<prompt> Human: Im really sold on the company... the culture, the people, the job description, the location... its all very appealing to me. But when the offer came down not only was it a long ways from the range that my experience should be worth and what Ive made at my last few jobs, but its not enough for me to cover all of my expenses even on a bare necessities budget. Theres no way that I can accept the offer as it stands but they would only have to come up about 5kyr to get me to the break even point. Still not an ideal situation, but I understand that its a startup company and has limited resources and I liked the company enough that I would be willing to try to make it work on a short term basis. If they came up 5k to start, we would still be about 20 short of where I would like to be.I would like to counter by asking them to increase their initial offer by the 5kyr then agree to a 10 raise after 90 days, pending I can deliver on my end, and then another 10 raise somewhere between 6 and 9 months. This would bring me to just shy of where I left my last job and right in the middle of the range that my experience should be worth on the market. Id like to get some other peoples opinions because I feel like this is probably too agressive of a counter offer but I also feel like I would be coming in at a significant discount. I want to try to strike a balance between the needs of a startup company, and my financial responsibilities but Im not quite sure how to play it. Thanks for your help!  <response>: They are probably offering you what they can afford and not what you are worth. Your suggestions for increases are a good start but taking a job at a start-up for less than you can survive on or less than you are worth will only make you resentful when the raise doesnt happen. Its all about the funding and keeping the lights on until they become profitable. 