"I believe in our product, but I don't believe in our business model." Then tell your business partners that THEY need to fix the business models so THEY can af

"I believe in our product, but I don't believe in our business model." Then tell your business partners that THEY need to fix the business models so THEY can afford to pay YOU. "I think my co-founders are idiots, that they fouled up their side of the deal," Ask them to give up some of their equity so that you can use it to motivate a replacement candidate. "but I feel as though I've invested too much time and energy to bail now." Ouch, you're fucked. NEVER EVER let past mistakes ruin your future. How about making a list of all the things you learned during this venture and a second list of all the things you can do in the future if you sever ties now. That way, if someone asks you in the future, you can explain on a positive note why it was the right thing to go. However, all of these business projects also involve a lot of luck: I was once working on and off on a project for 3 years and gradually losing faith in the business model. And then all of a sudden, the project was reviewed without my knowledge by a local newspaper. We got a huge spike in traffic, sales started to explode and throughout one week, i was more than rewarded for all the hard work.