[DamnYuppie]

Wow, tough spot to be in to be honest. I agree with another poster that they need to hire the right developer, this maybe something you can help them with but only if they compensate you for your time. Otherwise you will turn into a non paid engineering manager/architect/recruiter.

Also their is much more to making a product successful than engineers. Do they have deep experience in the industry they are making this product for? Do they have a strong marketing or sales person on tap. Startups are very hard, if they don't have a customer already or soon they should maybe think about doing something else.

I do hope I am wrong and they are successful but startups are very hard and burning large amounts of savings when you are young can wreck you for the next 10-15 years. Financially it is better to keep large savings when you are young and this will allow you tremendous guilt free and financially secure freedom in you 40's.