The Founding Engineer Interview Process

What to Look For in Founding Engineers

Beyond technical competence, founding engineers need specific traits that aren't always tested in standard interviews:

• Autonomy: Can they work without detailed specs or constant direction?
• Pragmatism: Do they understand the tradeoff between perfect and shipped?
• Breadth: Can they work across the stack, or do they need a defined lane?
• Speed: Do they default to moving fast, or do they over-engineer?
• Communication: Can they explain technical decisions to non-technical founders?
• Resilience: Have they operated in chaotic, resource-constrained environments?
• Ownership: Do they treat the product like theirs, or like a job?

Recommended Interview Structure

For founding engineers, we recommend a 4-stage process that can be completed in 1-2 weeks:

Key Questions to Ask

Autonomy & ownership

• "Tell me about a time you shipped something with no clear spec."
• "What's the biggest decision you've made without asking for permission?"
• "How do you decide when something is good enough to ship?"

Technical depth

• "Walk me through the architecture of your most complex project."
• "What would you change if you could rebuild it from scratch?"
• "What technical decisions have you regretted?"

Startup fit

• "Why startups over big tech?"
• "What frustrates you most about how companies build software?"
• "How do you handle ambiguity when priorities change weekly?"

Red Flags to Watch For

• "I need clear requirements": Founding engineers define requirements, not receive them.
• Only big-company experience: They may struggle without support systems.
• Perfectionism: Refactoring endlessly instead of shipping.
• "That's not my job": Founding engineers do whatever needs doing.
• Can't explain tradeoffs: Every decision has tradeoffs. If they can't articulate them, they may not be thinking about them.
• Asks only about equity: Good founding engineers care about the mission too.

How to Make the Final Decision

After interviews, ask yourself these questions:

• Would I trust this person to ship a critical feature while I'm fundraising?
• Will they still be excited when things break at 2am?
• Can I imagine them in the room with investors or customers?
• Do they have opinions, or do they just follow directions?
• Would other great engineers want to work with them?

If you hesitate on any of these, that's a signal. Founding engineer hires should be "hell yes" decisions.