Started with an interview with a HR screener. Nothing out of the ordinary here. The person was friendly and engaging, and asked the usual initial questions. The second interview was with the founder and another developer. Both were very friendly and engaging. We spoke for an hour, and I soon realized they were asking an awful lot of questions about how I would approach designing the product they're creating. They even asked me for estimated timelines and implementation details. I started to get the impression that they were trying to get information from me, as I had already worked on a project to build a similar product to theirs in the past. There were not that many questions about my motivation or my general experience, which I thought was strange. The conversation ended on a high note .. but sure enough, I was ghosted. I don't mind offering technical advice to startups if they ask nicely. I just think that the approach of using the interview as a way to pick candidates' brains is a bit .. sleazy (I hate to say it).