My implication, and I think you got it, was that you should have definitely gotten more than "some equity". I speak from no experience (still a student), but I don't think I'd care who is paraded in front of the media as "the founders" - whatever makes the company more likely to succeed is best. If the other guys are more media-friendly than I am, all the better!
What would really matter for my ego is what piece of the pie I get in the end, although, in your position, it sounds like that's a hard area to negotiate, too, since said "semi-famous person" is adding all the value in the very beginning (before any code is written). This is probably faulty logic to base your equity on, since your piece should be proportional to the value you add at acquisition.
The thing is there's a difference between the equity of management founders, and "non-management founders" which is basically just that the former get a seat at the table at any negotiations, and the latter doesn't. I actually didn't know there were non-management founders till I got to California (you hear occasionally about them - linkedin has one). And the thing I also learned is that liquidity of equity is more important than the percentage.
And I don't think that Kevin added all the value in the beginning. He was significantly less famous at that point, and in fact was about to become unemployed. Many of his coworkers tried to launch sites around the same time, with nearly as much fame, and they all failed.
Ah, hadn't realized we were talking about digg. Kudos, at least it's something to brag about at parties ;)
I haven't heard about "management" and "non-management" equity, sounds like a cheap way for sleezy MBA types to hoodwink hackers out of money. Could you explain in two sentences how liquidity works? I assumed everyone just cashes in their stock when an acquisition (or IPO) happens.
Was there any sort of written contract in the beginning? Kevin first announced Digg on The Screensavers in a way like he had nothing to do with it. If there was nothing in writing between the two of you at the time Kevin announced it, wouldn't that mean Kevin split equal ownership with you?
What would really matter for my ego is what piece of the pie I get in the end, although, in your position, it sounds like that's a hard area to negotiate, too, since said "semi-famous person" is adding all the value in the very beginning (before any code is written). This is probably faulty logic to base your equity on, since your piece should be proportional to the value you add at acquisition.