I have advice for anyone considering bringing a partner into their business ("Let's Make a Deal," June/July 2007): Never give up complete control. I have five minority partners; they get one percent of the stock every year, to a maximum of five percent. And it's easy to figure out what the value of the company is. The buy-sell agreement has our CPA establish book value for the business each year.

Dennis Gilbert

Tesoro Corp.

Norfolk, Va.