That's just a question of stock vs salary though. If the argument is "oh this is an emerging sector we haven't figured out the business model yet" the answer is "Ok, well then I want to share in the upside".

+1. My interview experience at one of the gang companies a long time ago was pretty bad. I got grilled for several hours, and then - after clearing all their rounds, was offered a pretty menial base pay. They seemed full of themselves :(

I’ve heard from plenty of experienced people how some of these companies, especially googlee - milk you for all you’ve got while pretending to be caring and offering you competitive base pay.