Your friend came up with an idea, 1% inspiration. You have done the 99% perspiration. You have more of the cards than he does. Work the 'nothing signed' to your

Your friend came up with an idea, 1% inspiration. You have done the 99% perspiration. You have more of the cards than he does. Work the 'nothing signed' to your advantage. What does money bring to the table and how will it convert your MVP into a viable business entity? Personally I believe you need customers before you get yourself beholden to some outside investors. Get the customers, go live with your MVP in a soft roll-out way, do what you have to do to get to ~100 customers/clients/users. If they like your product then they will do some 'organic' growth for you. If that happens then you will have traction. You will be able to get money for growing into a proper company from many other sources than your friend's network. So, head for success. When your friend who would not give you a formal 50/50 wants to know why he is not needed just tell him that his idea was just an idea and that 99% is perspiration. From how you tell the story he has brought nothing else to the table other than an idea, ideas on their own are worthless. Much like winning the lottery there is this dream of having the right idea, getting an MVP and then being bought by FB/Google/Yahoo to then not have to work ever again. However why not go for the customers, get revenue from them and grow the business fairly and squarely? If you are charging customers, selling ads or getting revenue sent by any way that needs code, make sure your bank details go in the back end. Simple as. Setup the hosting in your name, make sure you have the DNS situation under control too. Keep your partner along for the ride just in case he does bring something useful to the table but don't tell him that he isn't really needed until you are absolutely certain of that.