[BrechtVds]

Communicating about it would defeat the entire purpose of the idea.

The way he did it allowed him to validate the idea in the exact same situation he would end up after building it, so it's a great way to take the (huge!) risk out of building a product.

Personally I wouldn't mind as a customer as you did know all the facts before you were actually spending the money.

[chris_wot]

Ethically, you must be honest and upfront with your customers. If your experiment involves misleading the, in any way, then ditch the experiment.

I sure as hell wouldn't want to be the unknowing recipient of his "experiment".

[BrechtVds]

It's hard to experiment if everyone knows what's going on.

If you didn't like the experiment you had the possibility to opt-out and never become a customer of him again, without having to pay a single dime.

[chris_wot]

I don't care. It's not my role as a customer to make it easy for you to experiment. You either tell me the truth, front up, or you don't try to make the sale.