interviewing at a startup be like... (ft. Steven He)
Chapters6
Describes a closet light bulb problem with three switches and uncertainty about the bulb state.
A spicy peek into startup interview culture, with Steven He and Joma Tech trading hard questions and harder truths about culture, valuation, and grit.
Summary
Joma Tech hand-delivers a humorous yet sharp look at startup interviewing dynamics, featuring Steven He and Da Wei (Eric Wang) on a fictional but revealing interview journey. The clip blends awkward technical questions with a blunt critique of startup culture, including a cringe-worthy coding challenge and a tough culture question about family tragedy. We see the interviewer's Mandarin/Canto moment contrasted with practical handoffs, as Da Wei stumbles through a data-stream median problem and a hashing discussion that spirals into self-deprecating humor. The scene then pivots to a values-heavy culture screen that culminates in a provocative ethical test: who to save when parents are in danger, tying brutally into company values and what they actually measure. Da Wei’s sidekick energy heightens the tension until a dramatic pivot reveals a broader critique: valuations, investor narratives, and the performance of “paper money” versus real cash. The dialogue moves from “five principles and 53 core values” to a blunt lesson about market perceptions, liquidity, and the risky theater of growth hype. Finally, Eric Wang enters the frame, reframes the absurdities as a cautionary tale, and hands Da Wei a surreal, almost cinematic invitation to “Enjoy the ride as much as you can.” Steven He’s presence threads through the chaos, puncturing pretensions with humor that lands as both critique and entertainment. The video lands as a fast, memorable primer on what not to glorify in startup interviews while still delivering crisp commentary on culture, valuation, and the human costs behind the numbers.
Key Takeaways
- “My grandmother run faster than you code.” demonstrates how a poor coding interview can derail a candidate’s credibility in a high-pressure round.
- The conversation about 130 desks and a $100M raise at a 1.2B valuation highlights the disconnect between hype and fundamentals in startup storytelling.
- “It’s all fairy dust. See all of this? Smoke and mirrors… liquidate.” illustrates the critique that market valuations can be performative without real traction.
- The five principles and 53 core values are treated as a rhetorical device to expose how culture is often exploited to justify aggressive growth in the face of real profitability questions.
- The exit strategy discussion—IPO vs liquidation and the secondary market—shows how startups are expected to perform for investors even when the underlying business is unproven.
- Eric Wang’s cameo reframes the story, suggesting a pragmatic, risk-aware path through the hype and pressure of startup culture.
- The scene uses humor and discomfort to teach viewers how to spot red flags in interview processes and in company narratives.
Who Is This For?
Essential viewing for aspiring startup engineers and product folks who want to understand interview dynamics, investor narratives, and the human costs behind flashy valuations—plus anyone curious about Steven He’s sharp-edged critique of startup culture.
Notable Quotes
""My grandmother run faster than you code.""
—A sharp rebuke during a coding question that reveals how quickly a candidate can be dismissed in a tough interview.
""If your parents were in a car crash and you could only save one, who would you save and how does that reflect our company values?""
—The brutal culture-question moment that ties personal ethics to corporate values and puts pressure on the candidate.
""It’s all fairy dust. See all of this? Smoke and mirrors… you either liquidate for an IPO or an acquisition.""
—A capsule critique of startup hype and the fragile scaffolding of valuation narratives.
""130 desks, 130 employees by the end of the year. We’ve raised $100 million at a 1.2 billion valuation.""
—A concrete snapshot of the flashy growth story contrasted with the subsequent reality check.
""Enjoy the ride as much as you can.""
—Eric Wang’s invitation that caps the moment with a pragmatic, cautionary note about startup culture.
Questions This Video Answers
- How accurate are startup valuations in early-stage companies like those described in the interview?
- What should you expect in a high-pressure coding interview at a tech startup?
- Why do startups emphasize culture metrics (values, principles) even when fundamentals aren’t strong?
- What is the difference between IPO, acquisition, and the secondary market in startup finance?
- What can Steven He teach us about handling workplace or interview awkwardness in tech?
