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 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
Traditional IPOs will change fundamentally as public and private markets converge
“I think that IPOs are going to look very different in 10 years, if not go away entirely, or go away is hard, but, you know, change into a form that really doesn't look like today. You know, the public equity markets and the private equity markets are going to …”
Great venture capital deals are definitionally never too expensive in hindsight
“Put it this way, like a great deal definitionally is never too expensive in hindsight.”
USV hired Andrew Parker in 2006 without a resume or reference checks
“They never asked for my resume. They never checked any references. They just wanted to see my web presence. So I showed them my blog at the time because this is pre-Twitter or pre-Tumblr or anything like that. They brought me in for a 40 minute interview and t…”
Parker argued mobile internet wouldn't overtake desktop in his 2006 USV interview
“The interview was mostly around one question, which in retrospect, I was like dead wrong. They asked me would the mobile internet be bigger than the desktop internet? And so this was 2006. It was like pre iPhone coming out. State of the art was the Blackberry …”
Dogged persistence is the single most important trait for startup CEOs
“I think probably the most important quality and the common theme across all of them is just their dogged persistence. They're going to make a dent in the universe, no matter the hurdles they have to lead.”
Venmo's success was enabled by its founders' naivety regarding financial regulations
“It was actually the naivety that helped these founders build a really big company, or at least in terms of consumer impact, which was called Venmo”
eShares CEO Henry Ward deputizes board directors to adopt specific business units
“Like, I think Henry's cultivated a relationship with his board very well. In part by deputizing his directors to adopt business units inside of the company and engage with these teams running these units regularly.”
Startups should complement VC-heavy boards by adding an independent CEO director
“So when I make initial investment in the company, I always tell the founder exactly that. And I tell him that the best way to compliment me on the board is to add an independent director to the board. That's either a current or recovering CEO. That can help wi…”
VC hesitation over valuation usually reflects underlying execution or financing risks
“I just think that that's never the thing that you're really looking at alone. Right. Instead, maybe that vacuum doesn't exist, and you're like, oh man, I really don't like this price, and then you ask yourself why, right, and if you're exploring, like, well, I…”
Spark Capital always provides follow-on capital if portfolio companies secure outside leads
“If they're able to recruit outside capital, then we always find a way to be supportive. I don't think we've ever sent kind of a negative signal that you're describing about some other serious cause for concern in the company.”
USV's core thesis focused on user networks defensible by network effects
“One is they helped me understand what it takes to develop an investment thesis, which by the time I left could be summarized there as large networks of engaged users, differentiated through user experience, defensible by network effects.”