The Ledger

Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.

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why aren't all 11 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable

Insight
Overpaying 20-30% on seed valuations has minimal impact on fund returns
“If we're wrong by 20 or 30% on price in a seed in a series A company, it doesn't matter that much. If we're off by 50% on price, it does matter. And a hundred percent of price matters more.”
Rick Heitzmann Nov 11, 2019 ▶ 16:11 20VC: Firstmark's Rick Heitzmann on The Rise of Pre-Emptive Rounds, His Biggest Learnings From The Pinterest Board, 2 Things VCs Can Do To Prepare Their Companies For The Downturn and Why Now Is A Good Time to Be Contrarian and Invest In Consumer
Insight
VC reserve capital should target winners rather than downside protection
“Although you want to reserve some for downside protection, those dollars aren't really as valuable as opposed to making sure that your true winners, you're able to put dollars behind.”
Rick Heitzmann Nov 11, 2019 ▶ 17:42 20VC: Firstmark's Rick Heitzmann on The Rise of Pre-Emptive Rounds, His Biggest Learnings From The Pinterest Board, 2 Things VCs Can Do To Prepare Their Companies For The Downturn and Why Now Is A Good Time to Be Contrarian and Invest In Consumer
Assertion Partly supported
Shopify raised its 2010 Series A at a $25M post-money valuation
“He was in our Series A, first market in our Series A back in, in 20, 20, 10. It was actually, it was a seven million Series A, I think on a twenty-five million dollar post valuation.”
Harley Finkelstein Mar 11, 2022 ▶ 9:54 Shopify President, Harley Finkelstein on What is Being a Good Husband | Full Interview · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
New York has become the second-largest venture capital market globally
“New York was not a venture leader. It's quickly become second biggest venture market in the world.”
Rick Heitzmann Nov 11, 2019 ▶ 39:16 20VC: Firstmark's Rick Heitzmann on The Rise of Pre-Emptive Rounds, His Biggest Learnings From The Pinterest Board, 2 Things VCs Can Do To Prepare Their Companies For The Downturn and Why Now Is A Good Time to Be Contrarian and Invest In Consumer
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Turck: Big data is entering its enterprise production phase in 2016
“I think that we actually just entering truly interesting part of big data. I think everything so far, and it's been years in the making, has been about the early stage of creation of tools, of creation of companies, startups, of experimentation, and we're just…”
Matt Turck May 30, 2016 ▶ 6:34 20VC: Is Big Data Still A Thing with Matt Turck, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital
Disclosure
Turck paused new venture investments due to 2016 market environment concerns
“I haven't made investments in, in quite a while now, and that's you know, part of the reflection of broader concerns around the environment and finding the right opportunity, doing the right thing at the right price and all the things.”
Matt Turck May 30, 2016 ▶ 27:37 20VC: Is Big Data Still A Thing with Matt Turck, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital
Insight
Turck: Big data culture applies to all companies, not just tech giants
“As every company is becoming a technology company there's an ever increasing amount of data that's available to them that can be analyzed. So there's an opportunity to develop a very powerful data-driven culture and be much smarter about one's business. And Th…”
Matt Turck May 30, 2016 ▶ 5:53 20VC: Is Big Data Still A Thing with Matt Turck, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital
Disclosure
Turck: FirstMark invested in stealth New York enterprise AI startup Hyperscience
“The most recent investment I made, which is in semi-stealth, but, you know, coming out of stealth very, very in a matter of days now, is A company called Hyperscience which is based here in New York, and that does precisely AI for the enterprise”
Matt Turck May 30, 2016 ▶ 27:56 20VC: Is Big Data Still A Thing with Matt Turck, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital
Disclosure
FirstMark re-evaluates portfolio board time allocation bi-annually
“So we go through, and my partners and I think about on a biannual basis, where are you spending your time on boards, and how do you prioritize your boards, and how do you prioritize the companies in the portfolio, and that's not a purely quantitative exercise.”
Rick Heitzmann Nov 11, 2019 ▶ 19:49 20VC: Firstmark's Rick Heitzmann on The Rise of Pre-Emptive Rounds, His Biggest Learnings From The Pinterest Board, 2 Things VCs Can Do To Prepare Their Companies For The Downturn and Why Now Is A Good Time to Be Contrarian and Invest In Consumer
Disclosure
FirstMark Capital led the seed round for Pinterest
“We were excited to be the lead investor in the seed round for Pinterest.”
Rick Heitzmann Nov 11, 2019 ▶ 31:38 20VC: Firstmark's Rick Heitzmann on The Rise of Pre-Emptive Rounds, His Biggest Learnings From The Pinterest Board, 2 Things VCs Can Do To Prepare Their Companies For The Downturn and Why Now Is A Good Time to Be Contrarian and Invest In Consumer
Assertion Supported
Stebbings: x.ai has raised over $30M in venture capital
“And x.ai is now one of the best funded AI startups, having raised over thirty million dollars from our friends at Firstmark, and a big thanks to Matt Turt for making the intro, and the likes of DCM, Lira Hippo, Crunch Fund, SoftBank, and many more incredible i…”
Harry Stebbings Jun 24, 2016 ▶ 0:29 20VC: X.ai's Dennis Mortensen on Why There Is No Incumbency Advantage in Artificial Intelligence
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