> But he said they were forced to rely on [deeply discounted first time Homejoy cleanings] heavily because of intense competition with their chief rival, Handy, which employed a similar strategy.

This is one of the bizarre aspects of VC that is bad for the economy as a whole. A regular business that is aiming for profit must be careful about how much it spends on customer acquisition. A VC-backed business that is aiming for "unicorn" growth must spend whatever is necessary, even if it's not sustainable. And the collateral damage is that traditionally profitable businesses (in this case, non-app-ified home cleaners) are priced out of the market.