The interview itself was great, very relaxed. Felt more like talking with a colleague than the co-founder. The process began with an email thread back and forth; before going to deep I wanted to check on a couple of things, namely salary rates, I was looking for more than their budgeted range, and didn't want to waste my time or theirs to go through the whole process to turn down an offer that was too low for me. After some back and forth they agreed that if everything went well they could meet my target salary. After the pre-interview coding challenge and the interview itself (in which I was told I did well on the challenge, including catching the trick question) I had pretty good feelings about the process. Afterwards I was told they went with someone with more experience in a specific area. What had me a little confused though is that while the area they referenced certainly makes sense for what they were looking for, it. wasn't covered in the job posting, the challenge or the interview. I have a feeling they found someone with comparable skills but at a lower rate, totally understandable. If your salary goals fit in their range it seems like a great place, I think I just priced myself out of a job. No biggie.