A tech entrepreneur recently shared a humorous anecdote on social media platform X about a prospective candidate who asked for a steep hike from his startup.

Gaurav Kheterpal, founder of Vanshiv Technologies, recently shared how a promising candidate had to be dropped from consideration due to high salary expectations.

What Happened: Kheterpal took to Twitter to express his astonishment at a candidate with four years of experience who, after being screened by HR, reported a current salary of ₹28 lakh and an expected salary of ₹45 lakh.

Kheterpal shared a screenshot of an internal conversation that reads: “We’ll have to apply for a loan to hire her – let’s skip.”

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Kheterpal’s tweet read, “That moment when you come across a really good candidate. You ask HR to screen the candidate & they report the numbers -4 Yrs Exp -Current CTC: 28 Lacs -Expected CTC: 45 Lacs. Read it again- this is 4 Years Experience. All you can do -pass it off with a bit of humour. (sic)”

Why It Matters: Kheterpal’s commentary highlights a growing trend in the startup industry. As startups continue to flourish, the demand for experienced professionals is increasing, leading to higher salary expectations among candidates.

Kheterpal’s tweet suggests that while startups need to attract top talent to thrive, they also need to balance their financial resources. His humorous take on the situation underscores the gap between growing salary expectations in the tech scene and the financial constraints that young startups experience.

Commenters had conflicting views on the topic, with some agreeing that the ask was way too lofty and others suggesting possible justification for the expected hike.

“IMHO, experience can not be the only deciding criteria for one’s salary. If you think the person can deliver what’s expected of him/her and you have the budget for it, it’s definitely worth giving a shot. Really good talent is hard to find,” one user said.

Kheterpal responded by saying that that line of thought may apply to deep-pocketed product-oriented startups but not to bootstrapped consulting firms like his.

“I have 9.6+ years of experience and still my salary is not that much,” another user mused.

Others pointed out that the mismatch could easily have been bridged if the company had publicly stated the pay range it was willing to offer for the role.

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