Ask HN: Cofounder vs. Founding Engineer

Hey HN! Launching a hypothetical here to get your thoughts going. Not a situation I’m going through right now, just wondering what folks think.

Say you’re joining an early stage that just raised some cash, but doesn’t yet have a team. What would you expect the difference to be between joining as a tech co-founder and joining as a founding engineer, in terms of compensation, attributions and responsibilities?

Same question, but reversed: suppose you’re looking for someone to own the tech side of said early stage business. How would your expectation differ for someone joining as a tech cofounder vs founding engineer?