Even if your competing offer is ~$150k, it still makes sense to not work at the startup ALMOST every time (given that you are trying to maximize money--most are not). I've seen a few exceptions, but startup offers are usually that bad.
Also, based on my convsations with literally hundreds of startup engineers, I have seen three trends:
1. They care very little about how much they are getting paid due to being passionate about their work (awesome!)
2. If they do care about money, they are under the false belief that their startup options are worth more than than that startup's investors were willing to pay for them in the secondary market (i.e., the price of a nearby round)
3. They are almost always talented enough to get a high-paying job somewhere else
Also, based on my convsations with literally hundreds of startup engineers, I have seen three trends:
1. They care very little about how much they are getting paid due to being passionate about their work (awesome!)
2. If they do care about money, they are under the false belief that their startup options are worth more than than that startup's investors were willing to pay for them in the secondary market (i.e., the price of a nearby round)
3. They are almost always talented enough to get a high-paying job somewhere else