what is your objective ? Are you trying to learn how startups work and hence wanting to work at one ? Or are you trying to work at a startup and hopefully build

what is your objective ? Are you trying to learn how startups work and hence wanting to work at one ? Or are you trying to work at a startup and hopefully build wealth with equity (very unlikely). Then, The question is : how much equity vs salary ? Lot of startups have roles like "founding engineer" etc but the equity won't be more than 1%-3% (or even less). Granted, some of these are funded and offer almost market salary. Or are you looking for significant equity (say > 5-10% or more) ? In that case, you will almost be like a co-founder and that changes the game and requirements.