Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it does sound this particular author was just interested in a cash grab, the author and you are both recognizing the stark reality facing many aspiring founders: the choice often boils down to taking a high-stakes gamble with venture capital or settling for the security of a 9-5 job. The current financing landscape offers limited options for those aiming to establish lifestyle businesses in unpredictable market…
The third way is to add sweat equity and build a business slowly around your normal 9-5. There is just as much downside to this route, it’s also risky, you take time away from hobbies and relationships, and even if you’re successful there’s a period where you will basically just have two full time jobs. That said, I did it this way, and I know a lot of others that have, and I was able to see it through. Timeline: 201…
One of the biggest obstacles you face when bootstrapping is that you need employees to grow your revenue, but you need revenue in order to pay your employees. It's a chicken-and-the-egg problem, which sweat equity can help to solve, at least to a limited degree: grant some sweat equity that vests over 5 to 10 years as a form of deferred compensation, then hope that your new employee / business partner boosts the value of your remaining equity in that time-frame by some multiple that is much larger than than the value of the equity you are giving up today. Then everybody wins.
I have found this approach very successful in my own business. It also increases the likelihood that when you want to retire some day that your own employees might be able and interested in buying you out, which means that you won't have to shop your medium sized businesses to private equity groups or search funds in 20 or 30 years when you want to get out of the game.
Part of building a middle class is not pulling up the ladder after you, which means you need to aim to enrich others -- specifically others who are not already wealthy -- alongside yourself.