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.
why aren't all 9 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
Lazerow: Initial gut feeling about founders is usually correct
“Your gut reaction is usually right about people. And so that's The first gut reaction that you have is so critical. The problem is the next two weeks, you try to talk yourself out of that gut reaction.”
Lazerow: Great Venture Investing Is Part Therapy, as Founders Know Answers
“And so being a great investor is part therapy. It's part advisor. I find that many of the entrepreneurs know the right answer. They just need someone to talk to.”
Velvet Sea Ventures requires unanimous approval from all four partners on deals
“We are a firm that is unanimous. They're four partners, and so it's a family firm, Cass and me, John, Jim Petroni, and Matthew, Jim Petroni. We're all in with deals that we like. I have to first convince myself that I like the deal. Cass has to convince hersel…”
Lazerow: Capital Is Fungible, But Investor Experience and Reputation Drive Returns
“Well, I think what I meant is that money in today's market is fungible. You can get it anywhere. Experience and reputation are not. So in venture, if you look at the great returns, Experience and reputation drive results for the funds”
Velvet Sea Ventures avoids raising oversized funds that are difficult to deploy
“We're not interested in putting together massive funds that would be hard for us to deploy right now.”
Lazerow: Startups only go out of business when running out of capital
“The only way a company goes out of business is they raise money. Show me a failed product and twenty million in the bank. They still have a shot. Show me a successful product that can't raise money and you know, it'll go out of business.”
Velvet Sea reduced its investment allocation to bring in Mark Benioff
“We cut back our allocation significantly in order to make room for Mark Benioff and a bunch of our friends who wanted to be investors, right?”