[itsdevlin]

Echoing a lot of the other sentiment here, I think a lot of these points are good, but some are pretty broad statements that apply to a lot of early stage tech. The paid acquisition one stands out in my mind - early stage SaaS or social gaming apps can successfully POUR money into paid acquisition for a long time and be successful.

Same can be said for the 'is the product of high quality' line. I don't think the first four iterations of my last product were of particularly high quality, but we were shipping things and it worked just enough to make users happy.

The one that stands out the most to me is the 'Would you be afraid to hire your smartest friends.' This is IMO the end-all gut check. If you wouldn't try to sell your best friend on leaving whatever they're doing to come join you, you don't believe in the company. If you don't believe in the company, find another one. There's plenty of work in SV.

[brwr]

+1 for "Would you be afraid to hire your smartest friends".

It's also worth considering whether you would help find your replacement. If not wanting to invite your friends is a bad sign, what does it say if you wouldn't tell people you don't even know to work for the company?

[AndrewSB]

I mean if you're not willing to find your replacement, I think the answer is pretty obvious...

[brwr]

Maybe. There are other reasons you might not want to help find your replacement. Maybe you are more junior than the company needs and you don't feel comfortable interviewing someone more senior than yourself. Or maybe you've never interviewed anyone before, and don't feel comfortable for that reason.

Very few things are obvious, when you think about them.