[przeor]

Boostrap with service company, and build product on a side.

This works since 2000s - check success stories of some known companies and you will find this path in many stories.

I would say, thanks to VC money it is easier to get sevice jobs aside.

[rozenmd]

Having both worked at a web agency building its own SaaS, and been employed full-time while building a SaaS on the side - I agree.

VC has flooded the market with money, so it's easier to keep a stable income while hacking on the side. At the same time, to succeed as a bootstrapper, chances are you weren't going to compete in areas where VC loves throwing money (as in, it's a tremendous challenge to build your own Linear, Notion etc on the side).