Should I bring on a friend as co-founder of my website?

I'm starting a niche social networking site so far by myself. It's my idea, and these are my contributions so far.

1. Research and purchase domain names
2. Brainstorm entire site concept, much of the layout, and comprehensive list of potential site features
3. Put up ads online for programmers, graphic designers, SEO firms, and have been spending about 5-8 hours daily for the last week responding to applicants and reviewing resumes
4. I have set money aside to pay for the site's development
5. I am a well known name in my location for this niche and I am already connected with most of the other well known names in this niche. Between us, I already have access to over 20,000 facebook fans/friends who are potential users of this fan site, as these other names will be featured on my site.

However I know very little about the technical aspect of the site. I have a friend who while not professional, knows much me than me in that aspect.

Should I consider bringing him in as a co-founder in charge of managing the technical aspects? That would free me to focus on the marketing side.

There's an old saying in Scotland ~ "There are no friends in business".

What it means is, in the end, people always do what suits them. Friendship or no friendship.

In fact, when I think back over my own career, of all the low down, dirty, self serving tricks that have been pulled on me, and my partner for that matter, they were always perpetrated by a so called "friend" ~ now ex friend, of course.

The reason the saying has been passed from generation to generation over the years, is because most people have told themselves, this time its different, and then found out the hard way. And when the inevitable happens ~ it typically hits them hard as its a friend ~ they don't forget it, and pass it on.

Over to you!

If he is strictly technically oriented and you think of constantly developing new features, then you probably need that person.
If you will need a technical person only for the primary website development then not. In this case it's easier and cheaper to hire a team of technicals to develop the site and then just pay a nominal fee for its maintenance.

Regarding the splitting of the shares it depends on the amount of work each of you is doing as well as the volume of profit that each of you is bringing into the company.

Bringing on new co-founders is a tough topic. I would say it always depends on what you gain. First ask yourself these questions:

1) The field of work is so dynamic that I need tens / hundreds / thousands of employees if it would take of? - For ten employees you could probably do without a co-founder...

2) Do I want to attract founding from Venture Capitalists? If the answer is yes then you do need at least one co-founder...

3) Does this co-founder brings with him: technical expertise, marketing or finance expertise (very good for a COO or CFO positions)? If he/she has those skills and it passionate about your ideas, it probably makes sense to add it as co-founder...

4) Does it bring lots of money from his/her own pocket or through personal relations? This is a more complex situation: if he also brings money from other sources you will have more co-founders from the start...

5) Do you trust him/her? Will you leave 10 million bucks on the table confident that the money will still be there when you return Monday, after a one week vacation?

And so on and so forth... Think about all the things you can win and loose. In general in Sillicon Valley it's almost always a pre-requisite that you have a co-founder, as it is necessary that someone is always in the office answering calls from clients and investors and managing employees...

Regarding ownership you need to look at this post: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/13/understanding-how-dilution-affects-you-at-a-startup/ Just read the post ten times, even a 100X times, make a list of questions and see if it is worth. In general the answer is yes, but it depends always on what he/she brings to the table.

Best regards!