Maybe you're right. Maybe I let myself get carried away.
However, in the first part of my comment, I ask questions I wish the article would have answered somehow.
In the second part (after the quote), I'm maybe a little fierce, but it's more a general statement on a common mistake (giving up too easy) that many fresh startups make, including some in which I was involved.
It was not my intention to make assumptions. So, in order to improve my writing, it would be nice if you tell me about the assumptions the you read in the comment.
That all said, I feel sympathy for the founders and wish them all the best. Too bad they shut the servie down, as I read about it here for the first time and would have been a potential user.
(By the way, you're replying to one - pclark is one of the founders of Readness/Broadersheet).
News is just a tremendously hard market. My suspicion, and I have scar tissue to back this up, is that it's a trap. It's one of those things everyone thinks should be sexy, but the numbers don't work.
Consumers don't feel many pain points that are harsh enough to change habits and loyalty from current market leaders.
Hard to monetize in scalable manner.
News (and even content) is percieved as small by investors.
Numerous - dozens - of failed startups, that have tried hundreds of propositions in the past decade - isn't clear what has changed to make those propositions work today.
Using someone elses content is of questionable legal grounds (EG: when you are winning, they'll knock)
Current social products like Facebook or Twitter or even Reddit do "good enough" job for vast majority.
