It's hard to comment without actually knowing the guys idea, and seeing as you're a new account it's hard to say whether you really know what you're talking about either. I've had the displeasure of working with some very negative and arrogant people in the past who failed to see good in any idea that wasn't one of their own. Not saying you're one of those people, just saying.
Fair enough. I don't know much but you know when you've been through a startup yourself and banged your head against the wall for couple of years on every aspect of starting a business what kind of struggles he will face (that a Harvard business school class will not shed light on).
I am an optimist and want to see good in everything. My problem is he's doing a startup he has no real passion for and doing it because he thinks he can make some quick money after 1 or 2 years... The list of motivation to how he's going to find his starting team (as a non-technical founder) to his expectations on how seed round is actually raised as well as not understanding marketing funnel for his business really hurts his chances... let alone the value proposition being no better than a competitor that is well funded and already dominates in seo, sem.
For a start, you know it is very unlikely there will be enough traction after a few years to make a quick buck. Secondly, not being passionate about your startup is going to be fairly transparent, and that is a major warning sign for any investor. As many has suggested, talk these things through with your friend, a number of good suggestions in here. If that doesn't work, maybe he needs to learn the hard way?
