I agree with this. Every offer I've gotten from an early-stage startup was market salary and <1% equity, often when I was engineering hire 1-5. I had conversations with founders and told them that if they couldn't meet my market rate, they had to give me 3-5% of the company. They all said no, so I did to. Then I'd get my market rate from a bank or a security company or went back to contracting for multiple clients.