Firstly it doesn’t sound like a job that was going to work for you. I’m in a different sort of sector but have had to say no to work that would be excessively demanding despite being well paid.

But I look at it a different way. When I interview candidates, I’m not generally planning to haggle. The budget is set; and in addition if they are gearing up for expansion who knows what’s going on, they might be mortgaged to the hilt and under pressure. Seems like it would have been a bad fit overall.

In this setting however I’d maybe be offering a generous bonus of some kind at the end of 12 months or whatever if the issue is a massive growth phase that will be excessively demanding on new hires.