Scenario: 2 founders, hiring first eng hire (both founders are technical, one more than the other). 

Raised a round ~$2M. What is fair equity for this engineering hire?

Chasing Curiosity. Empathetic Accelerationist. Founding Fullstack Engineer @icebreaker. YC S16, KB7. 
icbk.me/tayyab.fc

there is no good reason to be 1st hire, you take the same risk as the founders and get none of the rewards

source: I’ve been the first hire

biotech software engineer // farcaster OG // fid 589

Head of Engineering @ Bitwise | Arsenal fan, cyclist, poker enthusiast | @purple #143 🟪 

I think the typical allocation for early hires (<1%) isn’t compelling unless it’s a $10B+ opportunity and really strong (or even repeat) founders

Remember, startups take 7-10 years to exit, so Big Tech or late stage growth companies are likely a better ROI (if optimizing for $$)

What risk/reward do you prefer? Do you have a rough heuristic? (asking out of curiosity, not disagreement)