>>Instacart charges as little as $3.99 for grocery shopping and delivery. Yet Shah said its shoppers make about $20 an hour, plus tips, which makes profitability seem unlikely, even with the smartest algorithms routing shoppers through grocery stores and city streets. When I told him that, he sounded a lot like Borders back in Webvan’s heyday: “We’re really well funded, so that is not something we’re as worried about,” Shah said. “Growth is the most important factor.”

So is this what is happening in the SF startup world then? You get funding, get absolutely huge by selling your product at massive loss, bleeding money out with every product/service sold, and then show to investors how much you grew -> proceed to get more money? Is that it?