Users != Customers as you well know. If a startup outside of Google had millions of users, they wouldn't be considered a wild success unless they could monetize

Users != Customers as you well know. If a startup outside of Google had millions of users, they wouldn't be considered a wild success unless they could monetize those users, otherwise it's just an enormous cost that eventually leads to failures once they run out of VC runway. And let's be real, a huge swath of VC funded startups recklessly engage in "growth hacking" to acquire users, without a legitimate business plan, usually, e.g. Step 1: get users Step 2: <magic happens> Step 3: Profit! And then it turns out their ideas for monetization don't work, and they get an exit via acquisition by one of the big players as the VCs try to get some of their money back and leave someone else holding the bag. SV is littered with companies that had millions of users but ended up folding and selling, because ultimately, running a business isn't free, and those users have to generate enough revenue to cover costs plus ROI.