Everyone knows that you need to give out gobs of stock for the early-stage team, the first 3 - 5 members who're willing to get your idea off the ground. Of course, if you were able to pay them a good salary and can convince them their jobs are secure for awhile you wouldn't need to do so - but lacking a cash compensation, which is standard ops for most startups, it's the equity that will bring them in. Nothing new there.
What are you really offering with equity? The stock is pretty much worthless when you just get started (even on paper the so-called fair market value is only a fraction of dollar). But there is the hope and potential that it will be worth a Carrera, some beachfront property and, most importantly, a letter of resignation - if you and your team are able to deliver.
I recently had an 'a-ha' moment: equity is not only a way to attract the right person to your team, it is a way to dissuade the wrong person from joining your team. Though you have less invested and created little of value at this stage, paradoxically the impact of a wrong hire is highly significant (later on, with more people on board, you have a little more wiggle-room if you've made an injudicious choice). When you're making an offer to someone who'll be part of a five-person or smaller team, both of you know that he will directly impact the future value of the stock. So this person has to feel confident in her ability to deliver - and if she has any doubts about that, she'll know that all the many thousands of shares may amount to nothing more than shredder-fodder. So, assuming that you're working with someone with smarts and a desire for success, she'd most certainly withdraw if she's less than 100% confident in her ability to deliver. And that is a very good thing.
Of course, this will not work as well in a consulting or 'try and then buy' approach, because both parties are avoiding commitment and consequently are unlikely to take on anything of significance. And of course, you still have to go through the usual due diligence. But, as the final test, offer enough equity to make it worth their while - and the ones who're unsure of themselves will walk away, while those who're confident they can make the magic happen, will leap at the opportunity. I've seen it work - the early stagers know that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is only as real and as large as they can make it, and if they can't do it, they'll veer off to another yellow brick road (to merrily mix metaphors).