Maybe if they hadn't scaled to, oh, I don't know, THE ENTIRE PLANET, maybe some MORE companies could come in and build successful businesses in the space, and, hey, maybe even figure out how to federate and interoperate. I know, I know. Crazy talk.

I wonder about youtube - I see people say it still loses money though I don't know if that's true, but if it is, then is it a successful business? It's an amazing feat no doubt, but other than that I don't know what to make of it as a business or a force in the world.

There's no way to know whether they would have failed without being acquired. That isn't the point being made though.

They didn't have the knowledge or resources to figure out that they can't indefinitely burn money and needed to sell user data and ads?

They were either failed businesses (if they couldn't have survived at all without becoming a worldwide phenomenon) or they were greedy (if they could have survived, but really just wanted it all).

Either way, the acquisition of either should never have been allowed.

Did Google and FB have to sell to stake to billions of users and millions of SMBs? no!

If they can’t be profitable as standalone businesses, by definition they’re failing as businesses.

A business can fail even with a good product. There are thousands of startups all over the world every year that can attest to that.