I like her article and tone, but I suspect she's talking about a different class of business that doesn't fit with the typical valley startup
I'd say 37signals is probably one of the most common examples on sites like HN. They're the poster child for no funding.
Having been in the web hosting industry for 6 years, I can safely say that my $1.1M exit was a small one for a dedicated server company. Most of the other dedicated server/colo/datacenter company owners I know are millionaires many times over. Robert Marsh of Rackshack nee ev1servers is a popular example of someone who started from scratch and sold out for mega millions. And the guys who started The Planet have flipped several web hosting companies to the tune of 8 figures+.
It's a common thing in web hosting to sell a company, then use that money to start another one, then regain customers and sell for more, and do it all over again. Not sure how doable it would be today, but that was a common thread throughout the past 10 years.
I think it's worth denoting a difference between B2B companies (like 37signals) and B2C companies. I'm mainly talking about the really large B2C companies.
Web hosting sounds a lot like a consulting business. A great way to start a business, make a lot of money and have an exit but not the same as the fame and potential money to be had in the B2C game.
Not saying one is better than the other, but there are a lot of people out there (myself included) that could never find satisfaction in a B2B and will always chase the next Google. For those people, the Valley is ideal.
Statistically speaking, the typical valley startup builds something quickly, fails to acquire users, burns through angel funding, and dies quietly.
The typical _succesful_ Valley startup is not that different from the business described in the post. Remember, the most succesful YC exit ever, Heroku, is a hosting company.
Not a popular opinion here I know, but true nonetheless.