I don't think that's a fair assessment. I know lots of people lost money, myself included, but that's not an excuse to vilify Rylan.

His actions were based on legal advice at each step. The advice changed when new legal counsel was acquired.

To make your argument stick, you need to show intent. Based on his actions, the intent does not appear to have been as you describe. If so, he didn't have to come forward at all.

The problem with this whole discussion is that a lot of people feel they are owed something. That's not true. Your money was an investment in technology development, pure and simple. Lots of companies go out of business or file bankruptcy because they couldn't make the idea work.

Yeah, his partner stole funds and Rylan made lots of attempts to remedy the situation in ways that don't make sense to those of us looking back. If he had pulled it off, we would be celebrating a new printer and might never have known what happened.

Arm chair quarterbacking doesn't make you an expert any more than it does me. We don't have the perspective he had at the time he had to make those choices.

I would prefer to see development continue, than stagnate in self-pity and righteous indignation.

@Rylan If you get your feet under you enough to keep the company going and want to finish certification, I don't mind chipping in more to help out. The amount lost was a pittance compared with the goals you set out to achieve and the potential it has.