It isn't that you didn't think it completely through, just that there are a lot of variables that go into any hiring or tech decision. Take this for instance (but it generalizes to many others): does the DB reduce your need for developers? does it open new market segments? does it reduce your need for developers? does it open new areas to target?

Startups are hard (Ive failed a couple times and had it work a couple times - definitely not always through my own effort).

My current view on this is that RethikDB didn't rethink enough They solved a probabem without much money involved and too small. They might be great devs, but just diidn't solve a prolblem that needed to be solved.