I’m a software engineer. How do I politely decline projects from my friends or family? What is the nicest way to say “No, I’m not interested” while not being an asshole?

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The best way I’ve found is to gently let them know that software development is a collaborative process that no one person can really do all of. Then to point them to generally-available tools that are tailored towards semi-technical individuals, like SquareSpace, AirTable, and Zapier.

Another approach is to say you’ll only co-found with a technical cofounder and then to point them to CodeCademy and such to teach them the basics. 99% won’t even get past the first 10 minutes. The other one percent will get through it and eventually find software jobs of their own.