I think the point he was trying to make is that big tech can use privacy regulations to keep out new competitors, rather than encourage them, as compliance with privacy regulations can create a higher barrier to entry
How? You just need to not save user data outside of that strictly required for providing your service and you easily comply even with the most stringent GDPR directives. To be honest caring about privacy lowers a lot your barrier to entry, unless you whole business is based around tracking ads or reselling of data to shady third parties.
Or collecting samples of user-provided data to build machine learning systems, which is how Google bootstrapped its search, spam filter, and voice recognition technologies.
> With sadness, StreetLend was shut down in April 2018, after five years of operation.
> Unfortunately the European Union's new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), introduced on 25th May 2018, creates uncertainty and risk that are impossible to justify for small non-profit websites.
That is an example of someone who chose to shut down due to perceived risk. There is no argument on the linked page that that perception of the risk of running a free non-profit website under the GDPR is based in reality. In particular, the does not seem to have been any GDPR enforcement against said site.
It looks more like someone who does not like the GDPR (because it affects them in some other way, because they are mislead, out of principle or who knows what reason) who then chose to sacrifice their pet project to make a statement.
