I like the astute observations being made, but I'd like to suggest that leverage is a bad thing for startups in a developed economy. I think everything stated still holds if you substitute "equity investment" for leverage, and the result for everyone tends to be better.
They aren't using the term "leverage" in the financial sense (investing money that you borrowed). By "leverage", the article author means "ability to control a situation and/or make your dream come true."
