I think there's something to be said for biting the bullet and just doing a proper rewrite if the investment increases your market size. There's also something to be said for solving problems at the right layer.
How much time could have been saved if they'd picked a cross-platform language, e.g., Java or PHP, and done the rewrite once the market had been validated with what was essentially a prototype? Instead they tried to shoehorn it into what they'd already written by writing half-baked solutions at the wrong layer.
Don't get me wrong, it's impressive technical wizardry to get as much of it working as they did, but the work was always going to have a short shelf life. They've done well for themselves either way, but I wonder what might've happened if they'd rewritten it upfront.
How much time could have been saved if they'd picked a cross-platform language, e.g., Java or PHP, and done the rewrite once the market had been validated with what was essentially a prototype? Instead they tried to shoehorn it into what they'd already written by writing half-baked solutions at the wrong layer.
Don't get me wrong, it's impressive technical wizardry to get as much of it working as they did, but the work was always going to have a short shelf life. They've done well for themselves either way, but I wonder what might've happened if they'd rewritten it upfront.