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

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

#111

Post by notjustanymike » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 1:06 AM UTC

spectramax wrote: post #76

notjustanymike wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with your points, and think there is no need to act so jaded. When asking these questions, you will sometimes get honest answers and sometimes get the pre-canned responses. How people choose to answer questions tells you a lot about the kind of person you're dealing with. I value the answers not just for their content, but also how the person chooses to interact with me. If a CEO only flatters me with suga…

I disagree. You’re most likely going to get a “CEO answer”. The problem with asking these questions is - what is the criteria for a good vs bad response? What are red flags? These questions sound super handwavy and can be answered easily by polished talk. They’re useless mostly. Instead ask specific questions that can reveal deeper issues. If you’re asking about time, then ask - how many months until X? If they waggl…

True, hard numbers get solid answers. But then what? Are you any closer to knowing what your day will be like? You can get those numbers from other people in the chain. This is your short chance to understand how the head of the company thinks; don't waste it on information you can get elsewhere.

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

#112

Post by rdiddly » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 1:34 AM UTC

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…

"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?"

A wordy, trying-to-be-cute way of saying "What motivates you to keep working?" or "Why do you keep working instead of retiring?" which is a pretty good question.

"Will you share slides from the last board meeting?"

A bit presumptuous maybe, but not quite into the realm of arrogance. I would verbally summarize the slides.

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

Nothing arrogant about this one; a CEO should have a 5-year plan at least. Although this particular way of asking it has been used verbatim enough times since I first heard it in the 80s, that it now shuts down my mind immediately due to its blandly mind-numbing cliché quality. Which doesn't speak to the candidate's amazing creativity. Don't ask it this way if you're sitting with a Gen-Xer probably.

"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?"

I mean, you tell me. Are you more "I have a terrible personality and poor social skills" or are you more "I get childishly petulant when I don't get promotions and raises I think I deserve?" Both these things are within your control... and so is your exit from the company for that matter. If you were mature enough to take responsibility that is. Terrible question, don't ever say this. It conveys four negative things about you, all of which I would assume are true.

"What keeps you up at night?"

The question is again trying to be all folksy and cute bygoshdarn bygolly, but at its heart it's a pretty good question. In other words right now what's your biggest obstacle / thing you're worried about / thing that's giving you a pain. At work mind you... not your personal life!

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

#113

Post by PopeDotNinja » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 2:03 AM UTC

"What is suboptimal about working here, the kind of stuff that someone people will cause some people to quit & that others can accept? I am gonna find out if I take the job."

A CEO who answers the question directly, with confidence, makes me believe their answer, and appreciates your directness gets +1 gold star. If you ask this question, you'd better be prepared to reply directly & with confidence, too. When confront someone directly, you should assume they will do the same to you. Have some good stories ready about why things that might drive someone else bonkers are things you can accept.

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

#114

Post by HillRat » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 2:46 AM UTC

Sales. Always ask about sales. Specifically, what’s the sales culture — who’s responsible, what’s the acquisition model, how well do the sales folks understand the offering, how do they manage the funnel, and so on. At the end of the day, unless you’re talking to speculative R&D-driven startups whose future success will be driven by technical breakthroughs, everything comes down to how effective the sales org is, how well it meshes with the company’s aims and mission, and how well they will work with the other groups. An immature or poorly-structured sales org will kill the best technology in the market, and ruin your enjoyment of a job.

If you can, see if they’ll run you through a client pitch, give you a chance to poke some holes in their approach. Get a feel for how much they care about solving customer problems, their ethics in client capture, what they’re promising the market, and how you feel about them as people. Tells you a lot about a company.

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

#115

Post by timoth3y » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 3:42 AM UTC

notjustanymike wrote: post #21

What are the problems you are personally trying to solve? How do you like to make decisions? What do you believe is the purpose of a manager? What do you believe motivates employees at your company? From an employees perspective, what makes your company a unique place to work? How do you recognize major achievements? ... basically I like to dig into culture (which is always top down), and empathy. I want to know whet…

> How do you like to make decisions? > What do you believe is the purpose of a manager?

I've run several startups and done a ton of hiring interviews. FWIW, these are terrible questions to ask a CEO. They are too vague and make it sound like you are trying to fake a challenging question.

More than anything else, these questions would tell me "Here is an employee who will demand a lot of my time."

If you want to ask something about decisions, ask something like "Do you favor consensus or autonomy in decision making?" or "How do junior team members influence team decisions?" or something like that.

The manager question is kind of out of left field. It would be like someone interviewing for a developer position asking "So, what do you think is the purpose of a laptop?"

Anyway, that's ny two cents. Use at your own risk.

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

#116

Post by jbduler » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 3:46 AM UTC

HillRat wrote: post #114

Sales. Always ask about sales. Specifically, what’s the sales culture — who’s responsible, what’s the acquisition model, how well do the sales folks understand the offering, how do they manage the funnel, and so on. At the end of the day, unless you’re talking to speculative R&D-driven startups whose future success will be driven by technical breakthroughs, everything comes down to how effective the sales org is, how…

Spot on HillRat. You nailed it.

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

#117

Post by jbduler » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 3:52 AM UTC

Look for signals. Pretty simple: the caliber of the CEO, CTO or the caliber and experience of the VP Eng. Then look at the VC's funding the company, and the names of the partners on the board. If top tier VC (say Sequoia, Benchmark, or A16) invested in series A after having invested in seed, then you are good. VC's can be be wrong for sure but they have done a ton of background checks on founders, the tech, why customers would buy, etc.. There is no way you can do as much and have as many contacts. Ignore vanity signs such as "Fancy Advisors", they bring next to nothing. Same for "Fancy Big Client", just a free test on some ancillary product. Good luck

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

#118

Post by akchin » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 4:06 AM UTC

jbduler wrote: post #117

Look for signals. Pretty simple: the caliber of the CEO, CTO or the caliber and experience of the VP Eng. Then look at the VC's funding the company, and the names of the partners on the board. If top tier VC (say Sequoia, Benchmark, or A16) invested in series A after having invested in seed, then you are good. VC's can be be wrong for sure but they have done a ton of background checks on founders, the tech, why custo…

In general this is good advice. However I would advice against depending too much on VCs. They don’t really get it right a lot of the time. At the end of the day it is the caliber of the team, the sales/customer acquisition strategy and the competitive dynamics of the market and the position of the company within this market. So the first part about judging the team is valid. The answers below about asking questions about sales/acquisition is very good. Depending on the stage of the company, you should also ask about profitability or if there is a clear path to profitability.

Also don’t shy away from asking challenging questions...such as competitors etc. and be wary of a CEO who is dismissive of challenges. You should get a well thought out answer.

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

#119

Post by evilstark » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 4:25 AM UTC

"What is the one thing an engineer could do that would make a huge difference in where we are trying to take this thing?"

This question

-- a) gives him an opportunity to tell you exactly where we are trying to take this thing,

-- b) shows you what he thinks is the value of engineering talent, and

-- c) gives you a good picture of what exactly you should be focused on if you want to really succeed here.

Go get em!

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

#120

Post by xs83 » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 5:43 AM UTC

floatrock wrote: post #65

shanehoban wrote: post #22

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…

Disagree - as someone who has worked solely with startups for the last 10 years it is crucial to know this. I have (on more that one occasion) been without pay for a period because "the funding ran out" - it is part and parcel of early start ups and knowing where they are on the journey to profitability is important if you are making a commitment!