5% seems high for an employee, even the first. Usually the entire options pool is only about 20%, so if you give 5% for employee #1, there isn't much left over for anyone else.
I'd read that about 1.5% is typical for employee #1, and it decreases exponentially from there. I was offered 0.1% at the first startup I worked at (high school grad, there only for a year, employee #13) and 0.01% at one startup I interviewed at after college (college degree, good credentials, employee #22).
I ended up taking a job at a startup with no equity but a much larger salary - as in, $15K larger. I'd recommend this route. $15K is yCombinator funding in a year, any given startup is likely to fail anyways (my employer might actually succeed, but it's the slow-growing type), and if you don't have equity you're less likely to feel responsible for the success of the company, which means you have no compunction against leaving work at work and using your home time to work on your own startup.
I'd read that about 1.5% is typical for employee #1, and it decreases exponentially from there. I was offered 0.1% at the first startup I worked at (high school grad, there only for a year, employee #13) and 0.01% at one startup I interviewed at after college (college degree, good credentials, employee #22).
I ended up taking a job at a startup with no equity but a much larger salary - as in, $15K larger. I'd recommend this route. $15K is yCombinator funding in a year, any given startup is likely to fail anyways (my employer might actually succeed, but it's the slow-growing type), and if you don't have equity you're less likely to feel responsible for the success of the company, which means you have no compunction against leaving work at work and using your home time to work on your own startup.