Having just written a paper about alliances, I am still sensitive to discussions about joint control. As a result, I was interested to see "equal partnerships" appearing as #3 on a list of Ten Entrepreneurial Mistakes:

Either party's veto power can stall the growth and development of your company, and neither holds enough votes to change the situation. Almost as bad is ownership split evenly among a larger number of partners, or worse, friends. Everyone has an equal vote and decisions are made by consensus. Or, worse still, unanimously. Yikes! No one has the final say, every little decision becomes a debate, and things bog down quickly.

This seems right, though some people don't want their business to proceed unless everyone is on board, in which case deadlock can be a useful device.

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