You only accept equity as the only pay if you believe in your friend's product and can take the hit when it doesn't work out. Everywhere else I've seen actual cash + options which is a way of saying "we'll pay you for a while and if this works out your options will be your reward for sticking around".
> we'll pay you for a while and if this works out your options will be your reward for sticking around
If it was at least as you describe, that'd be one thing, but not even that is guaranteed. At the time an exit event actually does happen, you might've been diluted out of existence.
I've personally been fucked out of shares once already. It's much, much worse than a lottery ticket. It's basically a dream.
I somehow was _immensely lucky_ to have joined a company that IPO'd shortly after joining. As a mid level engineer I sold my shares for literally $140,000 after tax, in total (as in, from selling all of my vested shares as they vested) despite not staying for all vesting rounds.
This being despite receiving a salary of only around $80-90k. I've never once considered shares to be something to depend on, but man can they be life-changing if you're in the right place at the right time.
