Tell that to the founders of YouTube. It's extremely risky but perfectly acceptable to grow an unprofitable business to the point where it becomes an attractiv

Tell that to the founders of YouTube. It's extremely risky but perfectly acceptable to grow an unprofitable business to the point where it becomes an attractive acquisition target for a company that can monetize it effectively. It's also extremely risky but perfectly acceptable to sacrifice profitability in favor of extremely rapid expansion in a new market, and then achieve profitability later. Venture capitalists naturally like businesses (and yes, they are businesses) with strategies like this because they require lots of capital. Just because you and I have a different appetite for risk and wouldn't build a business using these strategies doesn't mean the businesses themselves are 'neat little side projects'.