Playbook · Disputes and partings
How do I split a business I share with a friend?
For two friends or partners who own something together and no longer want to, and want to part without losing the money or the friendship.
In short
A board of named AI experts — The Lawyer, The Empath and The CFO — takes your situation, asks three things first, and hands back a plan: a fair way to value and divide it, the order of steps, and how to open the conversation with your friend. You see one price before anything runs.
Before the board starts
What the board asks first.
What decides this: what you own and owe together, what your agreement says, if anything, and whether one of you wants to keep it going.
Do you have a written agreement between you?
It may already say how a split works.
What should happen to the business?
What do you share? Money, debts, customers, equipment.
In your own words.
What you get back: A plan: a fair way to value and divide it, the order of steps, and how to open the conversation with your friend.
A real run
One person’s version,
and what the board said.
A friend and I have run a small event-photography business together for 5 years, 50/50 with no written agreement. She wants to move away and stop. We share a $12,000 equipment set, about $6,000 of debt on a business credit card, a website and a client list of around 40 repeat clients. I want to keep going on my own and stay friends.
An example person, written for this page. Everything below is what the board delivered, word for word.
Start with a $3,000 buyout baseline and follow a structured, lawyer-reviewed exit plan to protect friendship and ensure fair value.
What would change it: A neutral valuation shows that the website, brand, contracted bookings, and 40 repeat-client relationships have material net value beyond the equipment, requiring the buyout to rise above the $3,000 baseline.
The LawyerA clear, written exit agreement with legal review is essential to protect assets, liabilities, and preserve the friendship.
The CFOThe CFO advises a clear, fair buyout plan that balances financial fairness with preserving the friendship and business continuity.
The EmpathPrioritize preserving the friendship through empathetic communication while formalizing a clear, fair business exit.
Draft the exit agreement for lawyer review
Questions
Fair questions
about this playbook.
What does running this cost?
Reading this page is free. Running it is a board: on Free it seats 3 experts and its card shows up to 135 credits before anything runs. A board never bills above its card. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
Is the example real?
Yes. The board above ran on a SynthBoard test account with the situation shown. The call, where each expert stood, what would change it and the first step are what it delivered, in its own words. The situation was written as an example; it is not a real person.
What happens when I run it with my situation?
You answer the same three questions with your own facts, then your Chief of Staff shows the board — The Lawyer, The Empath and The CFO on Free, more seats on a paid plan — and its one price. The board researches, argues it out and hands back the piece, with the first step and what would change the call.
Can the experts be wrong?
Yes. They are AI and can be wrong. That is why every board seats someone whose job is to argue against the obvious answer, and why the piece says what would change the call.
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The playbookSynthBoard (synthboard.ai) is one place for your business, your life, and every hard call. Your Chief of Staff keeps what you tell her on file, and 24 named experts on different AI models take the calls — one expert for a consult, a board with opposed seats for the hard ones — and hand back a memo with the call, the dissent and the first move. How it works.