> The content was produced for free and the distribution was handled by VCs
And even that, content distribution was handled by a volunteer happy to chip in a few bucks to pay for shared hosting.
Content distribution (and infrastructure in general) nowadays is cheaper than ever thanks to technological advances (today's entry-level MacBook is more powerful than a lot of servers from 10 years ago).
There is absolutely a way to distribute content for very cheap nowadays if you know how to - you just have to avoid the rent-seekers like cloud providers.
And even that, content distribution was handled by a volunteer happy to chip in a few bucks to pay for shared hosting.
Content distribution (and infrastructure in general) nowadays is cheaper than ever thanks to technological advances (today's entry-level MacBook is more powerful than a lot of servers from 10 years ago).
There is absolutely a way to distribute content for very cheap nowadays if you know how to - you just have to avoid the rent-seekers like cloud providers.