On the YC SAFE model, there's no stock, so it isn't about that. You give away equity using the SAFE document. We faced this issue in my company and I definitel

On the YC SAFE model, there's no stock, so it isn't about that. You give away equity using the SAFE document. We faced this issue in my company and I definitely get the fear of giving away something to someone unproven. I started out with the employee just on salary. In the written agreement, we offered ownership interest over time. In practice, I wound up giving him the full equity and the co-founder title in 3 months because of his contributions.