The examples discussed in the article are in the 1-2 figures $millions range. The Tumblr deal is two orders of magnitude of that.
The article is perfectly justified in asking that question of those acquisitions - I have no idea how much cash the Flickr founders walked off with in the end (after VC and early employees got their shares), but there's a reasonable scenario in which they would have made it much bigger on their own.
Exactly. You have to look at your current income, expected future income, and what you would do after a sale. Could you catch lightning in a bottle again? How long would that take? Would you be OK going back to being just an employee somewhere? It may sound kind of odd, but a low million(s) isn't nescesarily a lot of money if you intent on retiring in a certain lifestyle.
The article is perfectly justified in asking that question of those acquisitions - I have no idea how much cash the Flickr founders walked off with in the end (after VC and early employees got their shares), but there's a reasonable scenario in which they would have made it much bigger on their own.