> But, why don't later investors insist on also learning the lowest possible imputed value, taking into account how investors are acting to protect themselves.

> But, why don't later investors insist on also learning the lowest possible imputed value, taking into account how investors are acting to protect themselves. Risk is hard to compare, but isn't this what Wall Street does all day? Presumably the later investors ARE doing this. But it's not in the investors' interest to publish their internal research on the error bars and it IS in the interest of the startup to publish as high a valuation as possible. Combine that with the fact that big numbers get pageviews and there's no incentive for anyone to report on the lower bound. One way that you know this analysis is happening is that it's needed for an S1 filing. There's just no reason to publish any of it before then.