I have not found a startup that would be willing to pay that much plus equity, or even paying that without it. I would be okay taking a ~40% cut with good equi

I have not found a startup that would be willing to pay that much plus equity, or even paying that without it. I would be okay taking a ~40% cut with good equity if I felt the startup / team was extremely solid. I have a friend who did that who made the same as I did. My friend does not regret the decision as the company is doing very well. (I did not consider joining because of location - north bay vs south.)