Maybe this is a weird arena to state the obvious. But you don't need to build a multi-billion vc/public company. Build a smaller revenue generating company without outside funding and it's up to you.

I get your point. The dilemma is whether to build something small that no one would bother compete against, or build something novel (which all of us want) but then risk someone with VC funding to come after.

That being said, I think I need to learn more about how to build smaller revenue generating good companies.