You need to read 37signals blog, they have a series of blog posts called “Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud”, in their own words: it's a series which profiles companies that have $1MM+ in revenues, didn’t take VC, and are profitable.
i said "sometimes." i have no idea what you're trying to build, and neither does the author of this blog. for every company that has made it bootstrapped, there's another example of one that made it without going bootstrapped.
raising money is what it is. some people need it, others don't. it doesn't make angels "evil" because they don't align with your goal of building a lifestyle business. it's not like they're forcing you to take their money, or holding a gun to your head if you don't repay the money they risked on you.
