Straight forward interview process. Met with the founders, all standard competency style questions, very conversational, seemingly open, and positive at the time. The second interview was fairly similar. Was asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation, though they seemed surprised that it was only 10 minutes. Kind of hard to go into any level of detail in that time frame. Following that, an offer was made and accepted, however, the offer was withdrawn after notice had been handed in, stating it was down to reference. If references are SO important as part of the hire process for such a senior role, this should have been explored before an offer was made and a candidate handed in their notice following a requirement to accept within x amount of days. Expectations should be set on what they wanted out of a reference as well, rather than an ambiguous request. Yes, it's their prerogative to withdraw a notice for any reason, but it was done in a very, cold, unprofessional, and potentially career-damaging way. The role was not reposted or backfilled, which suggests something else perhaps. That being said, if you're reading this and applying for a senior position, best to clarify what they want to ask from a reference before accepting or handing in your notice. wish the company and people well there, but they really don't have a clue when it comes to hiring effectively. Learnings all round and perhaps for the best in this instance before serious damage was done to a person's career.