I am acquainted with the gentleman in question, having met him a few times on MSc modules years ago, although have no inside knowledge of Jet Republic other than what I read in the press.
Although I thought his venture to be misguided, you have to acknowledge that a lot of people put in a lot of work to get the company started and sustain it for its brief life. I don't believe they do it with the intention to fail.
If you look at the track record of many entrepreneurs, for every success there are many many failures. It not about falling over, it's about knowing how to get back up again.
There appears to be a lot of Schadenfreude on this thread and while some of the employees involved may have suffered through this, the character attacks seem a bit over the top for someone who would have been applauded as providing jobs and generating opportunities if his venture had succeeded. Just a little balance.
hugel