If they can't match FAANG's salary+totally liquid stock grant compensation (generally $300k+/yr for a seniorish engineer), which most startups can't, they need

If they can't match FAANG's salary+totally liquid stock grant compensation (generally $300k+/yr for a seniorish engineer), which most startups can't, they need to offer more equity. I've seen way too many startups offering sub 1% to their first employee, despite asking them to take a large pay cut. It's absurd.