Your overall premise of "There is nothing that prevents AWS from using it's own systems as business intelligence for creating their own competitive products." i

Your overall premise of "There is nothing that prevents AWS from using it's own systems as business intelligence for creating their own competitive products." is spot on. But characterizing the situation as "terrifying" seems just a little bit disingenuous. It's a double edged sword. All of the factors you mentioned are characteristics of any fortune 500 business. Are you familiar with the Innovator's dilemma? > - No personnel, pay/benefits, recruiting or technological advantage over FAANG Says who? Don't people leave FAANG companies all of the time because they realize they have technological advantages or don't have the right people? Good example - Otto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_(company) > - No speed to scale advantages over FAANG So let's ignore the agility and nimbleness associated with startups then? Isn't that precisely why so many software startups have been created in the last 15 years? > - No rapid scalability outside of a FAANG owned platform Microsoft would like to have a word with you. Ok snarky I know...I get your point. But, the rapid adoption of cloud is creating more and more cloud providers. Since lock-in is less of a problem which means we're getting more vendors with equally competing offers (just look at Equinix, Flexential, Digital Ocean, Linode, Pivotal, Rackspace, etc...just to name a few). Why do you think Azure/AWS/GCP all keep lowering their prices? > - No advantage in new/exiting/upcoming technologies or verticals that FAANG doesn't already have projects in What does this even mean? If a FAANG company doesn't have a project in the new/exciting/upcoming technology but you do and you prove the commercial value, then you absolutely have an advantage, no? You're there first! If, as you point out in your original post, FAANG sees that your offering has commercial value (they see more people adopting your technology) then they have to catch up to you anyway. You have a new competitor now, sure, but that is going to happen regardless of whether AWS exists or not. Is it a problem because they have the intelligence to approach the market quicker...sure. Not to mention, your ability to scale was already provided by them! Ultimately, you're complaining that the company that helped provide the scale is now competing against you? Boohoo. If this becomes such a huge problem than another provider will come along and create a "we won't compete against you" policy and change the market. I just don't see why that's such a problem. > All the advantages you identify also reside natively inside FAANG I think you've just proven my point. There is a level playing field when it comes to the technology services available to startups. FAANG's have a capital advantage and startups have an agility advantage. There's obviously a lot more nuance to that, but this isn't a terrifying situation at all.