[mind_heist]

Well - While a bunch of folks here are telling this could be a red flag (and rethink / walk away ), I just want to present the other side of the story.

(1) Managers/Companies also have deadlines when it comes to hiring a candidate. And if there is an impending "Hiring Freeze" that is about to be enforced , the desperation to hire someone goes up. This happens in large companies ( I m not sure about startups though); In these cases - the hiring Managers feel its OK for a candidate fall short of a bunch of expectations . They might as well have a resource that can get some work done , instead of not hiring any one ( and be stuck with one less resource for the next few months) . Most of the hiring freezes last one quarter. Sometimes , it might last two quarters - and it mounts a lot of pressure on the existing members of the team.

(2) Hiring managers (sometimes) look for potential than what you are currently capable of. You might have not the exact skills they are looking for - but you might have shown enough enthusiasm about the role / and might have strong indicators that you could get the job done for them.

Its fairly possible either one of these or both could be happening in your case.