I think people should back down slightly from full "no gods no masters" decentralisation, where everyone runs their own castle, and look to user-run mutual ownership structures.

This is going to involve money changing hands. Users are going to have to pay enough that the people running the system get comfortable professional salaries - not unicorn money and not in SV, but it has to be competitive. Relying for the long term on altruism will only take you so far.

In return, the users should get a genuine say in the policies of the system. This involves building not just a system but a community.

Perhaps the closest to this model that's currently successful is Mastodon.