Naming Apple or Google as Your Favorite Startup Can Cost You a Startup Job

In job interviews at Slidebean, Caya, the founder of the startup, likes to ask candidates a casual question: what is your favorite startup?

He says a surprising number of people answer Apple or Google, which he notes are not startups at all. For him, he says, that answer is, in his words, "a good way to tell that they're not in the vibe."

What he means, he explains, is that people who thrive at young companies tend to hunt down small, obscure tools on their own, download them, play with them, and fall in love with them. The best sign, he argues, is a candidate who discovers a cool little niche app and tries to reach out to its founders.

That habit matters more to him than credentials. He says his 40-person company still finds college degrees mostly irrelevant, and cares far more about curiosity and life experience. He points to applicants who tinker with new technology, who have moved abroad, backpacked the world, or run a side hustle.

It fits with another question he asks, about something really cool a candidate achieved at a last job. He says the answer shows creativity, how the person delegates work, and what excites them.

By now, he adds, his team has the luxury of hoping applicants have heard of Slidebean itself. But the test is the same, whether the app is his or someone else's. He wants people who were willing to download something unknown, in Caya's words, "and fall in love with that app."