Breakups are painful, whether in personal relationships or business partnerships. Similar to the rising rates of marital divorce, whenever the markets get ugly, we see a surge of co-founder disagreements leading to what is often referred to as "business divorce." These separations can be just as emotionally taxing and legally complex as a marital split and just as often result in financial and operational issues for the founders, investors, and the startup itself.

Take, for example, Joe and his co-founder, who once shared a common vision and were eager to build a unique platform for their clients. However, as time passed, Joe shouldered more of the workload and generated most of the ideas. Resentment began to surface, and unfortunately, the partnership didn't last. Joe eventually decided it was time to move on and focus on his own company.