Heroku. We used to Colo servers or rent dedicated servers. You had to setup linux/apache/database, etc. Manage logging and backups. And then to scale up you had to do it all over again. First you split the dB onto its own server, then start sharding/load balancing/replicating. And then you take the whole site down by letting a log file fill a disk or something.

Heroku and 12-factor apps easily made building a business 10x easier/faster/cheaper.