People Data Labs interview questions

HR screen, then hiring manager, then 3 other conversations. Everyone I met was super great, culture seems healthy there. Things moved fairly rapidly and the rejection came quickly after the last interview. If I could change one thing it would be that I think I was missing some very particular technical skills they desired, but it wasn't until the last person that this was decided. We could have saved everyone a lot of time if these were requirements in the application process.

3 weeks of interviews 6 interviews (two panels) 9 people spoken with I got the "Reject" after talking with the CEO who wouldn't even look at me during the call. Typical situation. I first met with the recruiter and was quickly moved into the next round. Over the next three weeks, all signs pointed to them liking me. I was supposed to meet with the VP of Marketing and the CEO at the same time, but the CEO didn't make it. The call seemed to go well with the VP of Marketing, so they scheduled a call with the CEO. Met with the CEO for almost an hour. He asked a lot of questions, and I asked a few as well. During the call, he might have looked at me directly half a dozen times. The rest of the time he was looking anywhere but at the camera. A week later, I got the following: "This was a difficult decision for us to make, but unfortunately, we have decided not to proceed with your candidacy for the Senior Content Marketing Manager role at People Data Labs. The team really liked the professionalism and experience you brought to the table, but didn't feel confident enough in your ability to develop and own the content marketing strategy in a startup environment." Funny thing, I've worked in no fewer than 4 startups, all successful. ALL of them exited either through acquisition or by going public. I've also been writing and developing content for more than 25 years. There is no way I'm not qualified based on the reason given here. And if that was the real reason, why wasn't it identified before the CEO call? I'm almost 50. The CEO is probably 35. This smacks of ageism and when you have 9 people interview a candidate, you're going to get some kind of cultural bias. Read the other recent reviews, mine isn't an isolated case. Nine interviews is extreme, especially for a role that isn't a Director level.