You could just as well start with one cheap dedicated server and then migrate to the cloud once you know that you need it. For example, one of my companies is

You could just as well start with one cheap dedicated server and then migrate to the cloud once you know that you need it. For example, one of my companies is doing hosting and image delivery services for photographers. I started it on one dedicated server, and now 10+ years later it's running on 3 dedicated servers. My hoster does backups and OS upgrades, so there was never any reason to go into the cloud. Except maybe, if I wanted to burn cash on slow performance ;)