So, you’re really looking for two people (maybe three). One is a technical person with experience bootstrapping a prototype to MVP and beyond, both in terms of making technical and decisions and doing technical work, and in building up an engineering organization rom scratch. You are also looking for someone with experience raising capital and keeping investors happy. You might find a single person that can do all of that, but such people are rare generally have the pick of the litter when it comes to startups. You’re probably better looking for a couple of people and living with the additional dilution.

Earnout for founders is like options for employees: worthless until proven otherwise. It’s not a real part of your compensation, it’s a way for them to incentivize you to stay involved.

I do think everyone should learn to code. Not a lot, necessarily, but enough that they realize that computers aren’t magic boxes, they do what they’re told - designing programs is mostly about figuring what you actually want to the computer to do, and only then working out how to tell them. As a business leader, the first part is something you need to understand well, because you’ll be doing it constantly (if only at a high level).

That said, if you’re interested in starting a business, there’s a shit ton of stuff you should be mainlining first. Economics, accounting and finance, presentation skills, employment law, product management, relevant portions of law, knowledge of whatever sector you’re working in. Your time is valuable so make the most of it.

Equity is worthless until proven otherwise. Full stop. You’re being offered $152k and a lottery ticket, which depending on your experience, location, and role, is IMO still pretty generous. Big tech companies also don’t hire just anyone, especially not right now.