The point of giving someone equity is that you can't pay others with cash, assuming you have the choice. If you have the choice it might well be you would rathe

The point of giving someone equity is that you can't pay others with cash, assuming you have the choice. If you have the choice it might well be you would rather start the company alone. There is a very interesting dynamic between the point of some participant being a founder and being an employee - late founders and early employees can be very similar to each other. Assuming a business is already generating revenue of even profit, the dynamic changes.