1) They said they only "hire the best" (i'm certainly great, but not the best)
2) They bragged about how they have "more money they could ever spend"
3) They expect me to compromise my side projects and consulting activities, because "Series B startups are a whole different type of experience"
Edit: For clarity these to me mark them out as being extremely naive about their own value.
Good thing is, i don't care about money as much as they do!
1 - They all say that, it's a meaningless phrase used to cover candidates in the effluence from the southern end of a north facing male bovine, if you get my drift ;). I'm sure they also pay the highest salaries ever to make up for hiring only the best.
2 - Oh my aching sides. If they really have more money than they could ever spend, they need a visit from a clue-by-four about business planning. If they're raising that much money are are serious about their business, each one of those dollars should've already been earmarked (even if the earmark just says "runway").
3 - Translation - you're cordially invited to work 168 hours a week as a baseline and if necessary, work nights on top. Yes, I would expect that they mumble something about having a say in your side projects (that are relevant to their business) and consulting activities that might interfere with their legitimate business interest, but a lot companies seem to mistake that for owning their employees. This tends to be easier to handle if you're consulting with them rather than become an employee. There is a legitimate need for a compromise here though, especially if you are an employee. But tread carefully.
The third point also brings up another interesting point - if they hire you as an employee or consultant and you get paid by them for working on your project, who owns the IP? I'd be very careful with that, because you don't want to be in a situation where you suddenly don't own a potentially major piece of work that's based on some work you created.
2) Agree it's a stupid thing to brag about. Reminds me of Theranos
3) Yes, that's the vibes i'm getting. But they'd like me to spend time on their project, not the open-source project
2) That should give you an idea what to negotiate in terms of compensation.
3) Well, in my experience, start-ups tend to be more intense than enterprise jobs. There are trade-offs. Prioritizing work over hobbies might be one of them. Your call.
For what it’s worth, I recently joined a startup (after leaving a FAANG) that just raised a Series B, and nobody at work talks like that.
So really what they're doing is stroking your ego. Does it feel good? Sure. But what matters most is the pay, not your ego.
Also if they're paying in stock options + dollars in order to avoid paying market rate, then you have to treat the options as worthless at least initially -- there's a high risk they won't pay out.
Besides, if you're really the best, you should earn above market rate in dollars plus a generous options package.