If your business partner can’t scale, your business might just stall.

Train Wreck Show with Perry Belcher & Emma Rainville delivers another unfiltered gem. This time, in bite-sized format. In this excerpt from a full episode, Perry unpacks his hard-won rules for choosing business partners (after stepping on more than a few landmines). From the pain of rocket-ship growth with no operations net, to why your ideal partner probably isn’t another "idea person," Perry drops the kind of candor only someone who's crashed and rebuilt can deliver. Emma adds her own take—and a few caveats of her own—on navigating equity splits, growth obsession, and one non-negotiable: never go 50/50 without knowing who’s driving.

We cover:

• Why Perry never wants a partner who's good at what he's good at
• The dangers of growing too fast without operational depth
• Emma's hot take on why she won’t partner with women (and why Perry disagrees)
• The equity model that kills 50/50 dead
• Red flags in potential partners—and how to get out once you’re in too deep

Timestamps:

(0:00) What Perry actually looks for in a business partner

(1:12) "If they're good at selling, I don't need them"

(2:00) Scaling a company from $2M to $8M—and nearly killing it

(3:15) You must know your wheelhouse—and stay in it

(4:00) Emma on why she doesn't like 50/50 partnerships

(5:15) Perry's favorite book on slicing equity

(6:12) The #1 trait Emma needs in a partner: obsession with growth

(7:00) Why every good partner should feel dumb in a mastermind

(7:50) How to get out of a bad business partnership

Grab the free companion tools inside the Tool Cage — Perry and Emma's curated stack of resources to help you vet partners, structure equity, and prep for scale: https://trainwreckshow.com/companion-tools-optin/

Resources:

Website - https://trainwreckshow.com

Join the Driven Mastermind - https://drivenmastermind.com/

Join the Ignite Mastermind - https://ignitemastermind.org/

Workshops, GPTs, and Other Resources - https://trainwreckshow.com/companion-tools-optin/

Connect with Perry Belcher:

🌐Website - https://ignitemastermind.org/

👤Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ThePerryBelcher/

📷 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/perry.belcher

▶️YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@perrybelcher

Connect with Emma Rainville:

🌐 Website - https://www.shockwavesolutionsllc.com/

👤Facebook - https://web.facebook.com/queenofops/

📷 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/emma_rainville512/