I was just referring to the idea that they could just not take VC cash or the PE deal and that would have worked out better for them. The current structure and offering from the company are based on those things. It would look very different without those things.
For context, I've used PluralSight for 10+ years. Scott Allen (RIP) was my favorite. I'm still salty about PluralSight acquiring CodeSchool and effectively shutting it down (what was the point of that?).
As a user, them destroying chunks of the e-learning space and cashing out is something I view as a negative.