Pair Of AcesMay-December partnerships are a good bet for new businesses.

Start-up companies are tough to run at best," says EricAlmgren, co-founder and president of Mixman Technologies Inc., aSan Francisco designer and manufacturer of music software."And it's even tougher if you're going into a businessyou know nothing about." Many young entrepreneurs solve thisproblem by teaming up with an older partner, someone who cancomplement a fresh idea with business acumen.

Such was the case for Almgren, 32, and his partner, JoshGabriel, 30. When they started Mixman in 1993, they had the visionbut not the expertise required to break into a new industry. EnterRoger Summit, founder and recent retiree of Dialog Corp., adatabase information service company in Palo Alto, California, whocame on board as a partner with the experience of growing asuccessful business from the ground up. "Roger was there anytime we needed to have a meeting with an investor, to strategize orto write a business proposal," says Almgren.