The Shelf Interview Questions
& Process

This interview wasn't really worth the time. There were a lot of questions asked before the actual interview even began. During the interview, the interviewer seemed to be distracted, possibly checking other emails or doing other work. It might be a good idea to consider having an HR representative join the call next time.

The interview process was good. I first spoke with a recruiter, and then later on, I met with the CEO. Although I didn't end up getting an offer, it seems like a good company to work for, with good vibes and fast growth.

So this was a really weird interview process. I was already in a good VP position, but a recruiter hit me up for a Head of Sales role, so I figured why not listen. The recruiter seemed clueless about the industry or their business from the questions they asked. First up was the CEO, who was cool, and we had a good chat about AI. It felt like their AI approach was just copied from others, but whatever. Then I talked to the COO, who was late and awkward. He came from a SAAS background and didn't seem to get how sales work for a full-service, campaign-based company, like, SAAS is way different. Instead of asking about my experience selling big partnerships, he wanted to argue about AI, mostly because I figured out they weren't using proprietary AI but white-labeled stuff. He didn't like that I knew this and tried to act like he was the AI expert. He clearly didn't know much about sales systems but wanted to be in charge, which was a huge red flag for me, knowing I wouldn't have the freedom to do things right. I've seen that fail before when non-sales people try to run sales. Still, I took another call to see the offer. The second call was odd; he made big assumptions about my background based on hardly anything, as we spent more time on AI than actual sales strategy. I corrected him and explained again, but he was stuck on his opinion. I got the sense we wouldn't work well together, and they were amateurs trying to act like data scientists with their borrowed tech. I wouldn't have taken the job anyway, and I'm glad I didn't because I heard it's a mess and people are leaving. Their finances are unstable, and I don't know any brands that stick with them long-term. The COO needs to go if they want to fix the culture and grow properly.

I interviewed for a Brand Partnerships Manager role a few years back with Lauren and Atul. It involved several calls with each of them. They asked standard interview questions. Their agency seems more data-focused than creative, which is fine. Initial calls were meet-and-greets, with later individual calls being more focused and technical. Lauren even suggested another role that might be a better fit. The process overall felt good, but I was ghosted and later told they found someone else. A rejection email would have been appreciated.