[gnum4n]

Ask for more stock/promotions/pay. You won't get what you don't ask for. As an early employee, you have value in your company knowledge.

Otherwise, I'd probably just leave for a company with better pay and better work/life balance.

I've done the startup rodeo before. Worked several nights till 1am. Once worked till 4:30am, slept 3 hours and then right back to the office. After 18 months at that job, badly burnt-out, I was rewarded with layoff and had to find a new job. Never again.

It's much less stressful to just get a higher paying job where you only have to work 6-8 hours a day, with maybe an on-call rotation.