Honestly, maybe the OP was working too hard? I mean... did he get lots of equity? A million dollar pay-day? If not, I don't think it would be worth it to do 5 years of long-distance with one's significant other.
If you've got a charismatic leader rallying the troops every so often, it'll keep a certain type of person on board well past the time when they should bail for self-preservation reasons. Those that are loyal to a fault, take perhaps too much pride in their work contributions, etc - they're the ones who get taken for a ride. They need to toughen up, and that generally only comes with age/experience.