[jmathai]

Find happiness. It may or may not involve your job. If you're unhappy with your work because of your salary, you're going down a rabbit hole. Optimize for happiness.

Otherwise, the best advice I can give is forgo the equity and take the extra $15k in salary. It acts as a baseline for your next job and it's cash you can use today for savings or material goods.

Unless you're a founder or a VERY early employee in a quite successful startup the financial upside just isn't there. The upside has to be a good job that compliments whatever it is that makes you happy.

[madaxe]

Hah. Most founders are broke. Sure, you own an equity slice in a business, but the reality is that you pay yourself a pittance, and your best hope is to be acquired for a six figure (not six zero) sum after a decade of back-breaking labour.

[jmathai]

The best hope is the entire point of starting up. If your best hope from the start is a six figure buyout and your goals are financial then don't bother starting.

[madaxe]

Oh, I meant the best hope of financial glory - not the general best hope!