What? miss sexy un-conventional anchor of favourite show Rocketboom (and she’s up there with Amber from CommandN, Rachel from 88slide and Luria “Cali” from Geek Brief TV) has decided to call it quits (I met her here in Vegas, said hi in San Francisco)
Happens all the time. In French we have a saying: “cemetaries are full of indispensable people”. Right.
What is interesting in this piece of news is what Amanda says in this clip: “my partner owns 51%, I own 49%. Hence he makes decisions and I have to learn how to live with it”.
Remember as entrepreneurs, that starting a company together is like marriage. Although the honeymoon part is great, thinks might get sour at some point, and you need to manage that and plan for it. Indeed, your business partner also has a personal life: s/he might evolve, want to move on, grow into a different job. How do you split? Who makes decision when you don’t agee?
It requires extensive TALKING before signing the partnership document. Make sure you address all your concerns early on. Don’t be shy. Thinks like these happen, and both will be better off when you have addressed them early.
In my case, I’ve had a 50/50 split in everything we do with my business partner since we started working together years ago. And we have written rules for our equity stakes, and we hace discussed rules for decision-making. Not personal, only business.
On a more optimistic note, hey Andrew: keep the spirit up I’m sure you’ll continue producing great show. And to Amanda: all the best in your acting career. You’re very young so you have plenty of time to build a career.
ps: have you noticed the number of people moving on lately: Om Malik, Scoble, Scott McNealy, Freddy Mini of MusicMe, etc. etc. something to do with the full moon maybe?
