Pros
Had strong, honest conversation with the CMO/hiring manager around her expectations for the role as well as mine for my next move. Felt heard as well as informed. Excited for conversations to come. Everyone I met with was open and honest about the current state of the team and the pains of hyper growth. Allowed me enough understanding to know what I would be hired into help solve. My most memorable conversation was with Ryan, the CEO. He was super busy, popped in to let me know he was going to be late because he was on with the lawyer finalizing the funding, but came back and took the time to tell me the founder story. His passion and authenticity is what sold me. I'm here to help him realize his vision. I started conversations in June and received an offer in early July. They honored my request to take time off between positions and let me start in mid-August.
Cons
The external recruiter wasn't super knowledgable and caused more frustration than any sort of value in the process, but they have since moved this function to our internal team. Stock options were a foreign concept to me and wish there was more of an overview or honest conversation during the offer stage.