It's a growing organization and so has it's fair share of challenges. Hiring the right set of people in order to build a team that works well together through the highs and lows is crucial, which means having a robust hiring process- something that the organization constantly strives towards- is supremely important. While it's fairly long compared to most other organizations, it only ensure stay both the candidate and the organization are well versed with each other and confident that it's a right match. I remember coming in for over 3 in person meetings over the course of a month. However with each meeting I only understood the organization and work better, which strengthened my conviction on why I wanted to work here. I would advise applicants to look at the comprehensive (albeit lengthy) hiring process more as an opportunity to understand what you're getting into, than as a con!
Being a startup and doing high impact work also means putting in the required hard work to ensure high quality work is delivered. Since there are no traditional managers/ reporting structures, or official work timings, a lot of the onus lies on the individuals taking full responsibility to get the work done. This may mean occasionally putting in some unearthly hours to ensure one is on track, but this more often done voluntarily than because one has to. Further, the team equally respects each person's need to take time off work to rejuvenate and get their grey cells recharged, which more than makes up for that occasional dinner you missed because some unexpected deliverable came your way!