I'm sorry man. I was forced out of my first startup last year. It was very traumatic. It's so obvious what you should have done in hindsight but that doesn't help. I wish you the best if luck in the future.
An advisor did not force any of your "friends" to do what they did. They made a conscious decision to act.
People screw each other all the time. It's part of life. The main thing is that you learn from this.
A YEAR! MF! That's meant to be long! FTS! A friend is someone you have validate of ten or twenty years of shared adventure. Treat everyone else as a possible friend (and likely tosser).
- Have a vesting schedule for your equity. This way if things go south, you'll have a certain portion of your equity vested. - Negotiate a higher equity stake in the first place if you're playing such a founding role. In my opinion, if the product didn't exist before you joined the team, then you're a founder. Remember that we're looking at this with the benefit of hindsight. - Made the agreement up front that you had control over the technical decisions since you have the expertise to make those decisions.