There are elements of truth in the answers stated here, but my major beef that I keep hearing is the idea that if you give up 51% of the company you give up the control.

Majority percentage ownership of a company has never had anything to do with control! HOW GOOD YOU ARE AT WHAT YOU DO has everything to do with control!

Bill Gates owned 13.7% of Microsoft before he retired. (Now he owns 6.4%.)
http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/18810094/bill-gates-net-worth-drops.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

Michael Dell owned 12% of Dell Computers before he bought the company back in 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dell

Steve Jobs owned 0.63% of Apple from the time he returned to Apple in 1997 until his death.
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/12/lead_07ceos_Steven-P-Jobs_HEDB.html

These men’s names are synonymous with who you think of as the leaders of those companies!

Of course it is important to not give up too much percentage of your company too quickly, but business is a team sport and ultimately you’ve got to ask yourself if you want to own 20% of a $200 million dollar company or 100% of a $2 million dollar company?

If you call me I can help you get clarity on what you need to do in order to make those on the other side of the table feel that they'd be CRAZY not to do business with you.