An average of 4.5 hours of labour spent on each pair of skis could not be justified. Meanwhile, the primary investor's stock portfolio was taking a beating due to the Dot Com bust and he no longer desired to keep pumping money into the haemorrhaging company.
Investing an average of 4.5 hours on each pair of skis wasn't justifiable. Meanwhile, the primary investor's stock investments were suffering because of the Dot Com crash, and he decided not to continue funding the failing company.