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 17 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 1 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
Reber: Microsoft screwed up its acquisitions of Yammer, Skype, and Wunderlist
“I think Microsoft has Screwed up multiple acquisitions like Yammer or Skype, and they promised me when we sold it that they will try their very best not to screw up Wunderlist, and I think they did.”
Reber: Selling Wunderlist to Microsoft felt like selling to the enemy
“When I sold Wanderlust, it felt like I'm selling my child to the enemy. I didn't want to get bought by Microsoft. I viewed Microsoft as the enemy, and it was just stupid.”
Reber: Running a seed fund while building a startup is a distraction
“So angel investing absolutely is a distraction. I think if you as a founder, like run your own like seed fund and raise capital on the side while you are building your own product and business, I think it's a massive distraction.”
Reber: Tech will replace the auto industry as Germany's economic backbone
“Like, especially in Germany with the car industry, if that might be gone at some point, I think the tech industry will take over, and it will be the backing bone of Germany in the future.”
Reber: Pitch can become a multi-billion dollar business
“I think it's a massive market. It has growth built in, because every presentation is meant to be shared with someone else. So if I'm able to build this tool and a platform around it, I think this can be a multi-billion dollar business.”
Reber: Angel investments rely on instinct rather than product understanding
“When I'm looking at investments as like angel investments, I ask myself that every single time I look at something, I only trust my instinct. Do I get along with the founder? Do I believe the founder understands the market? I don't necessarily have to understa…”
Reber: Wunderlist could have reached hundreds of millions of users independently
“I think Wunderlist had a very unique character and could have grown to hundreds of millions of users and could have had a successful business process”
Reber has reinvested 50% of his personal wealth into venture capital
“I have actually, I think I've taken 50% of my personal wealth and reinvested it into venture capital by investing into funds and startups.”
Reber: Pitch received a $20M seed valuation offer with zero product
“The first fund that made us an offer made us an offer that I just couldn't believe. I think the seed valuation was twenty million with nothing, no co-founders, no deck, Just the idea, and I was like, holy shit, this is insane. Okay, I'm going to take this offe…”
Reber: Pitch raised $50M pre-launch entirely through preemptive investor offers
“We raised fifty million in total exactly that way, by not fundraising.”
Reber: Real-Time Sync Was the Primary Reason Microsoft Bought Wunderlist
“And it actually, in the end, it was the reason Microsoft bought us, because of the real-time synchronization we've had.”
Reber: Wunderlist became the most downloaded app worldwide on the App Store
“Super popular there. Most downloaded app worldwide for quite some time.”
Reber: Wunderlist ceased to exist three years post-acquisition
“So, like, Wanderlust is a very good example, right? After selling it three years later, it doesn't exist anymore.”
Reber: Software design intuition requires consuming all software and hardware
“I think if you are building software like I am, you have to spend an enormous amount of time with software and hardware of all kinds.”