1 min lesson
Stage-by-stage prep checklist
Say what this means in practice: "Use this stage map to decide what evidence belongs in each round."
Step 1 of 3
Convert everything above into a plan you can run inside a two-week window. The work below front-loads the two rounds that decide the offer and leaves nothing important for the night before.
Use this stage map to decide what evidence belongs in each round. Memorizing the order is the shallow version. For every stage, prepare one artifact, one story and one question that shows how you reason in the role.
Work the checklist top to bottom. Each row maps to a stage and the artifact you should walk in with.
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Advanced table
The two rows that decide most offers
- Before this stage
- Recruiter & HM screens
- Do this concrete prep
- Install and live in Cursor for a week; draft a product-rooted why-Cursor and 3 STAR stories with metrics
- Walk in with
- A tight why-Cursor and 3 launch stories that each end in a number
- Before this stage
- Demo-back
- Do this concrete prep
- Rehearse one real workflow end to end and a backup; pre-write your narrative beats (job → aha → objection → so-what)
- Walk in with
- A 5-10 min demo you can run cold, framed as marketing to a developer
- Before this stage
- Practical exercise
- Do this concrete prep
- Assemble a reusable positioning + launch template; prepare a writing sample that survives a developer's BS detector
- Walk in with
- A repeatable structure for ICP → insight → position → artifact → metric
- Before this stage
- Panel & founder round
- Do this concrete prep
- Form a defensible POV on the AI-coding market and Cursor's biggest positioning opportunity; draft your own questions
- Walk in with
- 2-3 specific, updatable takes plus high-signal questions to ask
| Before this stage | Do this concrete prep | Walk in with |
|---|---|---|
| Recruiter & HM screens | Install and live in Cursor for a week; draft a product-rooted why-Cursor and 3 STAR stories with metrics | A tight why-Cursor and 3 launch stories that each end in a number |
| Demo-back | Rehearse one real workflow end to end and a backup; pre-write your narrative beats (job → aha → objection → so-what) | A 5-10 min demo you can run cold, framed as marketing to a developer |
| Practical exercise | Assemble a reusable positioning + launch template; prepare a writing sample that survives a developer's BS detector | A repeatable structure for ICP → insight → position → artifact → metric |
| Panel & founder round | Form a defensible POV on the AI-coding market and Cursor's biggest positioning opportunity; draft your own questions | 2-3 specific, updatable takes plus high-signal questions to ask |
The two rows that decide most offers - demo-back and practical - need real rehearsal time, not a cram. Schedule them first.
Two pieces of preparation pay off across every stage. Build them once and reuse them everywhere.