Every company rejected Sheng the moment he mentioned the startup.

Sheng was a software engineer for a few years before he left to launch his own startup.

He got users after the launch, but running a business is a different job than building software.

So he got tired and decided to go back to full-time engineering, keeping the startup part-time.

Since he'd been out of the interview loop for about a year, the market had changed.

More system design, deeper technical bars, and every company running its own process instead of the old leetcode + system design formula.

On top of that, he had a founder story to explain.

Every time he pitched himself as an ex-founder coming back to SWE, companies rejected his application.

Here is what we worked on:

We rebuilt his positioning, resume, and narrative first.

Improved his system design knowledge with materials and practice.

Reframed the startup experience so it worked for him instead of against him.

After that he applied to 20–30 jobs and got so many interviews he stopped applying.

If you are still searching for a new role, I hope this keeps you going.