This investor is out to cheat me, steal my equity and completely take over my company

This post is about those of you that might be scared to bring someone into your startup, either a co founder or an investor.

Many founders see it as 'their company'. They own this company and their word is law and it's something that is intrinsically linked to them. I think they need to look at it from another perspective: a company is an entity of its own, and it's a collaboration between people working towards a shared goal. The people involved in the company are you, the people working IN the company, and the people who believe enough in the company to put money in it. All these people own the company. You are one of the shareholders of the company, not the owner.

So what you want to do is bring in a new shareholder and partner into the company when you are looking for investment. It's not someone coming to give YOU money, but someone coming to join the company as one of the people with a stake in it. It's important then to pick people who will work to move the company forwards and upward. Partners, basically, not money givers.

As a shareholder, some of your net worth gets tied into this company. The faster the company grows, the more your net worth is going to increase. That share you hold in the company is your ownership of the company. That is a separate relationship between you and the company, compared to your relationship as the CEO. As CEO, your responsibility is to grow the company - and make decisions that are going to lead to the best possible result for the company. That's a separate and different responsibility from your shareholding responsibility.

So I think it's about perspective - if people understand the distinction between themselves and the company, and the distinction between their roles as CEO and Shareholder, they will start to understand what the role of the investor is, and the relationship he has with the company, and understand that he is not there to steal anybodies company.