As a UX designer, I see this a lot. Design has come a long way in being valued but very few companies realize how absolutely critical UX is once you have a crowded market.

In the early tech days "Just build it first and maintain momentum" was enough to win in market.

Now, with the cost of running a business going lower and lower (lots of infrastructure is automated, business functions can be done by 1 person and software, etc), anyone can compete with you and if they have a better experience, users will go there instead.

So many viable business are being built by companies that punch out a niche in a larger market and designing the perfect experience for that niche.