Give it six months and his startup will either fail, or have enough work that this isn't feasible anymore. He's very young and thinks he's going to do what a million other companies haven't been able to do yet. Good luck bud.
You aren't half a pessimist, are you? I'll call you "practical" or "realist" if you'd prefer your ego stroked. It's been almost 2 years and we've only sustained growth so far. Good luck to you, too. Try coming across as less pretentious though.