A part of the article I disagree with is that I don&#x27;t see Goldman and BlackRock’s involvement as a good sign.  These late stage investors have terms that no employee gets. [1, 2]  Employees who joined late are going to get screwed as ratchet clauses kick in. The PE folks are showing themselves to be better negotiators than the founders who focus too much on valuation and the happy path.  The large number of unicorns and the numerous late stage deals will probably be one of the notable things about this bubble.  It’s the worst of both worlds for employees, no upside of joining early and no government &#x2F; regulatory protections found in a public market.  As more people get screwed we may see a shift from ‘unicorn’ being a positive recruiting tool to a negative, which could push companies to IPO earlier despite the supposed Sarbanes Oxley fears.  The brunt of the late stage startup risk is on the employees.  The founders have taken money off the table, the VCs have their win, the PE firms have their ratchets, while the employees joining late get a handful of options at a fictional valuation.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&#x2F;investors-who-got-in-square-at-a-6-billion-valuation-2015-11" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&#x2F;investors-who-got-in-square-a...</a>
[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2015-11-19&#x2F;square-employees-find-some-of-their-stock-options-under-water" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2015-11-19&#x2F;square-emp...</a>