Seriously. The author feels as though they've lost $20k and months of their time, and the co-founder thinks the right response is to offer a beer and a chat.
Grandparent is asking for help, not offering repayment in the form of a beer. It's certainly not going to happen if the article's author also sees it as a compensatory transaction. Recognizing that the author has taken some time to consider what may be serious flaws in his program, GP is hoping that the author's desire to pave a better path for others may extend to helping him think about his own program critically.
The author also landed a job paying 6 figures after the program. To me it sounds like she got exactly what she paid for, the process just wasn't as perfectly amazing as she had hoped. She claims she could've done it without the program, but that's a pretty easy claim to make with no way of backing it.
No. Imagine offering a stick of gum to someone whose dog just died. If I suggest that's an inappropriate response, I am not implying they should've offered more gum.