Steve Coulson, the guy behind Podguide.TV, one of the leading directories for video podcasts, sent out an email today announcing he is stopping work on it. From his blog post:

This was a hard decision to make, and I want to thank everyone who supported me over the months. I started writing reviews soon after the video iPod became available last year, and have devoted 15-20 hrs a week of my life to it since then. But it became increasingly clear that the effort involved was not going to bring the rewards, either personally or financially, to make it preferable to spending that extra 2 hrs a day with my family. Despite my best efforts, traffic has stayed flat, potential investors have pulled me in multiple directions but leaving me with only thousands of dollars in legal fees, and it just became too much to carry on with alone.

I can feel his pain. Having spent the last 16 months of my life (and hundreds of thousands of dollars of my own money) building TPN, wondering if it will end up as a real business or a footnote in Wikipedia, the life of a start-up entrepreneur is dicey. Being ahead of the curve is very exciting, very liberating as you find your literally inventing an industry with a handful of other people from around the globe… but it’s also extremely risky and takes an enormous toll on your life, your bank account and your family. I’d like to congratulate Steve on all he has achieved and wish him the best in the future. I’m sure his experience putting Podguide.TV together will stand him in good stead in the employment markets. I wish I was in a situation to help him out. If any of you work for a company who should be getting their head around video podcasts, Steve would be a great resource to pick up in a hurry.