Definitely worked well for some people:

"By April 1988, when Gould's use patent was approved, optically pumped amplifier patents covered 80% of the lasers made in the United States. The market for lasers had ballooned to more than $500 million per year. Suddenly, Gould was a multimillionaire."

http://electronicdesign.com/article/components/gordon-gould-...