Unless that employee would like to pay taxes on an illiquid, fungible asset, then you actually want the value of those options to be zero at the time of grant/employment.

In my experience, employees place much more emphasis on salary than options during negotiation. And that is find, it is the CEO's job to sell the vision of the business and acquire the resources necessary to execute. Just don't be disappointed if that means the company raises additional investment to pay your salary instead of granting more options.