I've been offered a job recently as a lead developer at a small startup. They have no technical talent, and I'd be joining to build the product, do sysadmin work, recruit talented developers, etc.<p>The company already has some value, as they've already purchased a company and are basically throwing out the old team and building this new product.<p>The CEO wants a dedicated employee who will devote the next few years to this product, and I've been told I'd be considered "part of the founding team". So they offered me a 4% equity and a salary that's about half of what I'd make as a sr. engineer elsewhere. This seems like a generous offer for an early employee, though I'm clearly not being thought of as a co-founder.<p>As I was negotiating/being sold on this company, I was under the impression that equity meant stock given to me by the company over a period of four years (with the typical one year "cliff"). I found out that it's actually stock options that they're offering. So I'll have to pay for them (likely at a high valuation due to the initial investment). I'd be taking quite a salary hit, so I was thinking that the equity would make up for this. But I don't even know if I'll be able to afford to purchase the stock available through stock options.<p>Is it normal for "equity" to be considered stock options, and not actual stock? Does this situation seem fair to both parties?