I just read your article. And in General I agree with the arguments given in your article. Indeed, people are used to the huge amounts of money collected in the ICO. But now the situation is completely different and not only in cryptocurrency, but in General in all markets. Half a million is really quite a significant amount, which is enough to start the project.
Especially with the traditional market going to shit. People are less likely to invest in risky assets like crypto
Software based products do not need tens of millions of dollars. They need to code and deliver a project. Everything else can be added as they grow.
Software no, but if you add the support, the legal aspect, the server cost, the licensing cost, the innovation cost etc. finally you end up to need few millions

Not to mention the liquidity! The more an exchange have its own liquidity, the more it makes money.