>> "Let's face it, no one likes to see ads on websites."
Let's agree to disagree instead :) I do, lots of people do. They wouldn't click if they didn't find them useful. If they don't click, you're doing it wrong.
>> "There is a sad truth to web advertising. Unless you are 1) willing to put a half dozen ad units on every page and 2) serving tens of millions of page views per month, advertising will not help that much when it comes to paying a startup's bills (even a lean startup like StatSheet)."
This is also not a "truth". It completely depends on your sector/niche, and how you arrange the ads. I run a freestuff/competition site that made 4 figures a month from advertising and doesn't even register on alexa/quantcast/compete. It's traffic is tiny - but it's the monetizable type of traffic.
I'm not trying to say you made a bad decision here, just that your experience isn't something others should take in isolation when deciding on revenue streams.
I can't remember the US stance on online betting/gambling, but that would be my choice of revenue. The affiliate commission for gambling/betting sites is really good. Like a large payment for each new customer, and often a revenue share for future losses. You'd only need a handful of referrals to pay server costs etc.
For example, Paddypower (betting site): Sale: 20.00% - 25.00% GBP, £11.00 GBP signup. 3 month EPC=£196.02 Yup, that's £196 ad revenue per hundred clicks on average. (Stats from cj.com)
>> "Here are a few recent articles and videos about how advertising is losing favor in the startup world:"
I know it's popular to go with the 'hype', but often it's better to go against it. There's more money to be made than ever from online advertising.