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
Smith: Founders can build great businesses without torching work-life balance
“Yes, you can have balance and you can still build an extremely efficient and great business that's doing great work. You don't have to put in a 120 hours a week, a hundred hours a week and not have any balance. And torch, you know, family relationships and eve…”
Smith: Consumers will not buy products solely for social good
“People that's wonderful, but people are not going to buy, buy your product because you're doing good in the world. You need to first create a great product. And he was absolutely right. So I really do think that's first, like you have to go build a great produ…”
Smith: Cotopaxi needs $500M revenue and $75M EBITDA before an IPO
“But I think at the right time, let's say the, you know, let's say Cotabaxi is, you know, five hundred million in sales and has you know, 75 or eighty million dollars in EBITDA. At that point, it's like, it's stable. You know, the business is stable. I think th…”
Davis Smith: Entrepreneurship creates more societal impact than non-profit work
“And he instead convinced me that I shouldn't do that, that I should really, if I wanted to make a difference in the world, that I should become an entrepreneur.”
Smith: Entrepreneurs misunderstand the scale required for venture capital
“I think a lot of entrepreneurs don't understand how big and ambitious the idea needs to be to go raise venture capital.”
Davis Smith: Pick co-founders based on skill fit, not family or friends
“I tell entrepreneurs, why don't you go identify your idea? Why don't you go figure out what you want to go build and then go find the best person in the world to go help you solve that problem. It probably is not going to be your cousin. It probably isn't goin…”
Davis Smith: The Greatest Entrepreneurs Are Incredible Salespeople
“The greatest entrepreneurs are incredible salespeople. They know how to sell. They know how to sell a vision. They know how to sell an idea. They know how to sell a product. And so you're selling every single day as an entrepreneur. And I think that starts wit…”
Davis Smith: Ten investor rejections is far too few when fundraising
“If you only pitch it 10 times, you need to go do this a lot, lot more.”
Davis Smith: VCs require a path to $1B in revenue
“Venture capital is not going to fund that business. You need to go build something that's going to do a billion dollars in revenue.”