[airza]

Someone in legal probably informed them that hiring outside of the US is a massive headache. But they could do it if they wanted to. The equity and vacation is more suspect. I would ask them for more money in place of the vacation (and lack of security) and also for equity. You don't need any excuse or tactic more sophisticated than "We talked about X, Y, Z as comp but you are offering X."

If you're not experienced doing it by email is better.