Fascinating. Hope this catches on.

Not quite the same thing, but several years ago, I stopped asking technical questions in interviews. (I'm not a hiring manager, but am often asked to evaluate people.) Instead, I just ask them to talk about their prior work and listen. Combined with actually reading resumes (shock), this seems to be plenty to get a sense of someone. (Not interested in references at all unless I personally know the referrer.)

I don't know about hiring the very first person if you only have one opening, but I think there's a lot to be said for publishing the position, collecting resumes for two weeks, choosing the two or three best for an interview, and hiring one or more on the spot.

Death march interviewing is for the birds.