The article's analysis may have been superficial, but I don't understand why you dispute that liquidation-preference increases valuations. As you note, it offe

The article's analysis may have been superficial, but I don't understand why you dispute that liquidation-preference increases valuations. As you note, it offers investors protection against downside risk. That protection allows them to safely invest at higher valuations than they otherwise would, precisely because they will be protected if those valuations come plummeting down to earth. Without that guaranteed protection, they would need to demand lower valuations. The historical examples you offered are consistent with this theory. In the early 2000s, valuations would have been even lower without liquidation preference. And it's true that the huge upside of modern startups may account for their astronomical valuations, but investors are only willing to entertain such wild risks because of the protections they enjoy from downside risk. So, liquidation preference may not be a new phenomenon, but that doesn't mean it's not important.