[sleepingeights]

It's cheaper for them to buy "startups" while they're smaller and in a fledgling state. Once in a while you hear of the startup founders making off with millions, but that's like a 3% lottery.

In reality, doing the math, startups are major bargains since the teams are working for near zero and their work and health, etc... may not even come into play when a VC or another company purchases. Had the companies or VCs used their own professional teams, they would have had to have paid more to account for working conditions, health-care, salaries, equipment, insurances, etc...

edit: In a tldr; sense, the VCs and major companies can reap the benefits of the "startup" while having to pay nothing to little in the initial cost. This is why ZUckerberg and the rest of the SV hustlers tout "youth" over "experience" because the youth are far more likely to fall into their traps and scheming.