Bootstrapping to success is difficult, period. I think it would be hard to find examples of companies that bootstrapped their way to success running almost any kind of business (some SaaS apps and mobile app things, maybe).

Nonetheless, I think it's entirely possible, and we [Fogbeam Labs] are certainly working very hard on a new "Open Source company". The thing is, you're right that "open source as a business model" is no longer a new idea, and simply being open source isn't enough to guarantee a certain level of buzz and attention. So it's harder now, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. To us, being "open source" is a differentiator, but it isn't necessarily the main thing that separates us from our competition. We think it's important, we think it's The Right Thing To Do, but we still have to deliver more value than the other guys at the end of the day and we're going to have to learn to out market the other guys.