[mhartl]

Regarding step #5: while bootstrapping is great, it's not always the best choice. I agree with 37signals that more companies should consider bootstrapping, but lots of great companies have required investment up front—indeed, historically, virtually all of them did. To make that 5¢ lollipop, you first have to build a lollipop factory. Nowadays the "factory" might be "an index of the web", and the lollipops might be "ads served based on web searches", but the principle is the same.

[dmazin]

I don't think anyone disagrees that brick-and-mortar businesses require investment. However, brick-and-mortar businesses earn their investments by having actual revenue plans. I have the impression that most VC-funded web startups find revenue plans far less sexy than, ahem, eyeballs. And we all know where that leads.