[potamic]

Sure, any significant business depends on a lot of software. As a software company you don't want to build that which is not in your core business, so you would buy a lot of other software. But the reality is a little more insidious. Investors are mostly selling to themselves. Every time an investor invests in a company there is a push to partner up or avail services from other companies their portfolio. Even if it's not the best choice for the company at that time, investors are more interested in strengthening their overall portfolio.

The long term consequence of this is that as capital gets concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, so does the means of production. If you are outside the network you will find it very hard to sell your services even if you have a better product. This already happens in many places with wealth disparity. Deals simply do not happen without the "blessing" of a wealthy backer. Software is unfortunately moving that way. The once upstart nerd who was able to launch their business from the basement has turned into the technocrat baron who will keep such a thing from happening again.