The formula of "dumping hundreds of millions of VC dollars on PR and marketing and undercutting the competition until you're the last man standing" work on industries that had no "difficult problems" to solve in the first place, and only need marketing and scale.
It's not a coincidence that the companies that succeeded with the formula were internet ads, and monopolies that provided day to day services (replacing mundane stuff like taxis, hotels, social interaction, etc...)
It's not a coincidence that the companies that succeeded with the formula were internet ads, and monopolies that provided day to day services (replacing mundane stuff like taxis, hotels, social interaction, etc...)