CEO says he’s started giving job candidates live feedback in the interview—and if they ‘freeze up’ or ‘get offended’ they’re not fit for the role

Gagan Biyani, CEO of Maven and Udemy cofounder, has begun giving candidates real-time, often public, critiques during interviews as a deliberate test of coachability and reaction under pressure, and he says the response frequently determines hiring decisions. The practice has prompted mixed reaction—some recruiters see it as a useful stress‑test for roles requiring rapid adaptation, while career coaches and critics warn it can humiliate candidates, erode psychological safety, and select for compliance rather than true competence, risking loss of top talent. Recruiters expect similar tactics to spread in high‑pressure tech hiring but caution that execution and cultural fit matter; for investors this trend signals potential upside in screening for certain resilience traits but also increased talent, retention and reputational risk for companies that normalize aggressive public feedback tests.

Analysis

Gagan Biyani, CEO of Maven and cofounder of Udemy, has implemented a hiring tactic of delivering direct, often public, feedback to candidates in real time and uses their immediate reaction as a significant hiring signal; he reserves the test for applicants he intends to move forward with and sometimes applies it to borderline candidates, expecting them to pivot their answers on the spot. Responses to the practice are mixed: some recruiters and Bentley Lewis CEO Lewis Maleh see logic for high‑pressure roles that require rapid adaptation, while critics including career coach Kyle Elliott characterize the approach as one‑sided, potentially dehumanizing and likely to select for compliance rather than competence. The article flags concrete risks that matter to investors — potential loss of top talent, damage to employer brand, and internal psychological‑safety issues — even as the practice could improve selection for stress‑tolerant hires in specific functions. Market signals are muted: aggregated sentiment is mildly negative at -0.1 with a small positive market‑impact score of 0.08, and per‑ticker sentiment for UDMY is neutral (0.0), implying limited immediate market reaction but nontrivial governance and reputational risk to monitor.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Monitor talent and retention metrics (offer acceptance rates, early attrition, Glassdoor/employee sentiment) and press releases for any expansion of real‑time public feedback practices, and engage with management on hiring governance if exposure is material
• Consider reputational and retention risk when sizing positions in companies where leadership endorses public critique as a standard hiring tool and be prepared to underweight or hedge if culture indicators deteriorate
• For UDMY holders note the founder linkage but neutral immediate sentiment; watch for any public statements from Udemy leadership or regulatory/HR scrutiny that could change the risk profile