To be fair, I think this is not so much about the common mythology in the valley. It's more about how the valley PR sites most commonly talk about.
There's so many bad companies in the tech scene, that we often look at the VC/angel scene as the filter for whats worth looking at.
I'd argue (as a creator a lifestyle business) that there are even more uninteresting startups with that fall into the lifestyle label - by that I mean not very pressworthy - not that its a bad business. The companies that are trying to do big things, usually require capital and that often comes with getting press and attention.
It's also important to note that most "lifestyle" companies aren't really startups anyway.. more small businesses... and they aren't the type of companies that need VC in the first place.
But as soon as any lifestyle business becomes successful, they get a ton of praise. Especially on HN. Just like any acquisition or exit.