i would argue OP was right in his estimate that it was just not a good market gap for them to fill, i.e. the problem was the product they chose to build not tha

i would argue OP was right in his estimate that it was just not a good market gap for them to fill, i.e. the problem was the product they chose to build not that they didn't market/sell it well enough. It's much better to figure out a product people would actually really want to buy that have the uphill battle of trying to sell something people ultimately aren't that itching to buy.