First, don't think about it as "throwing away" a year of work. Think about it as a comparatively modest annual tuition fee at the most effective learning insti

First, don't think about it as "throwing away" a year of work. Think about it as a comparatively modest annual tuition fee at the most effective learning institution you will ever have the privilege of attending, a.k.a. the School of Hard Knocks. Which is to say, some of the most valuable education you will ever get... provided you don't repeat the same experience. As to the friendship, don't worry about it. As long as you act in a fair, principled, and (importantly) clear-headed and non-impulsive manner, a (true) friendship can easily survive an experience like this. They may even thank you (much later) for having seen the harsh light of reality far sooner than they did. If in fact they're a true friend. If they're not.. it can certainly feel very painful at first, when a supposed friend "de-friends" you, or acts in a destructive manner such that you feel forced to separate yourself from them. But what it comes down to is that true friends just won't do this to you, or put you through dilemmas like this (not intentionally, or in any vindictive way, at least). As to those turn out to be not such true friends, you were bound to find this out eventually (albeit perhaps through less cathartic means). Think of it as not a loss, but an opening, a chance to regenerate and find newer and even better friends, and have much better experiences. Lastly: one thing I learned from having gone through an experience like this is that when going into business with "friends" we tend to let our defenses down, and expose ourselves to far greater financial (or emotional) harm than we do in regular business contexts, wherein even when we end up dealing with people really are basically out to screw us, we at least know how to cut our losses and not let it damage us so much, psychologically. While your "friends" can actually end up damaging you much, much more even though you're supposedly all on the same, happy team. It's kind of a simple thing, really... but knowing this going into your next "friend"-based opportunity might help make for a much safer (and less soul-wrenching) ride.