2 min lesson
“Why Cursor” and a STAR story, cold
Use "'Why Cursor' and a STAR story, cold" to tell the cases apart, then choose a response for each one.
Step 1 of 2
“Why Cursor” and a STAR story, coldValues drill
Say both out loud once, unscripted, then critique the recording. “Why Cursor” has to be specific to you and to this product - the AI-coding mission, working at the seam of elite customer delivery and product engineering, the intensity. Generic enthusiasm reads as a candidate who'd say it about any startup.
A concrete reason rooted in the AI-coding mission and the FDE seam.
Names something true about the product you'd be deploying.
Sounds like only you could have said it.
“I love AI and fast-growing startups.”
Interchangeable with any company.
No personal stake, no product specificity.
For the STAR story, pick a project you owned end to end and tell it in the first person. The non-negotiable beats: an ambiguous start, a real decision you made, a measurable result and a moment you delivered hard news or caught your own mistake.
Have a peer throw curveball follow-ups: “What would the customer say went wrong?” and “What did you personally get wrong?” The follow-ups are where “we” leaks back in and where polish cracks. Practicing the first answer is easy; practicing the third follow-up is what wins this round.
“What went wrong is mine to name: I committed to a date before I'd validated the legacy integration. The result was a one-week slip I caught early and a process I now run - I de-risk the scariest dependency in the first two days, every engagement.”