Initially contacted by a recruiter and invited to interview. I wasn’t looking, but the company looks like it has a promising future and the team has great experience so I thought I’d check it out. Spoke with the Head of People first, followed by the interim Head of Marketing. Was pleasantly surprised by the 2-way dialogue rather than the typical check-off-the-bullet points sales drill. They seemed genuinely interested in making sure this was a good fit on both sides and bothered to ask me what I was looking for in my next role. Things stalled for a bit due to travel schedules and I was informed that they’re moving forward with someone else. I asked for more feedback and they offered me the courtesy of a personal discussion, which is pretty rare these days. After that I agreed it’s not the right place for me at this stage of my career. If you’re looking to be a people manager it may be a while before you can build a full team, but if you’re someone who enjoys the build and all the scrappy startup fun that goes with it, it could be a great opportunity to make a name for yourself with some powerhouse leaders in the data space. Be prepared to work and you’ll definitely have to wear multiple hats, but they seem genuinely conscious of maintaining a work-life balance which is also pretty rare in the startup world.