Waseem, there is a lot to decide here. But it comes down to you deciding what are your personal goals for the business. That is the key metric in this decision: knowing what you want.

Option 1 gives you complete autonomous control over the direction of your business, but it does mean you're going into it alone. Personally, I like that option the best, but it does require that you can afford the resources ($$$, connections, etc.) to make it work.

Option 2, however, reduces the upfront spend on hiring top talent, but reduces the autonomous control and has some potential risks (i.e. they don't hold up their end of the bargain). If you find someone you feel really good about working with, and they strongly want a piece, then this can be a good option. I think a strong partnership is better than doing it solo, but it takes time to find the right partner. This process shouldn't be rushed.

I think a 3rd option is a hybrid of the two, where you recruit someone who has the skill set you need, isn't interested in an equity split, but is incentivized with a fair revenue share. In this option the employee is excited to build a business, is sharing the risk with you, but is also sharing a lot of the upside. The way you shape the contract may depend on what they want (base salary, straight revenue share, etc.), but can be decided on once you find the right person.

Hope that helps! If you have follow up questions, I'm happy to talk through this on a call.