They weren't working for 1% - that's what I was offered. A chance to work for $0 for an undetermined amount of time on something with no other technical resources or colleagues, all in exchange for perhaps getting 1% of something I have little control over.

I've said "thanks but no thanks" both times.

In one case, I mentioned that typically someone working for $0 with no end in sight, essentially building a prototype from scratch is more considered a founder/cofounder, and would generally be given a more equitable split. I got told that I didn't understand, because person X had already put a lot of time in to the project, and since I wasn't there on day 1 (when they were thinking about it in the garage), then I wasn't cofounder material (or words to that effect).

Odd how much the 'startup myth' prevents some people from moving forward.

That "offer" just shows that they don't know what they are doing.

Believe me, after a few meetings with people, that comes out pretty quick. The couple times I've let it get that far, I've kicked myself for the time wasting.

Should I have known on day 1? Possibly, and sometimes I do, but I don't want to live my entire life distrusting 100% of what people tell me on day 1.