My impression is a lot of these companies raised mega rounds right before interest rates went up, and are now able to tread water by cutting headcount enough that their revenue + interest can sustain them. To what end? Who knows...
strong argument to me made for the support, dev, and long-term angle, but if any of the FAANGs or big players decided to eat their lunch they probably could.
He reckoned they could get something comprehensive and mature enough, with a real customer base, to offset the build effort and thus get acquired.