You are correct. My point was that you can still build an audience without being locked into a silo or megacorp the exact same way you would for a normal blog. My point was not that doing so is easier.
If your content is good, it should succeed without a megacorp's help.
Incorrect. Uploading a video from a brand-new account on Youtube doesn't expose it to anyone. When someone searches "[your video topic]", what are the chances that yours come up, assuming it's a common enough topic?
The algorithm doesn't surface videos unless you've created a fairly substantial library that tells YT that you intend to post up for the long term.
Many people are making good content.
If you skip all of what you said and just upload to YouTube chances are you expose your content to X-hundred million people and you can then promote it just like you said.