[jgerrish]

But would you want to work for a company that just does a vibe check, or one that raises the bar with every hire?

That high-level Apple employee was probably a manager and oversaw hiring people.

I would tell myself every day, "I wouldn't hire me."

It's not self-defeating.

It's not being a victim.

I wouldn't let it stop me from trying.

It's being accurate about what kind of company you'd want to build yourself, and the internal state of a lot of hiring managers. And with a true model of the world you can make better decisions.