@gnomon It's always okay to ask. In my case putting that cryptic note out there is just a way of saying I'm going to be busier than usual for a little while (or maybe not, I always seem to have more ongoing projects than time to work on them), but others might just as well put things out there because they want to build buzz or because they actively want conversations with people who can be helpful pre-launch.
@neal oh, that's perfectly fair. Sorry, I'm not really familiar with the process of starting businesses and the etiquette of asking about it; I should have thought for a second about why you didn't mention the topic in the first place.