You did everything right. You did your research, asked sharp questions, and responded appropriately. The call went well. You could feel it. And at the end, the founder said some version of this was great, let us talk internally and we'll be in touch.

So you did the professional thing. You sent a safe thank-you note. And you waited.

That's the mistake. Not a rude one. A polite one. The kind good candidates are proud of.

Because here's what you got wrong about that call. You think a decision got made and you're waiting to hear it. Sometimes that's not what happened. Sometimes the founder hung up exactly as unsure as they were when they picked up, and the interview didn't end when you hung up. It just went quiet.

I know this because founders tell me. I've hosted a founding-AE group every month for the better part of a year, and I spend a lot of that time on the other side of the table, hearing how founders actually make these calls. One told me recently he'd had a call with a candidate, thought it went fine, and still couldn't make up his mind. He wasn’t playing coy. He was actually undecided. There was one thing he couldn't get a read on, so he asked the candidate to send over their thinking. Whatever came back was going to decide it. Not the interview. What the candidate did after.

That's the part nobody tells you. The fence is a real place, not a stalling tactic. Hiring a founding AE is one of the biggest early bets a founder makes, and the person they'd be betting they have only known for 45 minutes. Sometimes they get off the phone and still don't know. When that happens, the follow-up isn't a courtesy that reminds them you exist. It's the rest of the interview. It's the one part of the decision that happens after the pressure of the live call is gone. Which means it's the part you have the most control over. And the part a lot of candidates spend on "thanks again, looking forward to next steps."

There's a version of this that goes wrong, and I'd be lying if I skipped it. Reading "unsure" as "no" and firing back a hard pushback can blow up a call that was going fine. Nobody wants the person who argues with a decision that wasn't made yet. The move isn't to fight. It's to answer the question they didn't finish asking. There's usually one thing the founder walked away less sure about, one answer of yours they couldn't fully buy. That's what your follow-up goes after. Directly, showing you understand the thing that may have made them unsure what to decide with you.

So stop treating the thank-you note as the close of the interview.

It's the last question.

Answer it like the decision might still be open. Sometimes it is.