I'd better do a stupid coding test online that have to schedule a phone call during working hours with a guy who just want to get away from the phone call and could barely present his company and what he's recruiting for.
Standard interviews: multiple choice trivia, red black tree programming puzzles.
Innovative interviews: Custom code exercises with custom unit tests written by the company, ssh exercises where a server is created automatically per candidate and he has to connect to it and configure/fix/change some stuff.
After many interviews (both given and received). I have definitely settled that:
1) I'd rather write a stupid program on HackerRank than deal with an annoyingly scheduled phone interview (where I might be expected to spell that code over the phone WTF). Automation is nicer than the average interviewer. A proper code editor for coding is better than the average shared editor.
2) No matter what we try to do: 20% of candidates won't show up + 20% won't be able to code a program to print numbers from 1 to 10. There's nothing we can do about that (the sad state of interviews is probably all because of that).
3) For the first initial screening, very simple exercises are all that's needed (see 2). Hacker Rank is perfectly appropriate for that.
The last "innovation" I've witnessed in the space was the Hired model, and everyone is trying different versions of that now. It's a hurtful model that abuses the inefficiencies and lack-of-transparency in the two sided market. (For anyone wondering what I mean: When you sign up on Hired they ask you what your preferred salary range is, then, as of last time I checked, they show _that exact value_ to the companies looking through prospective candidates. So guess what the first offer you get is? Not what a "fair" market rate is, but exactly what you typed into the sign-up form.)
I do a lot of talking to recruiters as part of helping them use our Stack Overflow Talent product, and honestly it feels like taking crazy pills half the time. Having to answer "why?" to "You need to at very least explain what your company actually does, or maybe the tech stack you use" makes me feel insane.
I loved Starfighter, but thinking back what I liked most about it was the content you and Erin and Patrick wrote about it. Your point about "life is too short" is very very poignant.
I guess the whole point of this comment is for me to say I completely respect that decision, you all did the right thing. Trying to convince people who would rather just throw more money at a wall than try something unique to use your unique product is an awful feeling.
I'm very glad to hear your new project is easier to make money off :)