Unfortunately my interview experience with Comma was negative. The whole process took more than a month (something you'd expect from a corporation, not a start-up), it was unclear what they wanted (the job title of the role they were hiring for eventually changed, due to some internal role transfers) and the whole process just dragged.
The worst part for me was that they asked candidates to complete a task, and then present it back to the hiring team. The presentation was for 15 minutes, but the scope of what they wanted was big. The assignment was to prepare a Project Plan that includes a communication plan, risk and issue management, all necessary workflows + stakeholders (I posted the full assignment below). Just a communication plan alone involves a lot of information, and they wanted this to be part of a wider Project Plan. And not for just 1 potential partner (see below), but for 2 companies. Plus a requirement to present all this in just 15 minutes.
I completed the task and the presentation, prepared all the supporting materials that were required, and overall this took me around 15 hours of my free time.
The last interview - the one that included my presentation - was not led very professionally. The interviewers started it by asking me loads of questions (not related to the task I was going to present; and not sharing the structure of this interview when it started). I interrupted them after 15-20 minutes and asked if there will be enough time for the presentation. They said it is "only for 15 minutes" and that we'll have enough time. This resulted in a situation where I had to rush through the presentation, and there was not enough time in the end for them to ask many questions (but to be honest they weren't showing much interest in the presentation anyway).
I then got a call four days later from the recruitment team, telling me I wasn’t successful in that last interview, and was given a 2-sentence feedback on my presentation (that I spent 15 hours working on, and wasn’t even able to show all my prepared slides. One piece of feedback was that one of the parts of the presentation wasn't thorough enough - but I didn't even have time to present it).
It is totally ok that they selected another candidate - there always must be a great fit. However, what is not ok for me:
1. How long the whole process took, the delays, no clear communication, and the interview process that wasn't planned well enough
2. There was no remuneration for the task / the scope of the task was a way too big.
My recommendation would be: Try to improve the interview process, be clear on what you want, and communicate clearly with the candidates. If you require them to complete tasks/prepare presentations, provide compensation, OR choose tasks that take up to 1-2 hours to complete. Also it would be great to provide feedback soon - don't let people wait for too long, especially after they've invested a lot of their personal time in the process.
On a more positive note, the member of the talent team I spoke with was really nice, and he seemed to care. However, I wouldn't apply for a role at Comma again.