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These are the questions (and reasons for them) that I have used in the past: https://joewegner.com/blog/startup-interview-questions
This question reflects a misunderstanding of a startup’s mission (to grow extra-ordinarily fast) > What cost center would have to be cut to be profitable today?
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Some of us have enough money that we just don't care. If you want people to tiptoe around your feelings I suggest messaging some broke new grads.
Why are you even applying to work for someone else's company then if you're so super rich? If you're gonna be arrogant you can expect many companies to shut the door for you.
Here (Bay Area) people usually don't apply for jobs, specially jobs at startups, unless they're really into the products/team/tech/... Even old-school walking-dead companies like Cisco/IBM/HPE pay way better than most startups in term of cash compensation. And given the high risk of failure, startup should sell itself hard to attract talents.
I also found those questions are normal, far from being arrogant.
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Equity isn’t money, it’s a lottery ticket.
Lottery tickets are worth more than $0
How much do you pay for equity (in the form of reduced salary), and what's the expected upside?
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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…
They’re not bad. They’re similar to questions asked by employers to candidates. The fact that you find them arrogant, to me, says that you hold yourself in higher regard than you hold your employees; that you feel superior in some way. If someone asked you to share some board slides, you could simply explain they’re company confidential then try to tease out what information they’re after with follow up questions. Or…
Revenue rate - Does the company take any money in, or is it simply running off funding Runway length - Similar to above, trying to gauge if the company is self propelled or not If received funding, how much and when was it received, also ask for burn rate here. Very quick estimate of company health = Revenue per month - (burn rate per month + (head count * average monthly salary)).
These are investor questions, not employee questions. In my experience, you're either going to get a vague dodge or a flat-out "we're not going to share that / it's confidential" response unless you're applying for a C-level position. A better approach is to dive into the product and make a judgement... "What does the company need to do to secure its next round of funding?" VC-scale rule-of-thumb is you need a new fu…
Even if they don't offer equity, you still have a significant opportunity cost and risk when you decide to work for a startup. These questions attempt to quantify these.
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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…
Unless you are going to be a direct report (short- and long-term) to the CEO, specific situational/tactical questions aren't going to be of much value since your manager (either existing or TBD), rather than the CEO, is going to be making most of the decisions that directly impact you day-to-day. I'd be asking more open-ended 'big picture' questions about things I cared about at a strategic level (how are they funded…
In general it's important to be mindful of the fact that hiring is a business transaction. The CEO's goal is to close (hire) you -- if you get accurate information as a byproduct of that, great, but accuracy/honesty isn't the goal.
I've learned to expect that everything coming out of management's mouth is in furtherance of the shareholder's interests. They are not looking out for you an employee. If you want real answers to these questions, either work through your network or form your own opinions. Management will always just spin it -- their view of things is your first and perhaps best data point, but always cross-check against industry press, friends, and your gut feel/experience. e.g. if your management consistently says your company is great, you have the best tech / fastest growth / best investors, actively seek out the other side of the story (generally outside your company) to see what's fact and what's bullshit.
What keeps you up at night?
Of all the questions I’ve ever asked, I consistently learn the most from this one.