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 7 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
Founders should raise maximal runway before Series A to maintain leverage
“I believe that the reality is that you want as much runway as possible in order to have as much leverage when you get into that A round.”
Seed investing is 70% EQ and people evaluation
“Truth is, it's 70% of it is really the EQ, because this is all about the people.”
The biggest sin in venture investing is missing outlier winners
“The biggest sin is missing that 10% deal that's the huge winner, right? Because no amount of mediocre kind of deals can make up for missing Uber or whatever, Zoom or Arista or whatever you want to say. No amount of things can make up for missing something that…”
Founders in top deals often ask angel investors to forego pro rata
“And the other thing that happens in good deals is the founder frequently doesn't want you to do your pro rata because they want to give the new investors as much room as possible. So I found that there's an alignment generally in the good deals that, hey, stic…”
Seed angels must be contrarians to compete with mega-funds like Sequoia
“So you have to be increasingly a contrarian in order to try and be successful in a world where Sequoia and others are going to be aggressive.”
Startups need cash reserves during fundraising to prevent predatory VC pricing
“I think you need enough money so that you can achieve your milestones and achieve the mythical product market fit, and still have enough money in the bank that the VC goes, Ooh, I better invest now, rather than let them say, ooh, I'll wait this out, and I'll g…”
Angel investors need an explicit thesis defining what deals they will avoid
“To be a successful angel investor, you have to understand that clear thesis, and that clear thesis has to tell me what kind of deals you won't do, As well as what kind of deals you will do. And you have to be prepared to defend that thesis. And I think if you …”