From the recruiter to the CEO, I found the interview process open and the people to be transparent about role and its requirements. At each stage of the process, we discussed next steps and expectations. From both the discussion and my review of the job description, it was apparent the company had honed in on specific requirements. The qualified candidate would have proven capability from field level sales and go to market execution, to CxO and board level engagement and leadership. Further, the right candidate needed experience and pre existing relationships with their current top strategic partners. Due to the nature of the role, market and partner execution and performance expectations the process would a bit longer than a standard executive level interview process. The interviews were conducted in stages, over a number of weeks (due only to the need to align calendars, including my own). The specific stages were: * Initial screening — by the recruiter * Initial screening — by the CEO, Robin Bordoli. * Peer interviews — by what would be three of my peers: CMO, Randi Barshack; VP of Sales, Ryan Ferrier; and VP of Machine Learning, Rob Munro. * CEO in-depth — by Robin Bordoli * Board member — by two of the company’s board member investors. Each interview included a means of answering the questions of: ‘can-do;’ ‘will-do;’ and ‘fit.’ I found each and every person, including the CEO, to be authentic, pragmatic, and engaging. As a candidate, my interaction and my own diligence proved to me that CrowdFlower had highly qualified people (that I also liked, personally), a tremendous market opportunity, a role that would be as exciting as it was challenging. My personal test were these questions: * Do I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with these people, doing this work, in this specific market segment? The answer was and is YES. * Am I going to be eager to get to work in the morning and do whatever it takes to fully execute the role? The answer was and is YES.