That is a good point. I do think though that even growing startups prefer to pay in equity though, at least until you get to the pseudo-IPO ultra late stages.

That is a good point. I do think though that even growing startups prefer to pay in equity though, at least until you get to the pseudo-IPO ultra late stages. As recently as a couple years ago, AirBnB gave me a fairly cash poor offer, but wanted me enough that when I turned it down both my future manager and a VP eng tried to get me to reconsider.