it felt like the longest two hours of my life 🥱

hot tips on how to be great in interviews + working in tech, by the numbers

Good morning to each and every one of you.

Today’s newsletter features exclusive job search tips from Reality Defender’s CEO and a look into the hearts and minds of tech workers. Big feelings and all that.

Yours, always and forever,

🫡 Jordan

Company spotlight: Reality Defender

Reality Defender co-founder and CEO Ben Colman

AI deep-fake detection solutions developer Reality Defender, is hiring! I asked the company’s CEO and cofounder Ben Colman for some exclusive insider secrets for cutting through the noise when everyone else has the same GitHub stars and bootcamp certificates.

Here’s what he told me.

Demonstrate that you can augment your work with AI:

“Everyone knows everyone else is using AI for work, but the vast majority of users are taking outputs as law instead of doing the work. This creates an insane amount of noise and subpar outcomes, and leads to either little work actually getting done or more work for everyone.”

Ben says he looks for someone “who knows when humans can sift through the right outputs from the right prompts and crib key points to build from, not copy and paste outright.”

Understand the assignment:

“We ask all of our hires to complete an assignment, and following the parameters and requirements is key. We have a lot of folks tell us what they can do or did, but not show us how they measured it or what it was measured against. Actually showing success (or failure) based on set metrics, KPIs, and the like shows not just the ability to execute, but the ability to meet or exceed set goals. Without data, everything is fluff.”

Be demure:

“I once had two interviewees back to back, an hour at a time, steamroll through the entire thing and leave me two minutes to speak. They were excellent candidates on paper, had passed assignments with flying colors, and won over the rest of the team. When they got to me, however, it felt like the longest two hours of my life. Keep your answers short, succinct, and poignant. Less is always more.”

Open jobs

Alright, let’s find you a job.

Reducto announced its $24.5 million Series A. Get in early. They’re now recruiting for founding hires at their SF HQ.

In a world full of software, be the hardware. That’s what gaming company Backbone builds. Check out their open jobs on the West Coast.

Speaking of hardware…Arcade lets users design physical objects using AI, then connects them with real makers to bring them to life. See their open jobs here.

AI-powered customer research platform Listen Labs is hiring for product design, ops, csm, technical staff and more, and offering a $10,000 referral bonus to just … anyone with a good lead. Like, anyone. Open jobs here.

Future vibes: Lovable users can create websites and apps simply by chatting with AI. They’re hiring at their Stockholm HQ.

If Lovable is for web, then Rork is for mobile - you can use it to build mobile apps via prompting. They’re hiring two founding engineer roles.

Character.AI - the role playing chatbot - just announced a bunch of new features this week, including new video gen capabilities. They’re hiring on both the East and West Coasts.

API management platform Gravitee just announced its $60 million series C. They’re now hiring in the U.S., UK, and Europe.

Future of defense company CX2 is hiring for their El Segundo, CA, offices. They develop autonomous drones and electronic warfare technologies. You’ve always wanted to be a ‘Gundo bro, right?? (who hasn’t??)

What it’s like to work in tech right now

The smart cookies over at Lenny’s Newsletter surveyed 8,200 of their tech-working subscribers about how they really feel about work these days. See the full results here.

The highlights:

• Smaller is better: 84% of tech workers say they’re burned out overall—but those working at smaller companies are less likely to feel that way. Go startups!

Source: Lenny’s Newsletter

• Hybrid is happy: Hybrid workers are the happiest among us, but remote workers are feeling pretty sunny too.

• The mid-career slump lurks: Mid-career tech workers report lower career enjoyment and outlook compared to their less and more experienced peers. But just keep going, because it does get better. And if not, find you something else.

• AI is making tech workers nervous: Yeah, we know.

👨🏻‍💻 Thanks for being here. Don’t forget to tell me about what else you want to see here / who else I should talk to. Just press reply. Next week is all about next-gen energy jobs!

PS… Don’t forget to apply to the a16z talent network. We actually look through the roster, then match applicants to startups.