Sounds like somebody’s got a case of cold feet!

It takes a man with a certain type of metal to go head first into something that has an obvious amount of enormous risk. You have to be kind of crazy, my kind of people!
Though, yeah because you don’t have the same enthusiasm he does doesn’t mean you need to jump ship just yet. Every budding business needs one person to have the enthusiasm that he has. But it also needs is someone who’s more reserved and not as risky to keep them in check. Your role is super valuable not just because your skill set but because of your cautious attitude. It’s obvious he’s the driver, you merely just need to be the support with a reserved and cautious mind. If you want to quit his full-time job, and good for him. Just ask him if he has enough reserves to push through quite a few number of months till things get off the ground. Ask him, how long will it be for things to get off the ground, and add a few more months to that to make sure he’s okay financially. You, on the other hand, keep your full-time job till it gets close to that time frame. Someone’s got to be the rock in the relationship… 😎👍

This doesn’t have to end your friendship. It’s time to have an honest talk with your friend. Tell him exactly what you wrote here.
Emphasize how much you value his friendship and that there are options - that you can work through together. You could continue to provide that valuable skill set but on a limited basis and with the understanding that you would no longer be a part owner, that he might find a replacement. You could help to actually find that replacement. You could discuss ways to develop alternatives.

It’s much better you realize this issue now and deal with it together than if you ignore it and let things detonate at a later, critical stage.

Tell him what you just told a bunch of strangers. Your relationship means more than the business and you’d like to find a way to get out and be the best of friends after.

The real question here is the financial side. If you want to get paid to leave early or bought out for an unreasonable number, yeah, that’s gonna sting. I think you should make bigger concessions than you think are fair, or even leave it up to your friend to decide if or how much this will cost him / her. If it were me, and the friendship was that important, I would think walking away with little to nothing would be the right thing. Anything above $0 is a win for you if the friendship remains intact.

Fwiw, while some may encourage you to continue, that’s actually how friendships end. It’s a good thing you recognize this now and you ought to have the courage and fortitude to address the problem now with your friend. Failure to do so will generate feelings of resentment because he knows he’s doing more and that’s cancerous.

Fix it now. Fix it generously. Retain the friendship. You can do this.

I did after 6 months - I kept going. 16 years later we are still great friends. He didn’t want to take the risk and I didnt blame him then nor do I now. He was in a diffrent Finacial and family situation then me and had a lot more to lose if we failed.

If you leave amicably and remain friends but the business takes off and is wildly successful, would you hold any resentment or guilt? That’s the only thing I can think might come back to bite you later but if you’re okay with that and wish the best for your friend and tell him what you wrote here I think he’d appreciate it and you’re being very fair