As a counterpoint, my company was featured on TC this morning and we're boot-strapped and neither of us are even close to being rock stars. I realize we may be an exception to the rule, but it is possible for a young company (We started March 29th) to get noticed and picked up. It did take a lot of persistence and effort, but was definitely worth it.

If you're interested, here's the article: http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/03/appthwack-takes-on-android-...