I have always found equity to be a dubious proposition. It's rarely as easy as 1% or some fractional percentage. It's usually a fraction of one percent of some lower class portion of a cap table that gets vested over a certain period of time with a number of funding and sales stipulations. I was recently offered, for example, 5% equity! That was actually 5% class E stock which accounted for only a tiny fraction of the company.

Instead I took my normal hourly rate and told the owners they could, if they felt generous, thank me if they ever became financially successful. This worked well because I felt I was being paid fairly and they felt I was not taking advantage of the company. It was less risky on my part, of course, because I was being paid for my work. When they sold the company they did thank me generously. I was probably one of the happiest people involved. I didn't have to fight for my equity to be meaningful and I could just focus on my job and the business needs all the way through the acquisition. It was a win win all around.