If you want to go far, go together

You can move fast alone. But distance — the kind that takes years — is a team sport. The partnership years taught me that the hard way, and the good way.

What I learned is that the numbers are never the thing that makes or breaks a partnership. Values are. Whether someone shows up when it is inconvenient, tells you the truth when it is awkward, and carries their weight when no one is watching.

Choose those people carefully, and you can go a very long way together. Choose them poorly, and no deal terms will save you.