I guess the interesting question is the ultimate financial return for the founder from (a) VC funded hyper-unique optimized lean startup, or (b) a somewhat boring, non-unique, well-executed business.

No doubt if you found Facebook and you swear blood about it he fine detail of SEO optimisation, there's no competition. But what about in average, where a realistic best case scenario is a fairly successful startup with a few 100m exit and a lot of dilution.

I don't know the answer but often wonder. Running a startup sounds fun, but also the whole VC treadmill sounds very stressful.