The Biggest Red Flag in Engineering Interviews
What Being 'Hard to Talk To' Really Tells Us
The Pattern in Unsuccessful Startups
Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator and influential startup mentor, once observed something common to unsuccessful startup founders: they were all difficult to talk to.
As Graham put it in an essay from 2012 (oldie but a goodie) "..I noticed a pattern in the least successful startups we'd funded: they all seemed hard to talk to. It felt as if there was some kind of wall between us." While being hard to talk to wasn't directly killing these startups, Graham identified it as a symptom of something deeper: a lack of resourcefulness.
The Early-Stage Startup Context
In early-stage startups, where resources are scarce and speed is crucial, this observation becomes even more critical. Every hire must contribute beyond their core role, and there's simply no room for engineers who can't think through all implications of their work. When you're moving fast with a small team, poor communication doesn't just slow things down – it can be catastrophic. 🙈
Beyond Technical Skills
This observation resonates strongly with my experience hiring engineers. While technical skills are important, I've found that attitude and communication abilities are far more crucial indicators of success. Any motivated engineer can learn a new programming language or framework – it's an inevitable part of the job. What's harder to develop, and what startups desperately need, is the ability to collaborate and solve ambiguous problems effectively.
Communication Red Flags 🚩
During interviews, I often encounter engineers who, despite their technical prowess, seem to struggle with communicating. And its not about being shy. 😅 I don’t mind shyness. In fact, I believe part of your job as an engineering manager is to create an environment in which everyone feels safe to contribute and take risks.
What’s far worse is highly confident engineers that become defensive when questioned about their choices, display arrogance when explaining technical concepts, and seem unable or unwilling to adjust their explanations for less technical audiences. 😬 This behavior, through Graham's lens, might indicate more than just poor communication – it could signal a fundamental lack of resourcefulness.
Understanding Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness, as Graham defines it, shows in how people "track down all of the implications of what is said to them." A resourceful engineer doesn't just solve problems – they understand the context, consider various perspectives, and communicate their thinking clearly. When an engineer can't explain their work to non-technical stakeholders or becomes defensive about their approach, it might indicate they're not fully exploring all angles of the problem.
The AI Factor 🤖
The rise of AI coding tools makes this focus on communication even more critical, especially for startups. As AI becomes increasingly capable of handling routine coding tasks and helping engineers quickly adopt new technologies, the differentiating factor for great engineers isn't their ability to write code – it's their ability to communicate effectively about what code should be written and why.
Startups need engineers who can articulate requirements clearly, collaborate with AI tools thoughtfully, and explain their decisions to stakeholders. In this new landscape, resourcefulness and communication skills become even more valuable than raw coding ability.
Rethinking the Interview Process
This has profound implications for technical interviews at startups. Beyond testing for coding ability, we should be evaluating candidates' capacity to:
Explain complex concepts at different levels of technical depth
Respond constructively to questions and challenges
Show curiosity about the broader context of their work
Demonstrate flexibility in their problem-solving approach
Fill in gaps in thinking and anticipate downstream implications
Work effectively with limited resources and documentation
The Bottom Line
In the startups world, the most elegant code is worthless if an engineer can't collaborate with their team or adapt to changing requirements. Technical skills can be taught, but resourcefulness – that combination of problem-solving ability, communication skills, and adaptability – is far more fundamental to an engineer's success. When resources are limited and speed is crucial, these qualities become make-or-break factors.
When hiring for your startup, look for the engineers who make complex ideas accessible, who welcome questions, and who show genuine curiosity about understanding problems deeply. These qualities often predict success more reliably than any technical skill on their resume, and they're exactly what early-stage companies need to thrive.
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