It's starting to look like a lot of startups just don't know how to assess candidates, or to reliably predict job performance from the interview process. So in

It's starting to look like a lot of startups just don't know how to assess candidates, or to reliably predict job performance from the interview process. So instead they like to churn through lots and lots of applicants, subjecting them to needlessly lengthy quizzing cage sessions and other ostensibly "objective" stack-ranking techniques. And then brag to their peers about how they only hire "top 1%"-ers. As if to cover up for the fact that quite often the actual hiring decision amounts to a gut level feeling, a hunch basically, that this person will or will not flourish in the role despite having about the same order of gaps and deficits that everyone else on the team has, and which the interviewer secretly knows himself to have. Just different ones, perhaps. So I wouldn't make much of their "assessment" of your capabilities. Why they passed on you ultimately doesn't matter. Overall what you've described is indicative of a general thoughtlessness and lack of vision somewhere at the top of the food chain in that organization. So like the others in this thread I'd say it looks like you dodged a bullet, here. And thanks for naming the company (Ooyala) in this case. The more companies that get exposed for bullshit interviewing tactics and shabby treatment at the hands of poorly trained HR drones, the better.