Companies that bridge salary gaps with pre-IPO equity?

So I’m interviewing at quite a renowned company, but have discovered that their base salary is $24k less than what I was making (I was laid off). They say they usually bridge standard tech salary gaps with equity, but the company is pre-IPO (with no plans on IPO anytime soon) and I’m very apprehensive in accepting that offer as it may not actually mean anything. Thoughts on this approach? #tech #joboffer