I'm so stressed! Don't know what to do!

I have been trying to develop a web-based business. I have paid someone a LOT of money to develop a site for me. I recently returned to school to take business and entrepreneurship courses and the atmosphere there is very positive. Many of the students launch very successful businesses.  However, I'm a good deal older than most of those students. I don't have access to the same resources as they do, either, not being a regular student and not living among other motivated and ambitious business-minded students.

Nevertheless, after discussing my idea with a couple of professors and researching the feasibility, to the best of my ability, I went ahead anyway.

I had a cofounder, with a Finance degree but had to part ways because he had some serious personal issues. I'd known him during high school and college but hadn't seen him in a while.  

Now, he left me in a lurch because I can't go any further without a cofounder.  In case you're not familiar with business, they don't grow on trees. I don't need money just human capital.  The major problem is that I cannot finance any more of this project on my own but need to pay for legal fees and marketing before i can launch. You can't obtain investment capital without at least a cofounder. So, I have all this money tied up, a website, and no cofounder and no way to move forward. I'm extremely stressed and I don't know what to do! You can't sit on things like this very long either. This market is very competitive and moves very quickly.  

I've tried a LOT of different avenues to find someone but because I was a non-traditional student and I don't have a lot of business background, nobody is willing to take a chance. I wish the professors had mentioned such practical things before I attempted to take this on.  

Have you spoken to your professors? Maybe they would have some ideas.

Yes, several times. It's a problem they can't solve and because I wasn't a full time student, I guess they don't feel a strong obligation. What they should have stressed was that, there is no way to accomplish this alone. I was under the impression that a cofounder was more like a lixury but evidently, that isn't the case. Too bad the school won't bear any financial responsibility for that omission.

Talk to your friends and family.  Offer them a stake in your business.  Split the profits with them. Since you are looking for a co-founder and investment, try to keep control.  The most I would offer up would be 49% of the business equity.  But I would start less, maybe 20% at first, and then negotiate from there.