I applied directly. Maybe a week or so after I got a recruiter call. The process was:
1 recruiter call
1 Behavioral call with a manager
1 Leetcode Style Technical Screen
1 panel with a project deep dive, another behavioral and system design.
Honestly, too long for such a small company. Otherwise I'd rate it positively, instead of neutral. Interviewers were all nice and collaborative.
Leetcode style screen was very standard with an easy-medium question.
Project deep dive was just talking about a project you were proud of. Should be straightforward for most I believe.
Behavioral was also a standard behavioral screen.
Design was also an easy one. Explained thought process, and designed an infinitely scalable solution like they wanted.