Continuity interview questions

Four to five interview rounds with the co-founders and the strategy lead, including one product presentation. I advanced to the final round, where they told me it was down to me and another candidate with a similar profile. They said the final decision would be based on team fit and invited me to lunch with the team. Ultimately, they chose the other candidate due to his engineering background (and a more recognized consulting company name on the resume) — a criterion that had never been mentioned during the process. The experience felt unfair and lacking transparency. They kept me as a backup option for several weeks, only informing me after the other candidate had accepted the offer."