Getting More - What You Should Know About Negotiating Start-up Job Offers (opens in new tab)

Then don't take any equity and ask for a higher salary instead (or, accept that it's not a time you want to be taking a risk on a startup, and look at a bigger company role). The founders should believe that equity has a lot of value, which means it's an important negotiating chip either way. If they don't, you might have a bigger problem

I find it hard to understand when people join startups where they don't have the conviction that the equity will be worth anything. Although there is always a high chance of failure, you should at least be playing with odds you believe in