interviewing.io: Reinventing Technical Hiring
By
Abstract
The U.S. software engineering labor market—a $14+ billion recruiting industry—was plagued by inefficiencies. Traditional hiring processes relied heavily on pedigree and credentials rather than actual technical ability, with companies spending approximately $40,000 per hire while overlooking talented engineers who lacked elite credentials. Aline Lerner, an MIT alumna who had worked as both a software engineer and a recruiter, founded interviewing.io in 2015 to democratize access to high-paying positions at elite firms by anonymizing the interview process and providing rigorous technical vetting.
Her San Francisco-based platform allowed software engineers to practice interviews anonymously with experienced interviewers from "Big Tech" companies—for free. Companies paid to access top-performing engineers, generating approximately $2 million in annual revenue by late 2019. interviewing.io's pricing format proved vulnerable to macroeconomic shocks. In early 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic froze hiring across the tech industry, the company needed a new revenue stream—fast.
This case explores the challenges of building and sustaining a multi-sided platform in a cyclical industry, where relative price sensitivity shifts dramatically with market conditions.
Learning Objectives
After analyzing this case, students will be able to:
- Distinguish between search costs and transaction costs and identify how platforms reduce each type of friction
- Analyze network effects in multi-sided platforms, including both same-side and cross-side effects, and understand their asymmetric nature
- Apply pricing theory for platforms to determine which side(s) should be charged based on relative price sensitivity and scale sensitivity
- Evaluate willingness-to-pay in B2B contexts by quantifying cost savings relative to traditional alternatives
- Assess platform seeding strategies and understand the role of stand-alone benefits in building initial user bases
- Navigate platform governance dilemmas when business imperatives conflict with community expectations and prior commitments
Courses
This case is appropriate for courses in:
- Competitive Strategy
- Technology Strategy
- Platform Strategy
- Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Strategy
- Human Resources Management/People Analytics
interviewing.io: Reinventing Technical Hiring
Available to all: Case exhibits in Excel format, including compensation data, hiring funnel analysis, and competitor profiles.
Available to educators only (verification of academic teaching position required):
- Detailed teaching note (12 pages) with suggested lesson plan
- Video: Case post-mortem interview with founder Aline Lerner discussing what actually happened and lessons learned
- Instructor wrap-up presentation slides
- Excel model for willingness-to-pay analysis