The Hiring Process: A Mutual Crucible
We don’t believe in "interviewing" in the traditional sense. Traditional interviews are performative dances where people lie to each other for an hour. Instead, we use a crucible approach.
Our hiring process is designed to be a two-way door. It is as much for you to see if you can handle our level of intensity as it is for us to see if you possess the craft we require. We are a championship team, not a corporate family. If you are looking for a place to hide, a "cushy" environment, or a role where you can "fake work," you will find this process deeply uncomfortable.
If you are a high-agency builder, you will find it refreshing.
Step 1: The CEO Alignment (Mission Screen)
The first conversation is a 30-minute deep dive with our CEO. There is no small talk.
- The Goal: To determine if you actually care about what we are building or if you are just chasing a paycheck.
- The Filter: If you measure your success by your previous title, the size of your last budget, or the number of direct reports you had, we are not the place for you. We want people driven by strategic significance and the marathon, not the opportunistic sprint.
Step 2: Role-Specific Technical Collaboration (The Pairing)
We do not ask trick questions about reversing linked lists on a whiteboard. We focus on realistic collaboration in a controlled setting.
This stage is split into two intense sessions:
Collaborative Solving (Simulation): You will pair with a senior teammate on a simulation-based problem statement. It uses a fictional domain and/or synthetic data and is designed to evaluate how you reason, communicate, and make trade-offs.
- The exercise is not real work and the output is not used by the company in production, commercial activities, or client delivery.
- Use the tools and input methods you prefer. If you need reasonable accommodations (assistive technologies, additional time, alternative format), tell us and we’ll adapt.
The Onboarding Swap: A new teammate joins. Your job is to "onboard" them, explaining the whys and the trade-offs of the decisions you just made. We are testing your ability to communicate complex context without creating unnecessary work for others.
We treat you as a coworker from minute one. We expect you to push back, disagree, and defend your craft.
Step 3: The Cultural Fit & "Ethics at Work" Interview
This is where we filter for leadership style and human virtue. We assess your alignment with our Core Philosophy:
"Ethics at work is showing up, being on time, being reliable, doing what you say you are going to do, being trustworthy, dedicating a fair workday, respecting work, respecting the client, respecting the organization, respecting colleagues, not wasting time, not making work difficult for others, not creating unnecessary work for others, not being a bottleneck, not faking work."
- Radical Transparency: We assess your resilience to direct feedback. We believe that if no one is ever offended, there isn't enough truth being told. We hire adults who don't need "sugarcoated" interactions.
- Ownership vs. Renting: We look for people who bolting the Christmas tree to the floor of their own home—not renters who damage the property because they don't own it. We will ask you to prove times you made short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.
Our Promise to You
We move at light speed. We won't ghost you. We won't put you through ten rounds of bureaucracy. We will tell you exactly where you stand, often within 24 hours of each step.
We are looking for craft-first builders: radically transparent, skeptical of centralized power, and capable of navigating tricky situations without the corporate playbook.
If this sounds intimidating, don't apply. If it sounds like home, we'll see you in Step 1.