About a month after submitting my resume through LinkedIn, received a call from HR & did a quick phone screen, followed by a 30 minute call with the hiring manager. A few weeks later I was invited for a 1/2 day onsite series of interviews, met with various stakeholders for 30-40 minutes each rapid-fire style. Interviews were a mix of in-person, telephone call, and videoconferencing all in one of their meeting rooms. Good hosts, pleasant tour, average age is pretty young so very high energy (and some bright folks) but roles weren't very well defined yet.
Prior to the onsite portion I was able to sign up for a free Planet Explorer account along with access to their APIs to explore the product and build some quick demonstrations. The technical staff was helpful in removing some restrictions on my free account so that I could come to the interviews with a solid technical understanding of their back-end product. Very little of the interview process was technical, however, so while helpful it was not entirely necessary in hindsight.
Titles are a bit misleading as they do not always line up with their counterparts in more mature technology companies, which can lead to some confusion during the interviews. For example, while interviewing with a 'Product Marketing Director' it became apparent his role was really more of a Product Manager and this person was just covering some aspects of Product Marketing to cover some staffing shortfalls. This led to some confusion in the conversation as the former role is more visionary and the latter is more tactical. The concept of Technical PreSales was even admittedly fairly new to them as well, as one of the interviewers even told me they had never even heard of the term until months ago.
All that being said, it is a talented group and they are just dealing with building the organization as the activities are really 'launching' (pun intended). Definitely felt like a family/close-knit group. Once everything settles in with the new hires and a more mature model sets in, they will certainly be firing on all cylinders. Next year or so will find some minor challenges but nothing anyone who hasn't worked for an emerging company hasn't experienced. Those used to a highly structured, regimented organizational structure may not be as comfortable but then again people who prefer that type of environment probably aren't looking for careers at companies like Planet.
During the interview I was informally requested to put together a quick 30-60-90 day plan as a follow-up item which I submitted through HR a few days later. The HR manager was excellent in responding to requests for status updates the following weeks. Unfortunately for me the HR manager also assembled some stiff competition in the form of other candidates so it did not result in an offer. I would have certainly enjoyed my time working there and believe it would have been mutually beneficial.
Planet is doing exceptionally well and will continue to do so, especially after they add some more focus to the roles and direct that energy in a common direction. They really set the bar high on their goals and seem to be exceeding them regardless.