My point is that the article calls for post-Series A companies to have "a soundproofed room with a table in the center flanked by two chairs, one for a user and

My point is that the article calls for post-Series A companies to have "a soundproofed room with a table in the center flanked by two chairs, one for a user and one product manager or UX researcher" with "a constellation of web cams". You don't need that to get value. Initial investment for "lost our lease" usability testing is $99 for Screenflow and $70 for a Snowball USB microphone. It would help to do the test in a room that's not full of people, but grab a conference room, or do it after work. There's no reason a bootstrapped startup can't afford this -- in fact, there's an argument to be made that they can't afford NOT to do it.