[hga]

Moral support and Share the financial burden are very strong reasons to give up quite a bit of equity.

The nasty problem I see here is the same as the usual big one for those seeking a technical co-founder: if you don't already know this person, what are the odds you're going to find a right one? This is something like a marriage without the usual benefit of dating etc. ahead of time and if you pick wrong it's very unlikely your venture will survive.