This is a huge achievement because "without VC help" literally means "All VCs and all their corporate friends actively working to destroy you". Maybe they succ

This is a huge achievement because "without VC help" literally means "All VCs and all their corporate friends actively working to destroy you". Maybe they succeeded because they got things going a long time ago. I doubt they would succeed if they started only a couple of years ago. They would have been crushed by the VC-corporate complex.