It felt like I was back in college dealing with pretentious professors because they spent 20 years on one subject but I bet you 5$ they could not apply their knowledge in the real world. They have the nerve to want an experienced unicorn for this position. It is a start-up they need to humble themselves. You will not get everything from one candidate especially when you are throwing together two to three jobs into one position. They said they want "smart people" meaning they want a person to nerd out and overwork themselves on projects without knowing they are getting talked advantage of. if you are an expert at programming( any language), and you build and design any type of circuit inside and out, and can do mechanical design work and testing too. Why would that person want to work at a start-up that is not their own?

They are looking for unicorns that are workaholic and don't like money. This company wants a highly functional programmer,That has experience in the mechanical engineering and electrical engineer and don't want to pay them . Not a whole lot of people can do all three and willing not to get paid for. I can only bet that they are trying to make a case so they can hire abroad.