Seven years ago, I published a post on Medium called “From Silicon Allee to Silicon Valley”. In it, I shared my journey moving from Croatia to Berlin, diving into the city’s startup scene, and later experiencing the very different hiring culture of Silicon Valley.
At the time, I was just trying to make sense of it all: how two of the world’s biggest startup hubs could approach the same thing, hiring engineers, in such completely different ways.
Seven years later, I’ve been lucky enough to keep working with startups across Europe and the US, and I find myself reflecting again: what’s changed, and what hasn’t?
Berlin was casual, fast, and human
When I first arrived in Berlin, I was bracing for the kind of intense interviews I had read about online. I’d been brushing up on algorithm questions, preparing to be grilled on every detail of my code.
Instead, I got… coffee. Well, Club-Mate to be precise :)
They couldn’t care less about my algorithm skills!
That line from my old post still makes me smile. Interviews were conversations with founders or CTOs about the next product milestone, what challenges the team was facing, or sometimes about the best kebab in the city. If we connected and I could help with the next milestone, we worked together.
It felt human. And for a city full of ambitious young companies, it worked.
Silicon Valley was focused on algorithms and over-screening
Landing in San Francisco was the opposite experience. Suddenly, interviews began with online tests, followed by multiple rounds of algorithm screens.
A lot of the filtering is done with algorithm challenges. Other factors, such as team fit, career goals or understanding if the developer even has an idea how to contribute to the project aren’t considered early on.
That’s how I described it back then, and it still rings true. Before I even spoke to a teammate, I was expected to invert binary trees or solve puzzles that had little to do with the work itself. The human part, how I thought about products and how I worked with others came much later, if at all.
I understood why it was that way. With so many applicants, big tech and even some startups needed structure. But for someone who had thrived in Berlin’s “let’s talk it through” style, it felt impersonal.
How things changed in Europe and the US
Since then, I’ve worked with startups in Berlin, San Francisco, and across Europe and the US. Sometimes as a contractor, sometimes as a consultant, sometimes leading a team, and sometimes just building as an engineer.
What I’ve noticed:
Europe has matured. Hiring is more structured now, with HR playing a bigger role. But compared to the US, it’s still more pragmatic and product-focused. Others have noted the same.
In the US, especially after the remote shift, filtering has gotten stricter. Companies lean harder on technical challenges because they need to “screen at scale.” That makes sense with so many applicants, but it also creates more hoops, and less space to see who’s a real builder.
The rise of AI in hiring
One line from my old post makes me laugh now:
Ironically enough, one startup that wasn’t too happy with my performance had the most intense technical screening and the most algorithm heavy home task!
That irony feels sharper than ever today. The toughest screenings still don’t guarantee great hires and now AI has entered the picture. Today, AI can solve most algorithm challenges faster than humans. Which means your AI-generated screening test may just be competing against a candidate’s AI-generated solution. That’s a game nobody really wins.
For founders, the risk is obvious: you spend weeks filtering for the “perfect” candidate, only to hire someone who struggles when faced with the messy, ambiguous reality of building a product.
What AI can’t measure is product intuition, empathy for users and teammates, or the ability to communicate clearly when things aren’t certain.
What founders should take away in 2025
If you’re an early-stage founder, here are a few lessons I’ve carried with me after more than a decade of building products in Europe and the US:
- Rigid technical screens don’t prove product sense.
- Great startup engineers are builders first.
- The best hires are the ones who help you ship, learn, and adapt fast.
- Instead of another technical screen, try a 30-minute product discussion or portfolio review where you’ll learn more about how someone thinks.
Berlin’s casual interviews and Silicon Valley’s rigorous filters both have lessons. But if you’re hiring in 2025, the sweet spot is clear: hire people who think about users, own product areas, and deliver without hand-holding.
What I carry into my work today
These lessons still shape how I work. I’ve seen the risks of over-engineered hiring, and I’ve also seen the momentum startups gain when they bring in builders who care about outcomes. Whether I’m leading a frontend effort or advising a founder, I focus less on abstract tests and more on the only question that matters: how can we ship something valuable, fast?