So what you need to know is that you are going to be joining a club - i.e the managers at the company.
You have to focus on fit more than anything else.
The first time you do it - its weird - very weird. All your previous ideas of work and work culture will be obfuscated. You'll realize that managers are a class onto their own.
To figure out fit, you mostly need to be able to read someone in about the first minute of meeting them. What do they value? What do they distrust? What will make them feel comfortable with you?
Older managers - probably want to know that you'll do what you're told, keep engineers in line and accept their management philosophy without question.
Newer age managers - you're very flexible and you'll take on a lot of work and you'll be part of the culture and that you worship at their altar - scrum, team velocities, standups and the rest of it.
Most important point: Do not criticize or point out large flaws in their system or process or thinking. (I've done this and have always lost out on the offer.) Focus on fit more that pointing out their errors.
At a low level like yours its probably best focus on showing that you've done a lot of thikning about the regular manager duties and to be as authentic as possible. This leaves to chance of whether they work in the same way but since its your fist time you probably don't have time to prepare anything else.
Entrepreneurship is hard and I know it from experience, but have you ever taken care of someone 24 hours a day? An alzheimers patient or a developmentally disabled child?
My dad has AD and I'm his primary caregiver and compared to caregiving, entrepreneurship with all its pain is literally a fucking joy. Happiest part of my day even when making $0. I've failed at entprenreurship badly for a 2+ years but psychologically I have none of the pain associated with it because I know how much harder life can be.
Don't get me wrong, if I had the chance I would walk away from both but once you've experienced the toll of careigvng, you quit complaining about how hard entrepreneurship is.
I sometimes think that all wannabe entrepreneurs should work as a fulltime caregiver at an old age home or childrens ward at a hospital for 2 weeks. It would lessen the "pain" of entrepreneurship 10 fold.
That would reframe a lot of the pain away and help you focus on what needs to be done to market/sell a product and build it.
The truth is that the "pain" is 100% psychological and most children bought up in middle class and above families have never experienced what it means to have nothing.
Entrepreneurs who have grown up poor don't even understand what I'm talking about when I try to explain this concept.
So volunteer in the peace corps and it'll take away 100% of the pain of entrepreneurship and help you focus on executing.
You have to focus on fit more than anything else.
The first time you do it - its weird - very weird. All your previous ideas of work and work culture will be obfuscated. You'll realize that managers are a class onto their own.
To figure out fit, you mostly need to be able to read someone in about the first minute of meeting them. What do they value? What do they distrust? What will make them feel comfortable with you?
Older managers - probably want to know that you'll do what you're told, keep engineers in line and accept their management philosophy without question.
Newer age managers - you're very flexible and you'll take on a lot of work and you'll be part of the culture and that you worship at their altar - scrum, team velocities, standups and the rest of it.
Most important point: Do not criticize or point out large flaws in their system or process or thinking. (I've done this and have always lost out on the offer.) Focus on fit more that pointing out their errors.
At a low level like yours its probably best focus on showing that you've done a lot of thikning about the regular manager duties and to be as authentic as possible. This leaves to chance of whether they work in the same way but since its your fist time you probably don't have time to prepare anything else.
Welcome to the club!