[tptacek]

I don't understand your "going back to the mid-90s" point.

I cofounded a company that was VC-funded in the late 90s, after having principal roles in two successful bootstrapped companies in the mid-90s.

What I don't understand about the point you're trying to make:

* Modern convertible debt financing of the form we're discussing --- unpriced rounds, rolling closes --- were not available in the 1990s.

* Entrepreneurs who fit the cohort you're implicitly defining --- people who raised VC in the 90s --- are effectively immune to the effect Patrick is describing. Executing a first VC-funded company well gets you your next VC-funded company. Nobody disputes that the priced-round VC system worked well for proven operators. The subtextual argument for convertible debt is that without it, you might not get the next Airbnb or Dropbox --- companies that barely even made it into YC.