This was an easy pivot away from being a runaway success. The founder couldn't figure out who the right customer was and ran out of cash. This is why so many companies are venture backed. It's not that people just want to give away pieces of their company because it's cool, but that extra cash prevents you from giving up while you go through the sometimes long process of finding product market fit.

Like honestly, this product could still reach that type of success. No idea if this guy still has the code base around, or is chilling in thread, but hit me up if so lol, I'll happily buy it off you. Or at least point you towards how to make this make money