I have seen so many vtubers who are just as entertaining if not more than corpo girls who easily pass 5k CCV.
This entire hierarchy seems to be based on luck and marketing.

I know this applies to all markets to some extend, but when, for example, a video game with 0 marketing and luck is really good, it is bound to become popular against all odds.
But if a vtuber is really good, she just stagnates until she goes viral from a funny clip where she says the n-word or joins an established company.