WOW! I hope the people at Audio Metallurgy and Steve don't mind being called "small fries"
I hear both of them have some deep pockets.
This is purely a objective, academic discussion, no need for consideration of egos or tip-toeing around semantics, I think. The term was used merely to provide a relative reference or point of contrast from which the author could begin to make his point.
I too have wondered about the economics behind such a small operation that produces such a great product. Contrasting the excellent GGs or AMs against bigger companies' (possibly inferior) product is intuitively interesting and one obviously inquires, "How can this be?"
I did research all the bigger cable companies' product before I bought the GGs. They all seemed to have several obvious weaknesses or trade-offs and the GGs did not, which is why I took the leap of faith with GGs. I was not disappointed, even though my standards and expectations were set very high.