I have 11 years of experience and have give numerous interviews but never had such an ambiguous process. To summarize no clear hiring strategy. They will give you wrong indications through out the process like you are selected, we will get back to you with the offer in 2-3 days. Then there will be a sudden change in process and you will be asked to do market research and it will be justified by quoting higher management request to change the hiring process. After you finish the job, they will again show you the carrot till the time you become persistent for an answer that's when they will show you the door.
A typical start up hiring story struggling to hire good people from the market and trying to test the market by luring folks for the interviews and eventually wasting their time and efforts.