Applied for Chief of Staff. Reached out directly to Managing Director of AI on LinkedIn. He was positive and engaging. The recruiter was excellent. Organized, responsive, and it was clear she genuinely cares about candidate experience. I also spoke with the Managing Director of AI, who seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and I enjoyed the conversation. I was then invited to apply for Head of Business Development instead of CoS. It wasn't as solid of a match with my background, but I was excited about the opportunity and said yes. I was asked to complete a project, which I enjoyed. I felt confident in my delivery and was pleased to share the strategic approach I’d take. I got positive feedback on my strategy and delivery. Received follow-up questions. Did more work. And was comfortable doing so. Unfortunately, the process went downhill after that. I had an awful call with the founder. He was driving during the interview, barely engaged, and it was clear he did not want to be speaking with me. The tone felt dismissive, and I left the conversation feeling like he had already decided I could not do the job before the call even started. After that, I was asked for additional work that went beyond a reasonable interview exercise. It was not just “how would you approach the role.” It was real business development work that could easily be used by the company, with no compensation. Compensation was also a major concern. The role expectations and delivery were clearly aligned with an enterprise Head of Business Development role, but the pay structure being proposed felt closer to what you’d expect for an SDR. When I declined to do actual work for free, but instead gave an example and said I’d be happy to do exactly what had been asked when a contract was in place, I was told we weren’t aligned on risk profile and informed they wouldn’t be giving me the job. Honestly, by that point I was relieved. Too many major red flags. Pros: Strong TA lead, engaging Managing Director of AI, good early interviews. Cons: Founder interview felt unprofessional, role scope shifted, additional unpaid BD work, candidate expected to assume all of the risk for a salary that isn’t even market competitive.