I understand the perspective, but from my view that sounds like the person wants to take zero risk. Essentially, they don't believe in the idea enough to believe that the stock is undervalued by virtue of the company being early on. We have to pay well, but as you imply if someone doesn't want to take a pretty small risk then they're not the right fit.
I say small risk, because the worst case scenario is that we fail in a year or two and then that person will likely have no trouble going back to the crazy high comp at FAANG. So the biggest downside is some opportunity cost and a few years of yes lower financial cost but without a devastating lifestyle change if we're paying decent base salary.
That is not zero risk, that is just aligning the risk with the rest of the company. Zero risk would be them working for FAANG. They would get their money and spend it however they like.
The idea that the stock is undervalued is ridiculous, if it really was it would mean you as the founder made a mistake raising money. Are you really suggesting your employees should pay more for the stock than your investors? Why?
Also realize that your employees are taking a bigger risk than the investors, as employees can only spend their salary once. There's only a 1/20 chance their stock will be worth anything, maybe even smaller. Investors invest in more than 20 companies so they have a smaller risk on their total portfolio.
I say small risk, because the worst case scenario is that we fail in a year or two and then that person will likely have no trouble going back to the crazy high comp at FAANG. So the biggest downside is some opportunity cost and a few years of yes lower financial cost but without a devastating lifestyle change if we're paying decent base salary.