Starting a business with friends sounds like a good idea. But is it really?

You feel like you can trust each other, communication feels natural, and everyone is excited about building something together, but then one common mistake happens: thinking you can trust each other. Yup.

Unfortunately, many partnerships run into trouble once bigger amounts of money enter the picture.

In this case, one entrepreneur had to deal with this situation after spending roughly a year building an app, website, and backend on his own before bringing two friends into the project.

Things appeared to be going well until one of their videos gained significant traction online.

As launch day approached and formal contracts were finally drafted, the negotiations became harder than they expected.

Read the full story below.

AITA for kicking my friends out of my startup after they demanded lifetime equity for one year of work?

I have been building an app, website, and backend entirely by myself for about a year. A few months ago, two friends joined the project.

The deal was: they’d handle social media (building a personal brand to promote the app) and help with the UI/concept, as well as the app’s official social media channels.

We agreed on a 33% split each.

I thought it was fair because, even though I did all the heavy lifting for a year, I wanted my friends to be motivated.

He saw their friendship being put at risk in real time.

The First Issue:

Once one of their videos went viral, the vibe changed instantly.

They told me, “The app is your baby, but social media is ours.” They basically tried to disregard our 33% agreement. They offered me 66% of my own app (taking 16.5% each for themselves) but wanted 0% for me on the social media side.

I could see their argument, that the social media was a personal brand and they didn’t want me to have lifetime stakes in it, but it was explicitly created to promote the app and support the vision.

I still agreed to this, since I could somewhat see their argument, however the better option would’ve probably been to have those stakes as long as we worked together.

But then things escalated.

The Breaking Point: We wanted to launch on June 1st, so we finally sat down for the legal contracts. That’s when it got ridiculous:

They demanded lifetime stakes in the company. However, the contract only required them to work for one year. After that, they could technically stop doing anything and still own a massive chunk of the app forever.

I, on the other hand, was committed for the lifetime of the company (in the contract, regarding tax, etc.).

When I suggested a “buy-out” clause (if they didn’t do anything after a year, I can buy their shares at market value), they refused unless I guaranteed a minimum of $15,000 each, regardless of what the company was actually worth at that point.

The vibes were off…

This was the tilting point for me.

They refused any form of “vesting” or accountability, saying we should just “trust each other” instead of fixing loopholes in the contract.

I argued that it was unfair for them to own part of my app forever if I wasn’t allowed to own part of the social media they built specifically to promote that app.

I told them: “You don’t want me in your social media if I’m doing nothing, so why should you be in my app if you stop working?”

He still wonders if he did something wrong.

They wouldn’t budge or make a counter-offer, even though I tried explaining the issue and offered at least two “fair” solutions (biased, but I’ve tried to be objective).

I spent days thinking about it and had some really sleepless nights, but I could only find one possible explanation: Greed. They wanted as much percentage as possible while doing the minimum amount of work.

I sadly couldn’t agree to these conditions, and although I really wanted to work with them, I ended up going solo.

We agreed on a one-time fee (22% of the first year’s revenue, capped at $6.5k) for them to walk away.

AITA?

He learned who his “friends” really are.

What did Reddit think?

You need to be secure legally.

Yikes.

Something to consider.

Another reader chimes in.

Smart move.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who is let go from a charity due to budget cuts, then gets blowback from the board over her severance.

Yup.

Wow, some people are so shameless. Imagine wanting lifetime equity for one year of work.

But this is indeed a question that many startups face: how should ownership be divided when people contribute in very different ways and over very different time periods?

The founder viewed equity as something that should remain tied to ongoing participation and responsibility. Since he had already invested a year of development work and expected to continue supporting the business indefinitely, he didn’t like the idea of granting large permanent ownership stakes to partners whose contractual obligations would end after a single year.

The dispute became even more complicated because the friends had already argued that the social media brand belonged exclusively to them despite its role in promoting the app. From the founder’s perspective, the arrangement seemed increasingly one-sided.

After multiple discussions, proposed compromises, and sleepless nights, he understandably decided to go solo.