Patio's street cred doesn't come from the results of BCC, which was designed to be a small low-effort business. It comes from A.) His tremendous skill as a writer-teacher and B.) His track record of consulting success.

BCC seems to have been a learning playground that gave him a real business on which to sharpen the skills he's now known for, and which produced a bit of profit on top to boot. But a small competitive market is still a small competitive market. There's only so far optimization can take you in that scenario--if you have the skills, you're better off seeking a bigger pie to apply them to.