But for a vc funded startup you need way more revenue to keep raising money. This is from what I learned in the startups I worked at.
I guess uber is a huge success compared to your median startup right?
THIS is exactly how you survive as small/solo company/consultant.
In fact, all my customers wish I have more time to redo most of the tools that they use. (Tipical scenario: "Hey your app that make invoices is neat, why you don't just add a module for our industrial process and because we want to integrate all and you need to add email capabilities then just add a word processor that is like excel, but good")
The "just add" is not only being naive or greedy, sometimes people dream that the few ones they can actually rely could do all already...
What makes it challenging is that there is no standard format for game libraries. If instead you had a game library software that was interoperable with different vendors (like an email client or web browser) it would have been possible to buy and collect games from different vendors or publishers without having to manage multiple accounts and libraries.
I guess the lesson is that systems of middlemen are fragile and problematic even when the middleman are acting in good faith. Getting rid of middlemen gate keepers is both a technical and social challenge, and not easy.