I worked as a programmer in SF/South Park for three different startups from 97 to 2001. The hype and excitement was intoxicating. The launch parties were crazy and money was being thrown around like confetti on New Years. There was a huge demand for talent and many offers were made on the spot after short interviews. There were no coding tests. One interviewer said "I'm running late and have no time to talk to you. I read your resume and I think you can do the job, the job is yours if you want it" The deepest questions were along the lines of "can you explain what a constructor is?"or "Can you sketch out an object oriented design for a vending machine". After the crash was like the day after a huge party and you wake up in a trashed living room with a bad hangover. I moved to the suburbs and took a job with a company that inspired the Dilbert cartoon characters.