Yes and no. Google and Facebook were ventured backed, and came to profitability selling their user data. Reddit's data is less valuable due to the nature of their accounts and service, but it's not for lack of trying, Brave shows me 5 cross-site trackers blocked on reddit.com (LOL cnn.com shows 55). There are countless VC backed businesses that have become profitable and couldn't have started with loans from a bank. No doubt the hot-potato model of "get users and then IPO" is bullshit, but venture capital is an economic engine. That said, I think the notion of an "accredited investor" is total horseshit, and VC money has carried a premium that will fall to crowd-funding models. This is one reason why I am a fan of cryptocurrency. It removes the gate keepers/rent-seekers, breaks down barriers for entry, and puts the creation of new funding models into people's hands. This experiment will probably fail, but it is an experiment that couldn't have taken place when Reddit was created.