Viaweb had investment. And it wasn't a lifestyle business - there was a terrifying bit in the middle where they weren't profitable. Plus the investors tried to screw them over multiple times, right up to the point where they got acquired. You really do need to read up on Viaweb's history.

My counter-argument to your post can be summed up in one question: name me one lifestyle business that is consumer Internet, of sufficient scale so as to make the world a better place.

Almost every startup in the 37signals's Bootstrapped, Profitable & Proud series are in enterprise. Consumer Internet companies (which are what blogs like Techcrunch obsess over) have different rules, different scale.