That’s a reasonable ask, yes. We’d atleast have thought of having a discussion around that. While its still on the higher side given the market does have a huge float of resumes, its atleast a starting point.
Btw their 15LPA is not all fixed either.
On the notion of things not materialising further, it’s a startup. They currently work for one and our guess is that they’d be aware of the risks. Not to draw a comparison but I’ve worked in startups for more than a decade now and always understood the risks associated with the option (to an extreme where I’ve taken 3 paycuts in my career, 2 of which worked out quite well).
Not preaching but somehow, after all these years, I’m finding such situations as taxing. I don’t fundamentally get the YOLO logic either, maybe an old bugger ranting. Anyways.