My initial meeting was at a coffee shop through a personal connection, the individual showed up with the new CEO in tow (good sign). This was more of an informational interview, but I then followed up about the specific role (Program Manager). This brought forth another phone interview, another meeting with the manager at the coffee shop, and then a formal loop of interviews with 5 individuals on a single afternoon. LabKey is well-positioned for growth, so it made it fairly easy (I think) for them to transparent about their history, their current challenges and opportunities, etc. I was impressed by the range of people that ultimately interviewed me during the process.

Phone interview with recruiter. Second was a phone interview with the hiring manager. This was all standard fare. Lastly was an in-person interview. I met with four people - peer, hiring manager, founder/peer manager. hr manager. This company builds general software for life science laboratories. The direction of the functionality is largely driven by requests from paying customers - mostly Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. No one on staff is particularly scientifically literate. Everyone was very nice. I did not think it was a good fit, and I had another offer in hand. Perhaps they sensed that. My biggest concern was that the founders were software engineers who did not seem to understand product management concepts and the life science space. But they are growing. Finally, a relaxed life style is paramount here. It took forever to schedule these interviews. Someone was always out of the office.