At first, it went really well. Scott (the CEO) and Jason (CTO) were really friendly and upfront. The first interview was introductory. It was followed by a small feedback test, where I sent them notes about the app. After waiting a week (where one time the CEO flaked on my call on our scheduled time, without warning- I waived this off, knowing that startup scheduling gets weird), they got back to me and sent an offer.
The offer had my name on it and my salary. I signed it. After I signed it, they asked me if I had time to do a design for them, so they could see my work process. I thought this was pretty weird, because they already sent me the offer. And after I signed this offer, I canceled my other interviews. I told them that I was confused as to what this test was for. They didn't clarify until after I emailed them the design. So for me this was a big red flag, but I couldn't say no, and thought this might just be some preliminary assignment.
I spent a few hours on the assignment, then submitted it, saying that I was excited to work for the company. Then, Scott gets back to me, saying that actually the offer wasn't countersigned yet, and that they'd discuss my design first before deciding. They never told me the offer was contingent on the design test initially. I was really taken aback, but decided to ride this wave.
Jason gets back to me. I have just one more guy to speak with (the marketing director) and then we're good to go. Jason says that he and the marketing guy both really like me. He explicitly states that "Scott should countersign tonight." At this point I think I'm through.
Then, later that night, Scott emails me to say they went with another candidate after reviewing my design. They offered what was frankly a really lame apology, but they had to "look out for the best interests of the business."
So what ended up happening was that I was baited into prioritizing this particular company's interview process, signing an offer that wasn't countersigned, canceling my other offers (which I made very clear to Scott that I had another one pending), and then not getting the job even after the CTO explicitly stated that they were countersigning.
I'm not normally one to write a negative review or deal with petty stuff like this. But this was beyond terrible, and wasted 2 months of my efforts in my job search. Seriously shady stuff and I wouldn't recommend this interview process to anyone.