I don't know how your talks went with them but to give you some clarifications there are different types of partnerships from a general partner to a silent/sleeping partner you will see that they will have different roles on a business. If the OP talk you in to just pouring in some cash then you will most likely fall in a silent/sleeping type of partner where you provide a capital but don't mistaken this into just being an investor as partnerships required to be written and signed in a piece of paper which will differentiate you from an investor to a partner.