> how common is it for venture funds to buy bulk cloud services for use in startups they own/invest in?
Outside of this article, I've never heard of it. In fact it seems kind of illogical because VCs don't necessarily know which infra tech to invest in. (Not their job.)
What VCs will do is connect you with public cloud vendor programs for startups or get you access to favorable discounts that are not generally available for small companies. My company benefited from both of these.
> One upside of a monopoly is that it's obvious which tech to use.
Not in the tech of the monopoly, since disrupting the monopoly enables you huge cost savings (example: in its formation years, Google used of-the-shelf computers hold together by Velcro tape instead of expensive servers by the big vendors).
Outside of this article, I've never heard of it. In fact it seems kind of illogical because VCs don't necessarily know which infra tech to invest in. (Not their job.)
What VCs will do is connect you with public cloud vendor programs for startups or get you access to favorable discounts that are not generally available for small companies. My company benefited from both of these.
Edit: clarity