[eob]

Yeah -- single tasking is probably much, much better than trying to split between two companies at once.

I'd pursue getting the CEO as an angel investor. It provides you with money to build the business but attaches you to only one person instead of an entire company. If you are successful, you can always propose a larger investment or relationship with the existing company as a whole -- and by that point you know the CEO already has a hand in both pots, thus an incentive to facilitate that relationship for you.