I have to respectfully disagree with many points in this post. I think many points of contention boil down to the norms of startups. Yes, they may seem cliquey, but you quickly become part of the clique when there's just a few people there.

I agree that degrees shouldn't be mandatory at a startup, but I've never seen one that requires them.

Miscommunications: I'm not sure how one gets into an interview where one of the requirements is 5+ years with Java, and that person has only JS.

Dodging questions: startups often are making the rules as they go, and might not have a concrete answer for you. Drill down and find out what direction they might take.

Dropping the ball on follow ups: they probably don't want to give you a hard "no". Just move on and keep (or try to have) a positive attitude.

They need someone more experienced: take a job requiring no experience, and then you'll have more experience.