So here's the question: would you bring in a 50-50 partner (both of you on a vesting schedule) in order to scale and not merely grow? That is, would you give someone half the company to triple customers in a year...or something like that?
The last seven years is sunk cost and the only effect it can have on the future of the company besides providing a knowledge base is psychological drag. And bringing in a partner with large equity is exactly what taking VC is anyway..except that VC will make decisions based upon distribution of risk while a 5050 partner will have a similar concentration of risk to yours.
Overcoming the sunk cost mindset is tough. Just giving someone half a company you spent seven years building sounds crazy. But the seven years you spent getting to this point are irrelevant to VC decision-making. All that matters is going forward.
Any different orientation on your part creates an impedence of expectations.
The last seven years is sunk cost and the only effect it can have on the future of the company besides providing a knowledge base is psychological drag. And bringing in a partner with large equity is exactly what taking VC is anyway..except that VC will make decisions based upon distribution of risk while a 5050 partner will have a similar concentration of risk to yours.
Overcoming the sunk cost mindset is tough. Just giving someone half a company you spent seven years building sounds crazy. But the seven years you spent getting to this point are irrelevant to VC decision-making. All that matters is going forward. Any different orientation on your part creates an impedence of expectations.
Good luck.