Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe this is accurate - I spoke w/ Mike in Miami recently and this is how he described it to me: You (and your friend) have this awesome idea & have a pretty good idea of how you're going to do it - but you don't have UI experts, you don't have scaling experts, you don't have marketing experts, etc etc - Sproutbox gives you some ramen money & a kick ass team - to take your business to profitability. Doesn't soun…
Ah, ok. I told a business exec I knew I was doing a startup and he recommended a company in the Pittsburgh area which would "grow your idea" for 51% (i.e. control of the company). When some suits are in control, it would seem that it is no longer any fun and more like working for someone else. I like SproutBox's site, and the couple of sites produced already (found via their Twitter).
Send me an email, there are HN meetups in Pittsburgh very occasionally, usually at the Church Brew Works, and I can let you know about upcoming meets.