[forrestkyle]

He is dead weight. Drop him.

Achieving a difficult goal (like building a company) requires a fanatical, passionate determination that does not waver and which drives consistent "do it yourself" behavioral patterns. Independent initiative, determined focus, and unrelenting pursuit of your objectives are not optional.

Surrounding yourself with people who do not carry this same fire will hold you back.

I wrote a blog about this recently, and here is an excerpt:

"Setting an important, ambitious personal goal is the first shot fired in a war of attrition in which the entire world will seek to distract and demoralize you. It is a war for your time and attention, and success depends on the way you storm the beaches of every moment and seize them in the name of your endeavor."

Full entry: http://thinkforrestthink.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/we-slept-o...

[wussyib]

Thanks for the feedback. The one thing I was considering, was asking him to join the rest of the team by quitting his job. I'm not saying this will make him into some epic team-member, but what I do know for sure, is that his current lack of motivation is due largely in part that he hasn't "burned his ship" so-to-speak. IF i presented that, and IF he actually said "okay.. i'll do it". Does that change your analysis at all?

[forrestkyle]

I would worry that if you convince him to "burn his ship", and the company goes down in flames, he will hold a lot of resentment against you.

I really think that he needs to be in a place where burning his ships is his decision.

No matter how awesome your company is, things are going to get bad. There will be long nights, rejections, technical problems, and failure will loom large. You can make it through this with a good attitude if you really believe in what you are doing. If he is just tagging along with you, I'd worry that he wouldn't have the kind of emotional investment that would see him through the bad times.

But more importantly, I think you would want to bring people into your company that add to the momentum. You want people who inspire you and push you harder. Creative ideas, fresh perspectives, and emotional encouragement aren't going to come from a reluctant, non-committal person who is only there because he burned his ship.

My two cents. =)

[wussyib]

Thanks for your time and advice. I've came to the same conclusions as yourself already, but It's good to know that someone with more experience then me echo's the same thoughts. The main reason I brought him on was to be the motivator, ironically. Although I lead the product vision, as well as doing the actual front-end grunt work, I wanted to hand-off the motivation role so I could concentrate on other things. As it stands now, not am I only trying to keep myself going, I'm trying to keep him going as well.. and it's already starting to mentally drain me. Thanks again.