Partnerships

Hey I just wanted to post my views on partnerships and experiences with all of you guys and what your views are and what experiences you have went through.

Views-
Well First off, I have thought partnership is a great thing. I really think it is good for two or more people working on projects together because I really like group work as well as individual work. I think partnership is very risky though when it comes to choosing your partners. If you are seeking a partner, and you say post a thread seeking a partner, I don?t think that it is the smartest thing to do for a couple of reasons.

1 There is no pre friendship. If your not friends with the person, chances are you might not get along with them. If you cannot cooperate, then what good is it to be partners in the first place? Also reliability. You don't know how much the person is online, what times he/she is online. You can be in complete opposite time zones, which basically cancels out the point of having a partner in the first place

2. Also there is no trust. Without trust there can't be a partnership. You have to trust that the partner is reliable, and isn't/hasn't had any bad backgrounds. If you get a client, finish your part, send the rest to your partner, and he doesn't come through on time, not only does that jeopardize the partnership, but the your whole reputation that you have worked hard on to get.
3. Investments. If you start a partnership, undoubtably there is going to be investments. Time investment is the biggest in my opinion. Time cannot be made up, unless you are running a race. If you find out 1 month into the partnership, that your so-called partner is a flop, then you have wasted your time. Next comes the money. If you?re going to have a partnership you probably are going to get a domain and hosting. Which is expensive at times.

Experiences-
Well I have had two partnerships that I have had flop. I have learned so much from them that it scares me to go into partnership again. There is only less then a handful of people I met on the internet, I could tell you would go into a partnership with them in a heart beat. I?m also a security freak.

My first partner actually sounded like a really trustworthy person. He 'suppose ably' got us a job, that I did the time, and the design work for. After sending it over to him. I didn't hear from him. I suppose he blocked me on all of his messenger services, or just got new ones.
My second partnership was with a member from www.shadowness.com. We were actually good friends, and still are, but he just wasn't at the level I was at. He wasn't coming on steadily, and basically came up with excuses. One being " My dad reformatted the computer, and I lost all of the flash and coding files, including all of the scripts. I?ve tried everything but there is no possible way to get them back. I?m sorry?. To me, I?m sorry doesn?t cut it but half of the time. If you mess up something, you will work your ass off nonstop to get to that point to meet deadlines. I know I would just because I would feel bad. Plus reputation and the thought of losing a partnership. One night I just told him I don't think your ready for a serious partnership right now. Thus ending the partnership. The only thing that is left over is a domain, hosting, and wasted time.

I personally don't have anything against partnerships, but I thought if some new freelancers read this, they could have better opportunities and cease them when they arise.
*May be tons of spelling/punctuation errors.

My fingers hurt,
Regards-Ryan