I dislike that approach (maybe because I'm one of those guys without a trust fund who could never work for a startup without a salary). "Living expenses" are of

I dislike that approach (maybe because I'm one of those guys without a trust fund who could never work for a startup without a salary). "Living expenses" are often far more than that for someone in their 30s: mortgage, student loans, car payment, etc. Right now, founding a startup is overwhelmingly for people from privileged backgrounds who can afford to be bold and work for no money because they have a safety net (parents, trust fund, etc) they can rely on if they fail. It sucks. There's a reason there are hundreds of food delivery startups every year: the only people with the ability to start companies don't have enough experience with the world to know what would even make a good company. Sometimes they stumble onto something wonderful, but most of the time they just fail, go live with their parents for a few months, then go start up something else. Repeat until they get tired and just get a 9-5 job at Google or Facebook. Every individual has a market value. If I make $200k/yr right now, and I get an offer to work for a startup where I would make $100k/yr, how is it fair that someone who previously made $75k/yr gets the same amount of equity as me? After all, I'm giving up $100k/yr just to work here! It's better to ask someone "what would it take to get you to work here?" and pay them that. Then give them equity as an incentive to be successful. I know the Silicon Valley hegemony is against talking about money like this, but people definitely think it.