How top companies like Stripe and Airbnb vet engineers — and how you can apply the same principles to your hiring process

When you're building your product and hiring your first developers, making the wrong choice can cost you months of delay. And if you don't have a technical cofounder or time for multiple interviews, the risk of hiring someone who looks good on paper but can't deliver is very real. The good news is: you can borrow techniques from the most selective companies out there — like Stripe, Airbnb, and others — and adapt them to fit your startup's stage and resources. Here's what that looks like in practice.

1. Stripe: clarity on what matters (and what doesn't)

Stripe is known for its rigorous but well-structured hiring process. They don't focus on trick questions or obscure algorithms. Instead, they look for engineers who can solve real-world problems clearly and collaboratively.

Their interviews simulate realistic engineering challenges: bugs, architecture decisions, scalability issues. Candidates are expected to think out loud, explain their reasoning, and make trade-offs.

How you can adapt it:
You don't need a complex system. Just create a small challenge based on something your product has actually faced. Ask the candidate to walk through their thinking. What did they prioritize? What risks did they see? How did they arrive at a solution?

2. Airbnb: technical skill is evaluated through communication

Airbnb sees technical interviews as soft skill interviews too. Why? Because bad code can be fixed — but poor communication breaks the team.

They observe how candidates ask questions, handle ambiguity, respond to feedback, and collaborate under pressure. The goal is to find engineers who don't just code well, but work well.

How you can adapt it:
During any technical exercise, pay attention to communication. Does the candidate explain what they're doing? Do they ask clarifying questions? Can they adapt if you change the problem mid-task?

You could even run a live coding session with a simple challenge and add a change of scope halfway through. You're not just watching what they challenge and add a change of scope halfway through. You're not just watching what they build — you're watching how they handle real-life messiness.

3. Shopify & Dropbox: hiring is a product decision

At Shopify and Dropbox, hiring is deeply connected to product thinking. They want developers who act like owners, not task-doers.

That means people who understand business context, make impact-driven decisions, and are aware of trade-offs. A dev who writes beautiful code but ignores constraints or deadlines isn't useful in a startup environment.

How you can adapt it:
Ask trade-off questions. For example: “You have two options — one is quick and works for now, the other is more scalable but takes twice as long. What would you do?” Or: “If you had to cut scope today, what would you remove?”

These kinds of questions reveal maturity and prioritization — the things that actually matter when you're moving fast and breaking things.

4. Tools can help — but they don't replace human judgment

Many startups rely on HackerRank or Codility for initial screening. These tools can help filter for basic skills, but they'll never replace a real conversation where you understand who is behind the code.

At Stripe and Airbnb, technical interviews are run by experienced engineers who ask open-ended questions and listen for real problem-solving, not just correctness. That's what reveals actual potential.

How you can adapt it:
If you don't have technical support internally, bring in someone external. A trusted advisor or a technical recruiter who truly understands code — not just keywords on resumes. And be skeptical of any platform that claims to do “vetting” but can't explain their process in detail.

Hiring blindly is riskier than hiring slowly.

Final thoughts: you don't have to be Stripe — but you do need clarity