> Yes, I did point it out to them. Their response was a polite version of "that's our problem".

But it's not actually just their problem, because you don't get paid if they don't succeed... I'm sure you've already realized this. :)

> I think if the business doesn't take off, we get our technology back and we keep whatever they've paid us to-date. It doesn't seem like a terribly bad worst-case-scenario.

Good point. Still the opportunity cost of your time to consider (all that time you spent watching them fail, you could be spending building your own business) and your technology's shelf-life.

Also, it might be difficult to build a business around tech that failed somewhere else (even if your acquirer's failure had nothing to do with you or your tech). I don't know the specifics of your situation, but I would imagine good early hires might be wary, potential investors would be skittish, etc.