The interview process was initially promising, with professional and engaging rounds involving HR, Sales, and other department heads, and I was especially impressed by co-founder Jacob, who stood out as an excellent coach; however, the lengthy process was fundamentally flawed by saving the hiring managers—the ultimate decision-makers—for the very final round, where the experience became frustratingly unrealistic. Despite the session being introduced as casual, the hiring managers—who lacked hands-on marketing expertise—immediately pressed me to solve their company's core issue of lead quality within the hour, using oddly specific, aggressively worded questions that appeared to be poorly written outputs from an AI tool and demonstrated a lack of clarity (e.g., asking for an opinion when they actually wanted a ranking). When I offered experienced, strategic suggestions, they dismissed them as "not strategic," leading me to conclude that the company's operational problems likely stem directly from the hiring managers' impatience, their unwillingness to listen to or trust expert advice, and their belief that they know better than the experts they are trying to hire.