Not saying I agree with the GP, but I don't understand how your comment refutes anything? Their valuation and funding doesn't necessarily mean anything.
In fact, I think one could argue that many companies raising that much money early on are indeed trying to become a first mover and don't care about making money (yet).
I would think the last decade or so of the tech industry would demonstrate otherwise? You could say the same about myriad other startups doing legally questionable things until regulators caught up with them or interest rates got raised. That someone throws piles of money at you and says your worth billions does not make that reality.
Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Uber pursued both of these strategies (and lost massive amounts of money while breaking laws), but with a net benefit to their investors by weakening labor protections and other regulations.
In fact, I think one could argue that many companies raising that much money early on are indeed trying to become a first mover and don't care about making money (yet).