I applied online and also messaged a recruiter. She said that she had forwarded my resume on. I heard back the same day, so I definitely think the cold email is what got my foot in the door.

I received a coding challenge, which I took ages to complete. After submitting the coding challenge, I heard back later that day that I had moved on to the next round.

I then had a phone interview a few days later. I thought I had messed up, but again, I heard back the next day that I had moved on.

Finally, I had a long day of onsites (three interviews) at Dropbox. Everyone was very nice and friendly, and I thought the interviews had gone pretty well. However, I heard back later that week that I didn't get the position.