Well, I'm married. But I have a couple Pelican brothers who aren't.

Where in L.A.?

Hey Shaun,
One day I'll have to do a search and find out what went soooo bad with Wayne and a partner? Seems we always butt heads on this issue.

I wanted to throw in a couple pennies for ya too. I know you and I know what it means to be an "owner" or "equity" stakeholders; but does Jane or Joe? The fact is, until they do, they will only be employees. From my personal experience in partnerships and running companies, and it is vast; I wouldn't give away a thing without getting a pint of blood in return; otherwise, walk a mile in my shoes and see ya later.

What I mean by this is that the prospect must put something into the company in order to receive something out; and in proportion to ownership. I don't have to ask you what you've put in because I already know that its WAY more than you've taken out. Same would stand for most company owners, especially in the development years. Gosh, I'm 48 and still putting my profits back in!

Most people don't have a pot to piss in, so I doubt it'll be cash; but you can offer them a future equity position with an agreement that they will work for x+y salary. X goes to them, Y goes in trust towards the purchase price of the equity position or bonus structure. The goal is likely something that would take at least a year of hard work. You can offer them the Y proponent to be part of the profit sharing on projects that they bring to fruition.

I hope I'm explaining myself OK, its been another long day for Rob? Anyway, I have done this and most losers are gone before the year is up. They forfeit their Y back to me, the real owner of the profits as they never attained the proper amount to purchase the company equity/bonus. And BTW, Y comes to me anyway as the equity share purchase, so I don't lose.

It's tough to find a GOOD partner, but when you do, it's awesome; like a good marriage. I have a few good partnerships today and they are all good. I choose to partner with like-minded opposites; works great.

Good luck, if it doesn't work out you can date her; so you're win-win man!
Cheers,