This is a really one size fits all statement to make. I don't have data to support this but I would bet that the vast majority of startups don't have billion do

This is a really one size fits all statement to make. I don't have data to support this but I would bet that the vast majority of startups don't have billion dollar potential. Also, it's probably more accurate to replace "engineers" with "employees". Again no data and depends on the business, but of the first 10 employees, on average maybe 5 of them are engineers? Lastly, I doubt that 10 is the right threshold. 20 at a minimum sounds more reasonable to me. This changes your statement to "Those first 20 employees sometimes potentially make or break a billion dollar business". I agree with the point that employees could receive more equity, but if the average right now is .15%, that's over a 13x increase to 2%. Which seems completely unrealistic and not warranted given the above.