^Thanks for the comments. As I said there is a spectrum of startups. You have to make your own judgement - especially if you're joining 3-5 person startups without any funding. But that said the median Valley-based Series A/B/C startup would probably offer a competitive package or atleast they'll be upfront about it and not waste your time. On a side note - any tom, dick and harry can create a angel.co profile. I would discount 90% of them there. Basic due diligence - crunchable, SEC filings (on funding), any press articles, digging into founders' linkedin profiles should help you separate the wheat from the chaff.