How to Research Companies Before Your Interview
Start with the company's own words
Before you open LinkedIn or Glassdoor, read the company's About page, blog, and recent press releases. Pay attention to how they describe their mission, values, and current priorities. These are the talking points leadership cares about, and referencing them in an interview shows genuine interest. If the CEO recently published a blog post about expanding into a new market, mentioning it in your conversation about why you want to join is far more compelling than generic enthusiasm.
Understand the product deeply
Sign up for a free trial, download the app, or at minimum watch a product demo. You should be able to explain what the product does, who it serves, and how it makes money before you walk into any interview. Try to identify one thing you genuinely like about the product and one area where you see room for improvement. Interviewers love candidates who have formed real opinions because it shows initiative and the kind of critical thinking you would bring to the role.
Research the people you will meet
Ask the recruiter who you will be interviewing with, then look them up on LinkedIn. Read their career history, any articles they have published, and talks they have given. You are not doing this to be flattering -- you are looking for common ground and context. If your interviewer recently moved from a larger company to this startup, you can ask what motivated the switch. If they have written about a specific engineering challenge, you can ask how the team approached it. This turns a one-sided interrogation into a genuine conversation.
Check the financial and competitive landscape
For startups, look up their funding history on Crunchbase -- when they last raised, how much, and from whom. This tells you about the company's runway and growth trajectory. For public companies, scan the most recent earnings call summary. In either case, identify the top 2-3 competitors and understand how the company differentiates itself. Being able to say "I noticed your main competitor focuses on enterprise while you are going after SMBs -- how does that shape product decisions?" demonstrates strategic thinking that sets you apart from other candidates.
Prepare questions that show your research
The questions you ask at the end of an interview reveal more about your preparation than anything else. Avoid generic questions like "What does a typical day look like?" Instead, prepare 3-5 specific questions rooted in your research. Examples: "I saw you recently launched feature X -- what was the biggest technical challenge?" or "Your engineering blog mentioned a migration to microservices -- how far along is that?" These questions not only impress interviewers but also give you the information you actually need to decide whether the role is right for you.