cperciva certainly seems smart and capable enough to grow his business in that direction if he so chooses, without handing it over to a 'suit', even if that suit is well thought of for his bombing of HN.

If it helps, remember that patio11 leveraged "Bingo Card Creator" into a position from which he dispensed "expert" advice, and then from there, into paid business consulting gigs. It's his job to plaster the internet with advice, and HN was (and perhaps still is) one of his main advertising outlets.

Truly successful people are generally busy being successful; people who are telling you they're successful and that they can sell you advice to help you be successful too ought to send your alarm bells ringing.