> In my opinion a 40% pay cut and being one of the first 5 engineers warrants co-founder status. As someone who has been the first employee at two different st

> In my opinion a 40% pay cut and being one of the first 5 engineers warrants co-founder status. As someone who has been the first employee at two different startups, it doesn't warrant co-founder status. Yes, it's going to be a lot of work. But you never go without salary and never have the same stress level or expectations as founders. At the end of the day, you're still an employee—a key one, who should be compensated with single digit equity, but an employee nonetheless.