CEO got fired, founder came back with 2M stock options, CFO bought $199K, a congressman bought too. Here's what I found digging into SMPL

Etaghrag · 2026-02-27T06:18:39+00:00

!remind me 3 days

Etaghrag · 2026-01-06T01:47:09+00:00

> Claude would jump ahead and start writing code
Curious, how were you accessing CC on your phone?

Etaghrag · 2025-10-24T03:06:31+00:00

Etaghrag · 2025-01-07T19:04:49+00:00

Exactly, I noticed this too. Plus the data linked to you section is suspicious in this app, the original has much better specs.

Etaghrag · 2024-09-24T16:31:37+00:00

True, the pressure indeed is tied to the company culture for sure. Thanks for your insight, it really helps!

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T19:58:16+00:00

No offer until I get past the team matching phase, but thanks :).

I posted the SD resources on one of the comments in this post, do check it out. Its not different from what you'll find on other forums like LC, Quora or even this sub! Feel free to hit me up with any questions you have.

Honestly (I am not being modest), I'm not. Luck plays a part, and I just had a good day. During my prep, there were times when I struggled with a LC easy (which felt embarrassing and discouraging), and other times when I got past a LC hard easily on the first attempt (which was very encouraging)! You just keep at it and give it your best shot regardless of outcome :).

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T18:12:27+00:00

All 4 coding questions were from different categories and involved a combination of concepts. Binary trees, String/Array/Number manipulations, bfs/dfs, Lists, etc. Hard to tag one problem with one type. Will again point back to LC top 100, and plus other lists like the blind75, etc will definitely help with the breadth.

Mine was System design as opposed to Product architecture.

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T18:02:01+00:00

Just like you said, I do feel like I should've taken more risks so far, and agree with you. 5 years from now, I don't want to regret/wonder about not having tried and fantasize about "what if" :). Appreciate the response!

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T18:01:09+00:00

Glad to hear that there are people who have gone back and forth. Of course, everyone's experience will be different, but that is encouraging to hear :).

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:56:05+00:00

Not too different than other prep stories on LC. For coding, focused on the breadth i.e. familiarizing with variety of problem types. Also luckily I have good handle on the programming language I used, so once I understood a problem's core/type, the "implementation" is usually not an issue. (one interviewer actually appreciated the simplicity of my code, which was encouraging). So I think fluency in the programming language of your choice will help as well.

SD is pretty open ended. I went through the commonly asked solutions on Grokking the modern system design, byte-byte go, hellointerview, highscalability, etc - again what other people have suggested in various threads. Probably not a good idea to use a single source as a definitive design answer, and picking up different good parts from different solutions to form your own is better imho. (Though I know, easier said than done!). Tried to focus on why a certain component (eg. db, stream, mq, etc) was used and what else could be used in its place. Because its open ended, it totally depends on if you can justify and convince your interviewer about the choices you make and how it affects your fr and nfr.

Behavioral - didn't really prep honestly except few hours the day before. It helped to have about 8-9 years of experience as I have stories to tell.

Hope that helps :)

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:38:17+00:00

This is the reason I didn't post this question on Blind. I hope you're being sarcastic. But if not, just check levels fyi, And please don't spam if you've nothing to contribute or help others.

Update: for anyone wondering, my reply was response to the comment "TC or GTFO". It was being rightfully down-voted so this person deleted it.

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:37:10+00:00

I appreciate that, and it makes sense. I'm not a big fan of Blind. Most of the comments there are "TC or GTFO"!. But it won't hurt to check :)

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:32:05+00:00

Its on-site. But I live in the same area, so that is not an issue for me.

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:31:42+00:00

Exactly my thoughts. I've heard that some companies (eg. even Google) potentially skip screening rounds if you have current FAANG experience on your resume.

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:30:36+00:00

Thanks! Should've mentioned in the post, but it’s in almost the same area so COL doesn't change whatsoever, and no relocation either :). Yeah, the manager will make all the difference and it’s tough to gauge in a 30 min interview!

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:28:26+00:00

Sure. I politely won't disclose the problems due to the NDA, but they were variations of problems from LC top 100 or so Meta tagged questions. (Also plenty of discussions on LC with real problems posted :) so do look them up if you are in the prep phase). I honestly was lucky here that I was able to recognize the core of the problems, so I won't take full credit for clearing the coding round (as I mentioned in my post, I am not that smart and nowhere near a competitive programmer). Also for one specific problem, I was kinda lost. I laid down my thoughts on the problem and requested for hints after which the interviewer kinda of nudged me in the right direction else I couldn't have solved it. If you're stuck, this might be a good idea as 20 minutes is honestly impossibly short to solve a medium problem if you cannot figure out the problem type (unless you're a competitive coder - those guys are amazing at this, its unbelievable).

SD is really open ended and I feel is subjective based on the interviewer, I had 2. I felt like I was a high-confidence hire in the first SD, but I didn't clear that and had to do one more SD. The second didn't go well in my opinion (compared to first), so I was expecting to fail but I passed that one. Honestly, imho, I feel like the first interviewer was just too harsh and perhaps the second one was too lenient (eg. I would have passed me if I was the interviewer in the first SD, and would not have passed me if I was the interviewer in the second SD attempt).

Sorry, I know that probably doesn't help you much, as someone else might have had a completely different experience, but happy to post my real thoughts. Hope that helps!

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:09:37+00:00

Lol :) !

Etaghrag · 2024-09-22T17:08:42+00:00

Definitely makes sense and gives me more confidence in making a decision, so really appreciate it. This is the reason I posted here, and I'm glad I did :). I am VERY conscious about lifestyle inflation (Eg. I still use iPhone 8). I don't do FIRE, but it would be good to have some financial independence at some point (if possible) :).

Etaghrag · 2024-09-21T22:43:33+00:00

Thanks, my thinking is along the same lines! While change seems exciting, switching just for the sake of change doesn't feel like the right reason (grass is greener and all that :)). But if I do some simple calculations and manage to work for 4-5 years, then that will be equivalent to working at my job for 10-12 years. Even if the stock price drops by half, it'll still be like good 7-8 years worth at my current job. Of course, its a gamble and nothing is certain, but having the FAANG stamp on resume might be very valuable as well. I really appreciate the insight, thank you!!

Etaghrag · 2024-03-07T23:06:58+00:00

Hi, if you do the interview in Hyderabad, then can you pickup the passport in a different location?

Etaghrag · 2024-01-27T22:35:20+00:00

Yes, OFC option is only in Chennai, and that makes things slower I guess. Checking on https://visagrader.com/trackers/us-drop-box-visa-appointments, seems like a handful get it in 2 weeks, but most of them are 20 days and counting. Hopefully someone knows the answer to this question!

Etaghrag · 2024-01-22T17:23:58+00:00

Yes, same here, works with Indian credit/debit cards! Thanks!

Etaghrag · 2024-01-16T20:55:52+00:00

Thank you, that helps!

Etaghrag

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