They have a cofounder who seems to be very controlling in the recruiting process. This was a red flag to me. It demonstrates that they are not empowering their teams to make decisions. This cofounder asks questions that go beyond what is appropriate to ask during interviews. If I worked at the company, I would be concerned that she is straying too far from what is relevant to the role (she asked what my parents did for a living, for example). This can be risky if it reveals information about a protected class, and is generally unprofessional. I had to do an exercise that involved reviewing marketing emails, even though I was applying for an HR role. I have never had to do this type of exercise. I almost dropped out of the interview process when I saw the assignment because it felt so irrelevant.