Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There cannot be a Bell Labs or Fairchild Semi in silicon valley today, because they could not promise 10,000,000% user growth and a massive acquisition in N years. Sure there can, they just can't have VC as a part of their business plan. Thankfully, more and more startups are realizing that VC is not their only option, nor usually their best one.
Good point - they will still need someone to front a lot of money, though. Talent and film-deposition facilities ain't cheap. I guess they could go with a Bajillionaire Patron, or get funding through usury. Sorry, those aren't even close to fair comparisons, but 'bootstrapping' does seem pretty out of reach these days, for people who don't already have 8-10 figures laying around.
Like Google, with ads.