You have to look at the 0.2% in relation to the salary that they offer. And, many companies do allow you to negotiate the salary vs options trade-off.
That's definitely true in principle. But in practice, it might not be a great idea.
I actually tried to negotiate the salary vs options tradeoff recently, and I feel it didn't end well because even though I tried to be as objective as possible, the fact that I didn't want equity might have given the impression that I didn't really believe in the startup (which was true, since I really didn't believe they had any chance of becoming a billion dollar company, but it's not the kind of impression you'd want to leave if you want the job).
I disagree. Salary is a real thing that you can use today. Options at a start-up? Some studies indicate that start-up failure is at 90% within the first 3 years. This means those options, 90% of the time, don't mean anything. They're literally useless.
The other 10% of the time? Depending on percentage, dilution and exit (IPO? Sale? Neither?) it's still difficult to get a return on those options in any reasonable timeframe.
In my opinion you should NEVER sacrifice salary for options UNLESS it's an established company where you can see how to get your money out of those options. There is a TON of competition out there for talent, if a company wants a quality candidate they will pay for one.
In any case, success is (mostly) not rolling a dice. Good planning, strategy, skill, and past experience make a huge difference.
I doubt 10% chance of success is the best you can do.