[robdimarco]

Good question. One easy answer to get you started solving them.

TALK TO A LAWYER. They will guide you through these questions. Do not cheap out on the lawyer now, you are asking important questions that will fundamentally affect the ability of your business to succeed. These are common questions and a lawyer will work it out.

[gruseom]

Not necessarily. It's well-known in the entrepreneurial community that most lawyers don't understand startups and will take an inappropriately heavy and expensive approach to these questions. Also, few embryonic startups can afford much in the way of legal fees. Hint: a good startup lawyer will typically agree to defer fees based on the level of funding the company's level of funding, i.e. you pay a certain amount at $100K, more at $250K, etc.

If I were the OP I would do as he/she has done and ask questions of other entrepreneurs first. For the record, I agree with aditya that vesting is the main technical answer here. Maybe you'll get lucky and grellas will chime in!

[janjon]

I'm talking with a start-up focused lawyer now who seems really sharp and reasonable with fees. we already agreed to vesting of course.

i guess my question is generated by my anxiety about having a long term agreement but not having distinct divisions of power. if anyone has done it before and lived to tell could chime in that would be awesome!!!

[gruseom]

"Distinct divisions of power" strikes me as an idea that might be more trouble than it's worth.

Either there's something about your partner that's bothering you -- in which case you should address it explicitly and not put it off -- or you might be bringing worries about power, conflict, etc., into this situation that actually originate elsewhere, in which case you should get aware of that and make sure it doesn't poison your relationship. Either way, the technical legal level is probably the wrong way to approach this. If you can't trust each other, no document is going to save your business.