Non-technical founder isn't the real problem here, it's a non-skilled founder. I wouldn't have a huge problem working with a business/marketing oriented founder

Non-technical founder isn't the real problem here, it's a non-skilled founder. I wouldn't have a huge problem working with a business/marketing oriented founder, as I know I lack those skills. However, this is a founder working on a moral philosophy PhD, who apparently could only interview people and come up with pie in the sky ideas. I can't blame the developers for not taking this seriously. Plus, this isn't even a great idea, it sounds like a pitch for a silicon valley joke. Who wants an app to randomly nag them throughout the day to enter information to determine if you are happy or not. And his ideas for making you happy are telling- offer to watch a TED talk? There's nothing wrong with being non-technical, but you have to be able to bring some sort of value. Same thing as the common advice for indie game devs: your game idea is worthless, we all have at least 5 ideas kicking around. Show me a basic implementation, or some nearly-finished art assets, or at the very least a compelling business plan with data to back it up. Edit: this was maybe a bit harsh, I think his developer should share some blame here too. 2 years of part-time work and they were having trouble sending random push notifications? Aside from the random timing, sending a push notification is essentially android's hello world project. If you aren't interested in working on the project, then say so, don't pretend you will and then not do anything.