Sure it's skippable, I didn't say my way is the only way, probably not the best, just shared what works for me. However, Photo studio with 100/100 equipment helps a lot early on nevertheless, for me at least, photo orders in combination with hostess work orders allows rep 2 by mid march. Ofc marketer targeting company is a plus too. Sure, you can skip it and go cams early on, why the hell not, only downside would be lack of contracts, because it's highly likely you'll have rep 1. I just tend to start with photo studio early on, just keeping all special characters (they're all good early on, so you don't need to be picky for work orders), building fame, and counting on RNG Jesus to roll some highly paying contracts. I also tend to pick Right Hand PA with more work orders just for that.
As for model stats, I was talking in my post exclusively about 'how to start, and not bankrupt too early', and that's easiest leveraging whatever special characters you have (least RNG dependent), same goes for taking loans, this is ofc risky, but if you're using special characters, they're kind of predictable, so you after few restarts you know how much they gonna make on cams.
For 4 special characters that you can contract on rep lvl 2 you can say how much they gonna be making on cams, I'm gonna attach a pic below from end of April. They're all on non-porn, 6-12mo contracts. This looks very similar for each restart I do. With such income, if you have them all by end of March, there's not really any risk in taking loan (but in March/April, earlier it's risky and RNG dependend).
For random characters stats and traits do matter, but if you're new to the game, it's best to have at least some passive income early on, so you can experiment on your own.
And it's completely possible to use same equipment and staff between porn studios and photo studios (do pics contracts on sundays, or after they end shoting a scene). Personally for me it's too much clicking and I'd forget about it, but sure, go for it.