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Which includes this paragraph:
"If you are uncomfortable with this research and wish to opt out, please email me with your username, and I'll keep your bookmarks out of the pool. If you have questions, ask me on Twitter or email me privately, and I'll be happy to answer them."
I fly out of Boston, which has the machines, so opting out has become part of travel process for me. TSA agents were more aggressive with my last trip out (Sunday, October 31), not only with loudly announcing several times that they had an opt-out, but also in the pat down, which included pulling the clothes from my body and looking between the cloth and underthings. ("I have to clear your waistband," is how the TSA agent explained it.)
So, it's humiliating. But I'm not going to stop opting out. The difference between the pat down and the machine for me is this -- the pat down happens in the moment, between two people. There's no record. It exists only in the time it takes. It can't be stored, it can't be transmitted, it can't be tied to a flight record or anything else at some future date. It forces TSA to confront what they're doing, and it's one small way I can say at the airport, I am human, I'm not an abstraction. I have rights, respect them.
Your post struck a chord. About a month ago, after almost two years of running a small start-up, I made the decision to sell or close. The product had reached a plateau, and I realized that I didn't have the resources -- and more importantly, I no longer had the interest -- in pushing the product further along. It still has a ton of potential -- just for another organization.
The first thing I did after making my decision was inventory every salable asset -- the product, domain names (absolutely, sell those!), databases, intellectual property. The second was to write up a five-page prospectus that covered the basics -- what was for sale, the product's history, the product's numbers (how it was doing with users, etc.), revenue, and potential revenue. Armed with that, I approached companies I believed might be interested in acquiring (and let others in my industry know that I was planning to sell, if possible, or close, if not). If a company indicated it was interested, I sent the prospectus and answered follow-up questions. I am now in discussions with one serious potential buyer.
Re: Question #1, you have to forget how much time you've put into the product. Unfortunately, no sale price is going to recoup your hours. Depending on your product, its potential, and your industry, a sale price will likely be based on the value of your assets and/or multiples of income.