The goal of the post was not to trivialize the difficulty of accomplishing any of these steps, simply to outline what I saw as necessary ingredients. If you thi

The goal of the post was not to trivialize the difficulty of accomplishing any of these steps, simply to outline what I saw as necessary ingredients. If you think any of them are insurmountable I would love to hear why. To be clear, I don't really have a problem with the VC approach. I just see most of the success stories in that realm as people who become fantastically rich but lose control of their companies along the way. I am hoping to build something that is long term, sustainable and leaves me in control of the thing I created. I was not trying to imply that I prefer one type of person to have equity over another, rather I hoped to share equity among the people who contributed. The argument against VC money was wholly separate from the argument for paying contributors with equity. The latter is because cash will be tight and because I believe it is better to give people a stake in their future rather than just a paycheck and a task list. Finally, the idea that I am solving a business problem over a technical one here is right on. I haven't really mentioned a startup idea. Previously, I spent a year trying to get a company off the ground by myself (and failed miserably). I learned that, for me, it would be better to work with others towards this goal while leveraging their experience, talent and outside perspectives. VCs can provide this as well, but at what price? This is simply meant to be another path towards the goal of a startup, with different sacrifices along the way.