1
DSA
Coding 45–60 minutes
One engineer.
- 1 Problem
- 2 Approach
- 3 Code
- 4 Test
- 5 Follow-up
There is no score; each round is a pass or a no-hire with written feedback.
Assessed on: Problem solving · Coding · Verification · Communication
Free mock interviewCodingSystem designBehavioural
Product startup SDE (Swiggy, Zomato, Razorpay, CRED, PhonePe and others) mock interview
India's product startups hire engineers through a data-structures round, a low-level design or machine-coding round, a high-level design round for experienced hires, and a hiring-manager or culture conversation.
Reads your Résumé first Scored on 4 criteria
Product startup SDE (Swiggy, Zomato, Razorpay, CRED, PhonePe and others) · Data Structures & AlgorithmsQuestion 1 of 6 · Problem
RecordingENG
EngineerAI interviewer
ENG
Hold Space to answerTap to answer Type instead12:40
Rounds
4 rounds
Length
45–90 min a round
Panel
One interviewer a round
They read first
Your Résumé
See one run
Startup SDE: the DSA, from your Résumé to the report
What a mock looks like in the room, step by step. The panel, its order, the form and the criteria are the real round's; the words and numbers are illustrative.
1
You fill in your Résumé once
The interviewer has your résumé open. Expect questions on anything you listed — every project and every tool — and a level pitched to the role you name.
Name
Role and level you're interviewing for
Education
Experience
Projects
Languages and tools
2
The engineer asks
In the order the real one moves: problem, then approach, then code, then test, then follow-up. Follow-ups come from what you just said.
Product startup SDE (Swiggy, Zomato, Razorpay, CRED, PhonePe and others) · Data Structures & AlgorithmsQuestion 1 of 6 · Problem
RecordingENG
EngineerAI interviewer
ENG
Hold Space to answerTap to answer Type instead09:20
3
You write the code; the interviewer reads it
Not run, as in most real screens: the interviewer reads it as you write and asks about your choices.
4
The report says what to fix
Scored on the 4 criteria this round is assessed on, with every line of your Résumé marked as held up, shaky or not yet asked. A practice estimate, never a forecast.
Data Structures & Algorithms · practice estimate
65 / 100 indexHire
This board gives no marks of its own, so it is a practice index out of 100. For finding what to fix, not for predicting a result.
What was assessed
Problem solving7/10
Coding6/10
Verification7/10
Communication6/10
Your Résumé, under questioning
Name: Held up Role and level you're interviewing for: Shaky Education: Not asked yet
Nothing to buy first. Pick the round, fill in your Résumé, and the interviewer is ready. Your recording, if you ask for one, never leaves your device.
Face this interviewer yourselfHow it runs
4 rounds, in the order you meet them
2
Low-level design / machine coding
Coding 60–90 minutes
One senior engineer.
- 1 Problem
- 2 Approach
- 3 Code
- 4 Test
Some companies want running code, others a clean class design with the core methods. You can run it here.
Assessed on: Working code · Object modelling · Extensibility · Code quality · Edge cases
3
High-level design
System design 60 minutes
One staff or principal engineer.
- 1 Prompt
- 2 Requirements
- 3 High-level design
- 4 Deep dive
- 5 Scale & failure
Usually for engineers with two or more years of experience.
Assessed on: Requirements and scope · High-level design · Depth · Trade-offs and scale · Communication
4
Hiring manager
Behavioural 45 minutes
The hiring manager.
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Ownership
- 3 Incident
- 4 Speed vs quality
Assessed on: Ownership · Collaboration · Handling ambiguity · Learning and growth · Communication
What they read before you walk in
Your Résumé
The interviewer has your résumé open. Expect questions on anything you listed — every project and every tool — and a level pitched to the role you name.
NameThe interviewer may use it.
Role and level you're interviewing forThe interviewer pitches the difficulty to this line.
Education
ExperienceAnything you did is fair game — including a gap year.
ProjectsAnything here can be asked about line by line.
Languages and tools
Achievements and extracurriculars
Why this role?
Job description (optional)Kept with your résumé for this company only.
Practise it here
Three ways in, one report
Every sitting — AI, real or peer — is scored on the same 4 criteria, so you can see a line move instead of weighing one opinion against another.
AI interviewer · now
An AI interviewer, run the real way
FreeThree interviews a day
- Questions from your own Résumé, in the real order
- A shared code editor, with Run where the real round runs code
- A whiteboard the interviewer actually looks at
- Speak or type
Real interviewer · book a slot
Someone who has sat on the other side
Set by themPlus free sessions, and demos up to ₹199
- Retired officers, board members, faculty and engineers
- By video, with a shared whiteboard and code editor
- A scorecard on the same criteria, in the same report
Peer mock · matched by time
Interview another Startup SDE candidate
FreeThirty minutes each way
- Someone preparing for the same interview
- A brief for interviewing them, so you ask like a interviewer
- Feedback both ways, on the round's own criteria
How it works, step by step: the mock interview guide, and coding, design and case rounds.
Real interviewers
Interviewers who take the Startup SDE
Finding interviewers who take the Startup SDE…
Questions
About the Startup SDE interview
What rounds does the Product startup SDE (Swiggy, Zomato, Razorpay, CRED, PhonePe and others) interview have?
India's product startups hire engineers through a data-structures round, a low-level design or machine-coding round, a high-level design round for experienced hires, and a hiring-manager or culture conversation. In order: DSA (coding, 45–60 minutes); Low-level design / machine coding (coding, 60–90 minutes); High-level design (system design, 60 minutes); Hiring manager (behavioural, 45 minutes).
What does the interviewer assess?
Problem solving, Coding, Verification, Communication. No company publishes a rubric; these are the areas startup DSA rounds consistently assess.
What will I be asked about?
The interviewer has your résumé open. Expect questions on anything you listed — every project and every tool — and a level pitched to the role you name. The Résumé lines it draws on: name, role and level you're interviewing for, education, experience, projects, languages and tools, and more.
Can I practise the Startup SDE interview online?
Yes. The Practice Studio runs a mock of each round the way the real one moves — a problem set in a shared code editor the interviewer reads as you write — and scores you on the same criteria. You can also book a real interviewer for a free, demo or paid session by video.
Sit the Startup SDE interview before it counts.
The interviewer reads your Résumé, asks in the real order and scores you on what the real one assesses. Free, and ready now.