Startup interview

With an unknown company. Read on!

Hi this is ___ . Let's start with a coding-type question. Suppose I give you N locations on a map and I want to later find out .....
Well, I'm thinking it'd be a lot like ...

We talked through the problem, he was happy with my solution. Moving on.
So now let's talk about being at a startup. We have a great idea, and we're going to be working really hard for the next 6-8 months to get it off the ground; I'm thinking like 80 hours a week. We have 3 guys including me, you'd be the 4th. Compensation is more in the form of company shares than in salary, so probably like $35,000 a year. Since you'd be getting in early, this could work out really well for you.
Wow, well that's certainly a departure from my current job that pays double, with benefits, for working half as much. But if it has great potential, I'm willing to listen. What is the big idea anyways?
Basically, we're going to sort certain data. This data is very hard to sort, but people are willing to pay big money for a good sort. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. We already have partners signed up to consume our sort results.
Ok, that could mean a lot of things. What ... are we talking about here?
I can't tell you more right now, but if you want to fly up [on your own dime] to Seattle [from Tucson, at the time] and sign an NDA, I can tell you more about it.

I never did follow up with them.

Turns out the company (TalentSpring) was focused on sorting the quality of resumes in a database, allowing HR departments to more efficiently filter for the best candidates. I watched a video describing their approach and didn't particularly care for it.

Unfortunately for them it doesn't seem like they made it big, but that helps me sleep easier at night :)