It's never mentioned in the article, but this only applies to the "Get Big Fast" flavor of Startup. Where you're hoping for a big payout in 4 years time if yo

It's never mentioned in the article, but this only applies to the "Get Big Fast" flavor of Startup. Where you're hoping for a big payout in 4 years time if you sacrifice every waking hour between now and then building as fast as possible. So when it concludes that you can't build something small and profitable, and that you can't do anything other than work yourself into the ground, it's just restating its assumptions as conclusions. If, on the other hand you're looking for something to replace your $150/hr consultant gig, you absolutely can build something small that brings in a little profit. And you absolutely can build that thing without working "harder than is healthy". I keep a spreadsheet that tracks the hours I've worked on my startup alongside the profits it has made. It tells me exactly how much my time has been worth for the hours I've spent working on the thing in the last 4 years. And it's creeping up to look like a respectable consulting rate.