First off, are you willing to lose your friendship with him if it doesn't work out? That is a definite possibility, and you could possibly ruin the whole friendship.
Second, you mentioned his unreliability. Are you willing to deal with that, and any other flaws he might have that you don't think you could live with on a daily basis?
If you said no to either of those things, I suggest just keeping him as a friend, and maybe bring things up to him in casual conversation, about why he doesn't get back to you. Maybe he just has other things going on, and he is busy!
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