Nope, AGPL actually doesn’t protect a bootstrapper from most of these problems. For example:
* If your monetization model involves a SaaS version of your product, VC-backed competitors can release open source code which extends your AGPL product in ways which compete with your paid SaaS. (The VC funding allows them to do things like this that don’t provide them revenue, and isn’t even part of their core product, but nonetheless takes market share away from bootstrapped competitors.)
* Or if your monetization strategy is open-core, then same as previous bullet, they can build FOSS solutions which reimplement your paid features just to take market share away from you.
* If your AGPL product contains novel techniques or innovations, VC backed competitors can copy those concepts without directly using your code. Free R&D for them.
* If your AGPL product involves a paradigm shift for how to approach a problem, you have to do a ton of outreach and education on how to use your software. Later on, newer VC-backed competitors can just piggyback on all that effort you already did. And then if you have any public customer testimonials, their marketers will directly target those customers.
These aren’t hypothetical situations by the way, this stuff actually happens. It isn’t just big cloud vendors doing it either. And no FOSS license protects you from it.
Some non-OSI "source available" licenses do provide protection from the first two bullets, by way of prohibiting competitive uses, but that doesn't help with the latter two bullets.