The valuations announced in the period, with the sector's two largest surpassing historic marks, deserve reading for what they actually report.
A private company valuation isn't a market price. It's a number negotiated between investors and recipients, under specific terms of stake, liquidation preference and voting rights, which are rarely disclosed.
That doesn't make the number useless. It reports precisely how much capital was available at that moment and under what risk appetite, which is relevant data about the state of the market.
What it doesn't report is sustainability. A company valued in the hundreds of billions with significant operating losses depends on capital staying available, and that's an external variable.
Going public changes that reading, because it introduces a price formed in an open market and an obligation to publish audited numbers, allowing valuation and performance to be compared verifiably.