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"That sounds pretty cool. I'm not really looking for new projects right now because I want to spend my time on the ones I've got going already, but if you want, I can send you a list of programming resources* you might find useful." If they respond with "But don't you like my idea?" or "You mean you don't want to help me?" respond with something like "I haven't done enough research to know if the idea is good or not, and it's really hard to predict how the market is going to go, especially in technology. I think it'd be awesome if you built this thing... I just can't offer much more than moral support, high-fives, and maybe a little bit of advice. If you really want someone to build this, try hiring a freelancer on ODesk... I just can't make the time right now." Don't worry about whether the idea sucks; very few ideas survive through the full development of the product, and very few of these people will follow-through. If they keep pushing, end the conversation with "Look, you're my friend, but I'd much rather we stay friends than become business partners." or "Look: I'm choosing to spend my time on my projects. This doesn't mean I don't like you, or that I dislike the idea; it just means that I'm not the guy to build it for you. I'll gladly point you to resources, or show you where to go to hire a programmer, but this is your project, and you should be the one to build it." *Obviously, you'd have to compile a list like this, but that should be relatively easy to do. |