There are a big list of Traffic Exchanger website which offer a big traffic, but referral. If you want to gain Organic Traffic then you have to rank your website.
@dscurlock is right. When you think big you have to implement big. Just look at big sites that worth today billions. How they did it? Well they invested and they did it in time. For example Amazon turn into profit few years ago. You have to invest in branding first not in massive link building because like the OP said you will get burned. When you will be popular enough people will write about you and you will get maximum exposure, awareness and BIG TRAFFIC!
Start a successful blog right away and online presence through social media like twitter or facebook. Use archie for the organic traffic.
These days it is very difficult to get written about... You can start just about whatever you desire, and no matter what you start, then you will end up with high competition, and spend years building brandability. You may have an easier time if you have a name like google, facebook, or some popular name that has not been thought up already.