[morgante]

If you're joining a company very early (first 10 employees) you should probably be getting stock (not options). It's possible to do that and is a sign of an employee-friendly founder. Plus, at an early stage you can do an 83(b) on the stock itself and have a much more favorable tax situation.

I have successfully negotiated for founder stock instead of options in the past, so it's something you can definitely do.