The interview was in 4 stages. The first one is with HR, then product, technical, then with the founders. The HR contact was clear in the first call that only candidates that were within the budget allocated for this position will be able to proceed to the second round. Therefore, I shared my expectations that were falling within their budget, so I continued to the product and technical rounds. However, I was surprised when the founders told me after all these hours of interviews that my salary expectations were too high. I really didn't know what to answer as I thought this was already addressed.