In my direct experience being in SV startups for over 10yrs, this is also true for all major tech companies. They all abuse their platform power to enter into a new market segment. Just a few days ago this journal was published: https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-tech-startup-echo-bezos-...
It's fundamental to the platform business. The Internet just happens to be the biggest place to build platforms. But it's the same as how grocery stores or any intermediary works.
What's funny to me is despite wielding all this power and network effects - when tech giants try to enter new markets they fail at a seemingly higher rate then start-ups and other businesses. They have a ten mile head start and are still losing the race consistently. Which is probably good for most consumers.
I think they just expect a higher return than smaller start-ups. I mean, if Google tries to make a new service and it's 'only' generating a few million in revenue, that's not very exciting and they'll either i. directly kill the service, or ii. gamble with aggressive methods of growth that likely kill the service.
Meanwhile, give a start-up with 5 people a few million in revenue, and they'll be jumping with joy at their success. Plus they'll have a lot more passion, and more carefully manage risk while growing the business.
