This is so true, and incredibly frustrating. I joined a start up as the first employee, and the amount of equity they gave me was ridiculous. I got blinded by the notion of them raising a large amount of money and hiring at a rapid pace; the reality was they failed to raise an A round, then diluted employees despite giving a better valuation for their seed "friends and family" round.

When confronted just talked about how that was the business. Was super frustrating. Once I realized how the CEO operated, I left. I waited for my 1 year cliff though.