A board can fire you and your whole team even if you're profitable. All it takes is 1 bad day, or a mistaken belief that outsourcing to a team in India can solve the same problem for half the price.
"Not worth more than being laid-off" would be hyperbolic, but I'd guess that your private company non-preferred shares are worth a lot less than you think they are. I have stories from real, "successful" companies that screwed over everyone not currently on staff on exit. It's not hard to do.
If shares of your company were undersold and you lose controlling interest in the process, that is your own fault. Founders usually have a different class of stock which has more voting rights per value.
This is like an employee accepting a $10/hour contract, and then complaining later that it was too low.
You are correct. I meant to say that founders usually have a different class of stock that has more voting rights, rather than higher liquidation preference in case of bankruptcy.
1. Already sold your company.
2. Didn't really contribute to its founding.