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What are your thoughts? Are you interested in participating.
It's a typical "sunk cost" decision. From the tone of your note I would guess you would answer you should leave.
Guess what, never happened. My partners were idiots, they didn't want to do anything I suggest. I told them about TechStars Boulder at the start some 2.5 years ago now (I live in Denver), they didn't like the sound of it, didn't like having to give away equity for 'nothing in return'. Now, 2+ years later, the one remaining Biz partner wanted to do TechStars, is leaving his day job to put everything into this. I told him I simply couldn't take the time off to do it now, that time had past, I have a new fulltime job I love and there is no way I'd jeopardize it for our startup now (turns out he applied and we were turned down anyway, probably for the best).
Unfortunately sometimes you just have the wrong partner(s), it's as simply as that. Why not get a full-time job and go into maintenance mode ont the startup? That's basically what I finally did. I told my remaining partner I can't live like this anymore, barely scraping by and that I was going to get a fulltime job and commit to them 100%. I will still fix bugs but as far as new features go, I simply tell him I won't add anything until he signs up 10 new accounts and pays me for my time now. Hasn't happened yet and he's been trying for about 6 months now focused on the business trying to sell accounts.
Be honest with them and tell them you can't live like this any more, you've kept your end of the deal, they are welcome to soldier on but you have your own responsibilities to take care of. You'll gladly help maintain what has been built, fix bugs and do what you can outside your normal 9-5 job, but otherwise you are going to have to focus on what's best for you and your family. If they are good people they will understand, if they are not, then you've done all you can and should feel fine with moving on and doing what you need to do.
Tell them you need an actual salary and actual health insurance in the next 30 days. If the venture can pay you to keep at it, that's great. Otherwise you'll have to start looking around for a real job in a couple of weeks. Even the most brick-and-mortar type of businessperson will completely understand this.
Stick to your schedule. It will either work out or it won't.
If it doesn't, no hard feelings.
> I think my co-founders are idiots, that they fouled up their side of the deal, but I feel as though I've invested too much time and energy to bail now. You've got to let go of this attitude. If you cling to it, then you will never leave, even if your co-founders are idiots and the business is a failure. What you need to do is quit as soon as possible. Only then can you start on a better endeavor and improve your qu…
Look up Sunk Cost Fallacy.
Also this related episode of Freakonomics is great: http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/09/30/new-freakonomics-radi...
Stop wringing your hands over this and leave this venture. Don't worry about hurt feelings. Move on with your life. Get a job that brings in some income. Do it for the sake of your sanity and your relationships with loved ones.
And by non-science, also include cultural science or political science.
It sounds like you have had an expensive lesson in picking partners, try to exit as cheaply as possible where the costs factored in include family relationships as well as your time. Others may also see the end but not want to be the one to call it but it is worth having a story for what you will do instead.
As others say forget about the sunk costs just optimise for the current situation and the future.
this is all in your head and they're using it to keep leverage over you.