheduled two meetings for me, one with the CTO and the other with the CEO. So far so good. But things changed afterwards without obvious reasons: Right before the day that I would have meeting with their CTO and CEO, I got email from that senior HR: "we'd have to postpone the meeting with you because our CTO and CEO are busying preparing for other meetings". And the second day another HR person sent me an email telling me that they would not be able to make the offer any more. The overall experience is negative because it wasted me lots of time. They first promised an offer in written email then failed to keep their word. For those who would like to give this company a try please read my experience above. It may or may not deserve your time. It's really hard to tell what is happening on their side. Maybe there is a sudden hiring freeze because they lost some important customers. I feel unhappy but I do not hate them. Because it's way better than being laid off right after onboarding. The decision must be made by their executives, for some reason.