Agreeing with one of the options above - one of my friends who works with a lot of startups will take a lower hourly rate in exchange for equity, depending on the startup. I think the deal is he gets 1% of equity for X amount of hours worked, with an hourly rate a chunk lower than he normally works at. He seems happy with the deal and the client's happy with his work.
As a freelancer, I've been asked to work just for equity on various projects. Normally this is by people who have a poor business idea and often no real clue about how to implement their side (i.e. the business and marketing) side of the idea. So if you ask a freelancer about working for equity, even if it's a split deal with some money, please understand that you're going to need to sell them the idea just as you would any other investor. iamdave it sounds like you're not in this exact situation as you all ready know the guy.
As a freelancer, I've been asked to work just for equity on various projects. Normally this is by people who have a poor business idea and often no real clue about how to implement their side (i.e. the business and marketing) side of the idea. So if you ask a freelancer about working for equity, even if it's a split deal with some money, please understand that you're going to need to sell them the idea just as you would any other investor. iamdave it sounds like you're not in this exact situation as you all ready know the guy.