My literal life goal is to have a software startup with moderate success WITHOUT VC funding. One that can sustain my lifestyle, but also keep me busy and happy without going completely overboard.
Go through a list of dead YC startups and steal ideas that wouldn't scale. A five-person company putting a quarter of a million into everyone's account per year, in perpetuity, is an abject VC failure.
There are lots of these lifestyle businesses. You could reasonably build one with some smarts, good sales skills, and focusing on a market and ruthlessly optimizing.