Being compensated through equity is a gamble. Most times it doesn't pay off. So many more startups fail than succeed that the odds are heavily stacked against those options ever being worth anything.
Sometimes people are willing to take that gamble anyway, in spite of the horrible odds, because they believe in the business. They look at the product, the founders, and the rest of the team, and think "this is going to be one of the ones that succeeds" -- strongly enough that they're willing to bet their own money (in possibly lost compensation) on the outcome.
If you're showing talented people your idea, or your product, or your team -- or yourself -- and they're not coming away convinced that what you're showing them is good enough to justify taking that risk, maybe it doesn't mean that they're lamers who don't understand startup culture. Maybe it means they looked at what you showed them and decided that it wasn't a horse worth betting on. So they'll work for you for salary, which they can put in the bank the moment you give it to them, but not equity.
If that happens consistently, maybe it's time to step back and look more holistically at your business. If you can't convince potential employees to bet on you, you might have set your product up in such a way that you'll have trouble convincing potential customers to bet on you too.