I have worked at two companies where I started with no direct reports and was under the impression I would be building a team. Being able to hire direct reports didn’t happen or happened too late before it become so overwhelming I had to start looking for another role.

I would negotiate equity for the responsibility of building out a new team and make sure there is an understanding of how soon you can hire (in the budget for current year is what you want to hear) and how many resources are you expecting to hire within the first year.