pinneycolton

Can you elaborate on what is not performing well?

I don't think Diaspora's goal is to topple Facebook. I think their goal is to offer an alternative, and I think they'll succeed at that.

Perhaps the media-invented goal is to topple Facebook, and I do think the Diaspora team is very likely fail at meeting objectives that they themselves have not set! I have never heard the founders say that they want to topple Facebook ... but maybe I wasn't listening closely enough?

Alcohol can be a tough addiction to combat. The addict can't be helped unless they want to be helped. I'd reject jacquesm's idea that his drinking is somehow dependent upon your behavior. There's something else going on in his life that he is having a tough time dealing with.

I'd recommend getting him some medical help. I'm unfortunately not familiar with the options that exist in India.

I also think a change of scenery can be helpful, but it's not the cure. It may help him get to a place where he's ready to admit that he needs help, however. Sometimes people need to hit their rock bottom, but other times exposure to healthy patterns can help them along just as well.

I wish you all the luck in the world. My father struggles with alcoholism and I know the effect it can have on the entire family.

You should also remember that a lot of the time, you're reading about efforts that take teams of extremely bright individuals to make successful. Sure, there's the occasional lone gunman out there, but two brains are almost always better than one.

In fact, in my own experience, I have found it is very difficult for one person (me) to be amazing at all the different things needed to make an idea successful. I'm pretty amazing, but not superman! ;)

This explains some aspects of corporate politics quite nicely.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Network - and don't get too caught up spending a lot of time doing something you're not happy with. I've seen lots of successful people get bogged down attempting to be successful with the current task at hand that they lose sight of the big picture.

Living in Silicon Valley is good advice - it's the right place to be to do some networking. You seem to be good at identifying opportunity - just make sure you talk to lots of other smart people and understand what they're doing, what they find difficult, etc. You'll know it when you hear something that you want to get involved in.