Small start up making a role for me and asking about salary?

[Anonymous]

I am ready to downshift for the next year or two due to small kids and DH is going to have a travel heavy schedule this year. I approached a small 20 person start up that is building software to service the very very niche industry I have been in for 15 years. I basically said hey I'm looking for something more flexible over the next few years and deeply understand the nuances of your clients' needs. I've had 2 video calls and really, really jive with them. Right now it's mainly a company of tech developers + marketing people so they are creating a product manager role for me. They just emailed me last night and asked about salary. Their Glass Door has great reviews but mentions low pay (which I'm not shocked about). My research shows Product Manager roles ranging from $80k-150k.

Some thoughts:
-They are on a 35hr work week, any hours, and said most employees with kids work 7am-2pm or 8am-3pm. I wouldn't need before or after school care for my kids. He offered on the call that it's no biggie if school is closed or kids are sick for a day and mentioned his VP is doing a slow transition back from maternity leave and said everyone loves seeing her baby on calls. This kind of flexibility is invaluable to me right now.

-I have no tech experience at all and they want to teach me a good amount so I feel like I will gain a good amount of knowledge, will have a tech product manager role on my resume, and can use this as a segue to something else when I'm ready to ramp back up again.

-My last job was $120k. Dh makes $175k and is being primed for a big promotion. We're still young- 33yo.

I want this job and do not want to quote too high and lose it. I also don't want to sell myself short, but at the same time I really think the WFH and flex schedule would be worth a significant pay cut to me.

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

Ask for 20% increase that puts you in the 150k range?

[Anonymous]

I would really do due diligence about the schedule, hours, and balance. It sounds great and completely unlike any startup I’ve known. I think you are putting a lot of weight on these factors and would want to assess them thoroughly.