Comment by shuckles

The strongest case for startup equity as compensation is made by Ben Kuhn, in my opinion, and it amounts to: you can diversify your equity exposure in more companies than you could as an angel because (i) the best companies will want to hire you and (ii) you can quit your company as soon as it appears to not be a rocketship, something you'll have insider knowledge of. https://www.benkuhn.net/optopt/