How to negotiate ownership percentage among partners?

Hi all, I`m starting a business with three indivuduals (VERY early stages). We have a viable business concept of which I was an interigal part in designing. We`ve met a few times to talk through issues, ideas, etc., and it`s progressing. I was approached by one of the other two partners yesterday and he said " you know, we`re going to have to decide how much of the company each one of us will own" I got nervous because he is close friends with the other member, so I felt a bit ...squeezed shall we say. He claims he has a lot of business contacts, which it may be true he has more than me. As the original three founding members, I was assuming the three of us would have the largest and equal shares in the company. The rest of the team we build would own the rest. Am I out of line, or unrealistic, to propose we all own equal shares?
darkstar3/15/2009 12:17 PM
darkstar3/15/2009 12:17 PM
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I actually have this same type of question. When it comes to active and passive investors, how do you decide ownership.
Say I put up 5,000, and two others put up 5,000 each that equals a 1/3 for everybody in that regard. If you add the fact that I`m the active partner and the other two are passive and just investing money, does my share become bigger?
How do you decide that?
HTH,
My name is Lisa and I work for an attorney who specializes in business start-up (LLC`s) and Technology Law. Here is the link to his website: http://www.informationlaw.com  
His name is Daniel Pepper. He offers a 1/2 hour free consult and this is doable by phone. We are located in NJ.
If you are interested, give me a call 908.698.0330 and we can set up an appointment for that consultation. It`s free, and you can ask any necessary questions!
Good Luck.