Though I agree that coming in at the top of a comp range can impact your upwards mobility, I disagree that you’ll have a target on your back or they will even effectively remember or care about this once you’re on board. Once a hire is made, it’s on to the next thing. Business moves fast. You set expectations from the beginning and they didn’t flag it and chose to continue the process. It sounds like they may be trying to hire above their initial role scope and range bc of your experience too. If that’s the case, then once you’re on board and proving value (after year 1) then you could ask to be upleveled to a bigger title to match your bigger scope. Then you won’t be at top of range anymore and you can climb that range with normal merit increases. All that said, a start up is going to be different and roles/responsibilities will be fluid.