Met with both the Chief of Staff and CEO. Both were fine conversations, although I got an air of egoism about it all. If you are looking for a better work-life balance, don't share that in these conversations. They both flagged that as a concern as, in their minds, the life of a startup is potentially many nights and weekends as they need to push content/releases/changes out quickly. I believe this to be a backward mindset. You can be a "fast-paced growth company" but do that for 8-9 hours a day. Being a "startup" or "fast-paced" or "high-growth" is not directly synonymous with long hours. Their reaction to this concerned me and I was also hesitant to pursue the conversations further.
Additionally, I got the sense that they don't know exactly what they are looking for in this role. It's their first true Product Marketer and they are consumed with the idea of moving towards "product-led growth" without what seems like a really keen understanding of what that is, or the role a PMM plays within the larger go-to-market strategies.
In the end, I received a canned rejection e-mail after my conversation with the CEO. When I wrote back requesting feedback that I can take moving forward (which I customarily do anytime I receive a rejection), I never heard anything. That alone makes me feel better about not moving forward anyway. Any company that wants to take up several hours of your time but won't take a few minutes to provide you feedback about the process is not a company that truly valued you or their fellow person in the first place.