This is getting more off topic, but what made you confident in the startup that you were joining? You said you were the first employee, so there's a high amount of unknown variables at that company's stage.

The median "startup scene" outcome for a typical person is to be 30 with 5 short-term jobs, zero net worth, and wondering if it's too late to get into a real stable career. Picking a startup that will "take off" and earns high valuation sounds like a time-costly numbers game at this point.