If the startup is truly revolutionary|innovative, shouldn't we see VC's pounding down the doors to give them money? If they have money, shouldn't they spend that on their personnel (assuming they are not manufacturing robots or something) if we are talking software?
Seems to me that startups want to have their cake and eat it too. If you have money to pay, then pay competitive wages. If you don't, offer equity. If you have something worth a shit, people will want to work for your startup.
The next facebook, unless it is the next facebook, isn't going to sell a lot of people. I look at the YC list of startups and shake my head... most of them don't make much sense. They might be winners, but I would ask for a large paycheck instead of equity for most of them.