The most difficult step I find is just barely mentioned, finding colocation space at reasonable price is difficult these days.
I gladly do, and it's the best hosting experience I've had so far, and I used to have rented dedicated iron from Server4You, Hetzner, Webtropia and the like from 2005 on. Maybe there's a similar hidden gem in the area you live in, and you just do not know about it? :) Mine flew under my radar for nearly 20 years, and even though I knew they existed, I was not aware they'd colo other peoples' boxen at very fair rates.
The author of the post seems to be living in the bay area. It's easy when the number of nerds per km² is high, disposable income is even higher, and driving a car for 2 hours is considered "next door".
I think for losers like myself, living in the middle of nowhere with low disposable income, the best solution is just to rent out a dedicated Kimsufi box (from OVH), or a server off the Heztner auctions. (Or whatever is the equivalent in North America) It's much much more cost effective than collocating.