Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 132 posts

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#41

Post by mcavaliere »

Some of this you can look up on CrunchBase beforehand, which you definitely should do. For me I believe in trying to gauge just how prone to borrowing the founders are; if they have a solid model and are more inclined to seek profit rather than investment (except after proving the model, and primarily to increase growth), then that's a good sign.

If however they seem like they approach is constantly to borrow money, that's a red flag.

* How much runway does the company have? What will the plan be when we start to run out? * How well have you proven the business model? * What type of validation/research did the team do for product-market fit (before building the product)? * What's the management team's approach to profit vs investment?

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#42

Post by gwbas1c »

Apreche wrote: post #11

Whenever I get a chance to talk to an obscenely wealthy person I always ask: "You have enough money you live the rest of your life in idle luxury. You could just go to the beach and never come back. If I had your money, that's what I would do. Why the heck are you still working?" Of course, if it's a job interview, and you want the job, maybe not the best question.

The CEO that interviewed me for my current job probably had about the same amount of "wealth" as I had. His career background was very similar to mine, and his family background was similar to mine.

Quite honestly, I don't think he had enough money to retire on the beach.

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#43

Post by balabaster »

Since you came on as CEO, has your vision for the company changed or evolved? What impact has the culture of the company had on your vision and how do you plan to adapt the culture here to achieve your objectives? Have you had any regrets about anything you've had to do to get the company to where it is today and what would you do differently if you could go back and have a do over?

I want to know more about who this person is than any of the financial details of the company. I want to be able to believe in this leader of the company. I need them to show me they're a leader I want to follow.

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#45

Post by notjustanymike »

Avalaxy wrote: post #38

The arrogance of many of the questions posted here surprises me. I am not unwilling to give answer to all sorts of questions that aren't the employee's business, but for some questions posted here the tone is so hostile and assuming that there is ill-will that I would probably not hire those people based on arrogance. The fact that software engineers are in a good position market-wise, doesn't mean you can say whatev…

Which examples bother you?

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#47

Post by Avalaxy »

notjustanymike wrote: post #45
Avalaxy wrote: post #38

The arrogance of many of the questions posted here surprises me. I am not unwilling to give answer to all sorts of questions that aren't the employee's business, but for some questions posted here the tone is so hostile and assuming that there is ill-will that I would probably not hire those people based on arrogance. The fact that software engineers are in a good position market-wise, doesn't mean you can say whatev…

Which examples bother you?

To name some:

- "You have enough money you live the rest of your life in idle luxury. You could just go to the beach and never come back. If I had your money, that's what I would do. Why the heck are you still working?" (this is incredibly assuming)

- "Will you share slides from the last board meeting?" (I think if you need this information you'd probably be on the board)

- "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" (this one made me chuckle but it's also insanely arrogant)

- "When I leave here in 2-3 years, will it be because of the people, or because I haven't gotten a raise and/or promotion?" (someone who states up front that they will for a fact leave after a short period will not get hired by me. The tone also implies that he will leave because something bad will inevitably happen)

- "What keeps you up at night?" (IDK, seems way too personal, none of the employee's business)

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#48

Post by byoung2 »

ericabiz wrote: post #32
Apreche wrote: post #11

Whenever I get a chance to talk to an obscenely wealthy person I always ask: "You have enough money you live the rest of your life in idle luxury. You could just go to the beach and never come back. If I had your money, that's what I would do. Why the heck are you still working?" Of course, if it's a job interview, and you want the job, maybe not the best question.

Because the beach gets boring after a while. I sold a company at a young age and had enough money to not have to work for several years. I sat on the beach. I traveled. I had fun. Then I got tired of it. I really wanted to do something with my life. So I started another company. That one didn't work out as well as I'd hoped, so I collected myself and invested in/became co-owner of another company. That one has done r…

Because the beach gets boring after a while.

At my last company our lead investor was Rich Janssen (great name, right) and he said exactly this. He founded Realtor.com and took it public and founded a data analytics company that sold to Myspace. He had a $10M house in Montecito, CA next door to Oprah, and a million dollar yacht. I asked him why he didn't just retire to some warm sandy beach. He said he tried retirement but it didn't work. Golfing and sitting on a beach made him feel old. Working with young people made him feel young.

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#49

Post by notjustanymike »

Avalaxy wrote: post #47
notjustanymike wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which examples bother you?

To name some: - "You have enough money you live the rest of your life in idle luxury. You could just go to the beach and never come back. If I had your money, that's what I would do. Why the heck are you still working?" (this is incredibly assuming) - "Will you share slides from the last board meeting?" (I think if you need this information you'd probably be on the board) - "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" (th…

Totally agree with you on those. They're a great way to tank your chances at the final interview, on the basis of "not a good culture fit"

Re: Ask HN: Best questions for an engineer to ask a CEO during a job interview?

#50

Post by leothekim »

Avalaxy wrote: post #38

The arrogance of many of the questions posted here surprises me. I am not unwilling to give answer to all sorts of questions that aren't the employee's business, but for some questions posted here the tone is so hostile and assuming that there is ill-will that I would probably not hire those people based on arrogance. The fact that software engineers are in a good position market-wise, doesn't mean you can say whatev…

> The fact that software engineers are in a good position market-wise, doesn't mean you can say whatever you like to someone.

The fact that software engineers are in a good position market-wise is a position of leverage to ask questions to make an informed decision when taking the next step in their career.

Frankly, if a CEO found any questions like these arrogant or out of line, I'd personally wonder if I, as an engineer, could do my job effectively or believe in the company's success. But, to each their own!

Post reply on HN