I read a super fascinating take on the Chinese startup industry, that was something like:

American model: one startup survives, becomes quasi-monopoly, industry sparse, founders / investors gets insanely rich.

Chinese model: a number of startups survive, compete viciously, costs crater, founders / investors make little money, industry vibrant, consumers benefit.

I don't know enough to defend either perspective rigorously, but it's a very evocative expression of different kinds of outcomes, and how you can optimize for different things, and how foundational stuff can be invisible to the people inside the system.