Unless you are working for a discount, I don't see why an employee should be entitled to ANY equity just because they happened to show up before anyone else. The fact that you may be responsible for a large swath of a company's profit is beside the point. As an employee, you are a commodity.
If I write a book, I'm not giving my web designer a percentage of the profit. Yes, my success is contingent on the quality of his work, but he's just one of many offering such a service.
If I write a book, I'm not giving my web designer a percentage of the profit. Yes, my success is contingent on the quality of his work, but he's just one of many offering such a service.