An old friend sufferes from a very similar problem, and it's basically been following him around his whole life (sadly, I don't think he's gotten past it even i

An old friend sufferes from a very similar problem, and it's basically been following him around his whole life (sadly, I don't think he's gotten past it even in his mid-30s). He gets _very_ excited about something. A new technology, a new idea, a new trade, whatever. He goes head-first into it. He becomes an expert (he's one of the smartest people I've ever met). He may even launch a company around it. And then something doesn't work exactly as he thought it would. Maybe the trade isn't an profitable as he'd hoped. Maybe the customers didn't come banging down his door on day 1. Maybe the press didn't write about his new idea quite as glowingly as he'd hoped. And then he just starts to deflate. And can't get out of his own way. The idea, the energy, the emotion, the passion - it just drains out of him like air from a burst balloon. He really, truly (I hope), wants to be successful, but once the balloon tears, he never gets that initial passion back, and ultimately he gives up and moves on to the next thing. I've seen it happen 4 or 5 times over the past 10 years, and it's truly disappointing because he has such totally unrealized potential. The lesson to be learned is one that we all hear quite regularly as entrepreneurs -- it takes more than passion and drive and brains (and luck) to win, it takes more than anything a LOT of perseverance and ability to slog through those tears in the balloon.