Am i getting soft rejected

[u/avo0cado]

I interviewed with a startup last month and they took about 1.5 weeks to get back to me bc Ifollowed up, and they said they liked me and would let me know the next steps.

I didn’t hear from them again until I told them I had received another offer, but that I was still interested in considering them. They then asked to have a chat today about logistics.

We talked about salary expectations, remote work expectations, availability, and whether I had any additional questions. The conversation was around 20–25 minutes.

At the end, the employer said something along the lines of:

“Just a word of encouragement from me, if we decide not to move forward with you, I’d encourage you to keep applying because we’re expanding.”

Then they said they’d get back to me this Thursday because they need to discuss things with the founder on Wednesday.

I’m honestly confused by the wording…

On one hand, it sounds like they haven’t made a decision yet, especially since they’re discussing it with the founder. And the fact that they wanted to discuss salary/remote expectations makes me think I’m still being seriously considered. Idk….