Steven HeJoma Techstartup interviewcoding interviewsystem designcompany culturevaluationliquiditysecondary marketEric Wang
Full Transcript
(clock ticking) - There is the light bulb in the closet. The closet door is closed. You cannot see if the light bulb is on or off. Outside of the closet, there are three switches. One of the switches control the light bulb. You can flip the switches however you'd like. What is the number of light bulbs sold in the US each week? (tense music) - Um... (camera lens whirs) Um, 50 million. (music booms) (pen clicks) (pen scratching) (text booms) Oh yeah, um, ni hao? - So, uh, anyway, let's, uh, start with some, with, uh, some coding questions that we follow up with.
Uh, some system design, okay? Great. Uh, so the first question, leh (interviewer speaks in foreign language) (interviewer laughs) (Da Wei chuckles awkwardly) - Yeah, um, sorry, um. I'm actually, I don't speak Mandarin. I'm Canto. Yeah. (paper scraping) - (sighs) Okay. We, we, we start off with the first question then. Uh, okay, create a class to find the medium in a data stream. Go, we don't have much time. - Um, okay, I guess what we can do is we can create an array and- - Too slow. - Um, okay, um, maybe what we can do is, uh, instead of sorting, maybe we can do it with insertions.
- My grandmother run faster than you code. - Okay, okay. What if we create a HashMap, right? And then- - Hash, hash. What, you eat too much hash brown? Your brain turned into potato. (pen thuds) - (sighs) Okay. Fuck, um. Oh, oh, oh, wait. Okay, what if- - Oh, sorry. Would you look at the time? Good luck with your, your other interviews. It was okay meeting you. (sighs) Disappointment, just like my son. So I'm sure you've heard about our five principles and our 53 core values to our company. - Yeah. Su- sure. - Great, because you know culture is very important to our company.
So I'm just gonna ask you one question. (ominous music) If your parents were in a car crash and you could only save one, who would you save and how does that reflect our company values? - Um. (interviewer laughing) (text thuds) - No way, what for real? Like really? Oh my God. You did not. What? Emotional damage, what the fuck is that? No, okay. (laughs) Lis, all right. Listen, man, I gotta, I gotta interview this bozo right here, so. Yeah, yeah, I'll be done, I'll be done later. Oh, w, why are you here again? (text booming) (dramatic orchestral music) Da Wei, come.
Let me show you something. 130 desks, 130 employees by the end of the year. We've raised $100 million at a 1.2 billion valuation. - Yeah, congrats. I mean, you guys have a great product, great product market fit- (CEO laughs) I mean... - Do you really believe my company's worth $1 billion? - Well, yeah, I mean, you have great user retention and- - It's all fairy dust. See all of this? Smoke and mirrors, you know. It's slight of hand for the uninitiated. Well, sure, on paper it's worth $1 billion, but none of this is ever going to see the light of day and that's why we liquidate.
- That's standard, right? You know, you either liquidate for an IPO or an acquisition. - Well, that's where you're wrong. See, you want to be on the secondary market. The equity, the paper money, the number on these screens, they're all for the investors. But we, we want hard cash, right? Say we lose this, where you wanna be? - Well, I mean, you know, you still have to please the investors. You can't just ignore them, right? (CEO scoffs) - Ah, it doesn't matter what your company does. Hell, make a window blinds company if you want. At the end of the day all the people see are these numbers and if enough people believe they are real they become real, 'cause they're addicted.
So sell your house of cards while it still looks like a palace. Da Wei, right? - Yeah, that's my legal name, but you can call me Eric. Eric Wang. - Eric, welcome to the company. Enjoy the ride as much as you can. - [Da Wei] Blinders upon trust. (dramatic orchestral music crescendos) (announcer speaking faintly) (boots thud) (wheels rattling) (suspenseful music) (bright orchestral music) (man shushes)
More from Joma Tech
Get daily recaps from
Joma Tech
AI-powered summaries delivered to your inbox. Save hours every week while staying fully informed.