0.5% equity seems really small to me. This isn't based on a comparison to other offers, or what is typical for the market, but rather on an intuitive sense of f

0.5% equity seems really small to me. This isn't based on a comparison to other offers, or what is typical for the market, but rather on an intuitive sense of fairness. less-than-1% equity seems more like a symbolic percentage, and I might be concerned about why the founder is so hesitant to share the pie with the initial team.