Majority of the stuff I work on are generally for personal use or solving a personal annoyance/pain point. A good chunk of them ends up being launched as good side businesses as a byproduct but they weren't done with the intention of such.

I previously did a "traditional" startup in 2007 (scaling, hiring, etc..) and sold that company in 2009. Now I pretty much just focus my time on projects. I have a huge preference to do 1 man projects/businesses vs doing a large startup again. Its more fun.

As for anything being cool, its totally subjective.