I would gladly take $10k and move on to my next project over building, marketing, sales, etc., with no promise of a return. He obviously enjoys the inception/building phase and that time he got to build and then cash out with very little investment. If I was very confident that my idea would take off, I'd reject early offers and go for it. However, for many of us, everything after the building phase is like pulling teeth. For others, its great. But I definitely relate to that decision.