[davismwfl]

Yea the fact they are actively saying they can't/won't tell you pool information is a major red flag. The fact they are trying to lowball you from a market rate when they are Series B is another. I'd pass on this opportunity if I was you. Transparency is critical for a startup, it is part of the reason people are willing to join a ship with so many holes in it and try to plug them up while trying to sail across the ocean. Without transparency a startup becomes a horrible place to be and you will grow to distrust everyone quickly because things will go wrong, there will be issues and if you can't trust you are getting an honest picture of them that's a major problem.

A number of years back I applied to a few startups, I wound up with offers from 3 that I liked, I am still at the one I liked most. Another was a Series B company that is well known and was proud to tell you they were highly profitable (was even covered in the media). They didn't hide option pool information or anything but the pass on them for me was out of one side of their mouth they said we are highly profitable and see no further need to raise more money. Out of the other side, we can't pay market rates cause we are a struggling startup. One of those statements was probably true, but the fact they just wanted to hire me at a massive discount (~40%) was a red flag they would treat people poorly where it suited them all while saying they were an awesome startup. That was an easy pass for me. Actions and words need to match or you are hiding something and if that is on a critical item like compensation or option pool etc I bet they are hiding a ton of stuff from employees and not being honest.

As for someone saying startups not sharing option pool information with lower level employees, don't accept it as normal or valid, it is not. I have heard of what they are saying but it is always a red flag.