I agree 100%. It has gotten easier to turn a side project into a business.
My take is that it has gotten easier enough that fewer folks are pursuing VC, opting to bootstrap instead. It's not that fewer side projects are happening - more side projects are happening. Fewer of them need VC money to succeed/scale/generate meaningful revenue, so VCs are seeing fewer side projects.
My take is that it has gotten easier enough that fewer folks are pursuing VC, opting to bootstrap instead. It's not that fewer side projects are happening - more side projects are happening. Fewer of them need VC money to succeed/scale/generate meaningful revenue, so VCs are seeing fewer side projects.