I agree. A startup really doesn't have to build their own credit card processing solution.
WRT PCI DSS it's not very hard to comply. Some 7 years ago in a company that persisted everything about customers we changed the system for compliance within two weeks.
That was in the MVP (minimum viable product) section. I also referred to an old post of mine, on bad code http://www.mehdi-khalili.com/bad-code, where I explain that in great details. I hope you find that useful.
I guess the reason I didn't do it for BDD was that I have written a lot of posts about Behavior/Test Driven Development and incorrectly assumed that my readers know about that. My mistake. It's fixed now. Thanks.
Not at all. The post was published by AddThis and I didn't realize the issue. I am glad it was highlighted so I could fix it sooner than later. Thanks.
Like you I love to look at code and IMO that's where OSS (Open Source Software) shines because people contribute to OSS when they feel passionate; so that should be a good indicator. I also get candidates to submit coding puzzles and later get them to change it while I am looking over their shoulders!
RE "I need you to be able to at least do an acceptable job regardless" Until recently I thought I can always write awesome code; but it's not until we're brought down to our knees that we appreciate how personal issues could impact everything in our lives.
WRT PCI DSS it's not very hard to comply. Some 7 years ago in a company that persisted everything about customers we changed the system for compliance within two weeks.