Yes, but there was no "exit" either with Basecamp. BC is still operational. I highlighted that case because they understand the needs of their users, their community, and don't force their desires upon those users. A vast majority of companies would have forced everyone to upgrade. BC is also privately funded (bootstrapped) and never accepted any VC.

I see I totally failed in my reply.. Community does not need to be engaged. It can be paying clients each in their own silo, who never engage among themselves. You used the correct term: userbase. That's the community. Communities like we on Hive are merely a subset in the nomer "community".

For companies the "exit to community" would be whether to open source the IP (at least the one used to operate the site/app) or to crowdfund the continuation of the platform and recruitment of a new team, an alt-acquisition so to say.