First time founders that are considering funding should be more concerned about the people involved, the terms, and the impact on operations than the specific amount of equity.
Edit: for clarification, care about equity, sure, but whether you're giving away 10%, 20%, 30% of your company is much less important in the beginning than the other things I mention.
This is true, but only to a point, and only when compared with a founder's other alternatives.
Seed-stage fundraising has never favored the entrepreneur more. In this climate, founders can get a higher valuation for their company from a high-quality set of angels, so 'ouch' seems pretty appropriate to me.
Edit: for clarification, care about equity, sure, but whether you're giving away 10%, 20%, 30% of your company is much less important in the beginning than the other things I mention.