They are not long term unprofitable for the VCs. Those companies have been through rounds and rounds of growth which has brought in other investors (i.e. who VCs can sell to if they desire).
What about the company that would need to labour for 5 years before they get the MVP out the door?
They are profitable to VCs exactly because system for long-term thinking works, it just consists of different levels of investors, with different risk/reward goals, handing over the same company, still long-term, still unprofitable, one to another. VCs are just one of the first levels of this system.
What about the company that would need to labour for 5 years before they get the MVP out the door?