It is a world of buy and selling securities. There is always someone else on the other end. GS was one of the first to realize that the subprime mortgage market was about to blow up. To cover their asses they began selling everything they owned and at the same time bought CDS's.
So if a German bank that GS does business with still thinks its a good idea to buy some CDO packaged with "AAA" bonds without doing their diligence then GS should have every right to sell them some CDO's, and also short those same securities. They realized there was a problem before everyone else, and they exploited those people to profit from them.
Isn't that how the business world works? Especially with start-ups? You look for inefficiencies and try to capitlaize on them. You use the information that others dont have to create value.
Building a product is obviously extremely important, but without the bzdev skills and ability to launch and scale a business you need a well rounded team. Not just an all start programmer.
Obviously start-ups pivot all the time, but Oink entered a crowded space of ratings and reviews. While they got the 150,000 sign-ups it was mostly due to the fact that it was Kevin Rose. I think they realized it would be hard to be real profitable quickly and that people may not want to review items inside places. I think all you need is a review of the business.
Plus, its not like Rose cant just move on anyways. He's got plenty of $$ and connections to fund his next venture.