Partnerships: The Honest Math Before the Handshake

Partnerships form in enthusiasm and dissolve in accounting. Two friends, complementary skills, a handshake — and three years later, lawyers. Nearly all of it traces to questions that were skippable on day one and unskippable forever after.

Before any handshake, write answers together: What exactly does each partner contribute — money, hours, skills, network — valued honestly? What does each take — salary, profit share, and in what order? Who decides what — daily decisions, big decisions, deadlock rules? And the exits: what happens if one wants out, underperforms, or life intervenes — at what valuation, on what notice? Discussing exits at the start isn't pessimism; it's the highest form of respect.

Then the harder filter: do you actually need a partner, or do you need a vendor, an employee, or courage? Equity is the most expensive currency you have; many 'partnerships' are really purchases that should have been made with money.

A one-page agreement, written when you like each other, is worth more than a fifty-page one drafted when you don't.