The biggest lie startups tell during hiring is “We have a lot of problems, and you can pick whatever you want to solve.”

It sounds great. It plays directly to what we engineers love - autonomy, impact, and ownership. But here’s the reality - this almost never happens. When a startup says this, it usually means one of two things:

1. A lack of clarity in leadership
2. They’re just trying to lure you in

Even in the rare case where you get some freedom, your work still has to align with business goals, product timelines, and team priorities. You’ll likely be working on whatever the product needs immediately, which is okay, but…

Most of these companies are in constant firefighting mode, so you might never have time to pull off what you wanted to. And honestly, if a company really lets you work on “whatever,” that’s a red flag.

It signals a lack of direction, focus, or urgency. Good leadership doesn’t offer infinite choice; it offers clarity and purpose on a limited set of problems. There is always a north star that is being chased.

Do not fall for startups without looking under the hood. Assess the clarity of their roadmap, the strength of their leadership, and how decisions are made. Ask,

1. What’s the team working on right now?
2. What are the top priorities this quarter?
3. How do you decide what gets built?
4. Can you share an example of when an engineer wanted to build something that didn’t align with goals? How was that handled?

Also remember: very early-stage startups might genuinely need people to wear multiple hats and solve problems across the board - but even then, choices are constrained by survival. And often, when founders pitch “freedom,” it’s not malicious - they just want to sound attractive to candidates and don’t realize how misleading it can be.

Good startups don’t sell you autonomy; they sell you clarity on why your work matters. Don’t get sold on freedom, get sold on focus.