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
Sterling calls Bratz "prostitute dolls" while noting their shift to STEM
“We have companies like the creators of Brat, who are the epitome of prostitute dolls for girls, coming out with a line of STEM dolls.”
Lack of early construction toy exposure reduces women in engineering
“Most girls don't play with those toys, because those toys were very explicitly boys' toys, and that maybe if more girls had exposure to toys like those, maybe there would have been more girls in our engineering classes”
VCs miss out by avoiding children's products and inventory risk
“So many VCs, they don't want to touch the children's space with a ten-foot pole. They don't want to take on any inventory risk, and I think it's a shame because I see so many really, really exciting young entrepreneurs and innovators who are tackling really, r…”
Expecting digital-style annual growth doubling is unhealthy for hardware startups
“It's a different model than trying to see scalable digital growth doubling year after year. I don't think that that's a healthy business model for a hardware company, especially a startup hardware company.”
Sterling disagrees that husband-and-wife co-founder teams are a red flag
“I always hear that husband and wife teams should have a red flag, and I completely disagree.”
Girls begin losing confidence in math and science by age six
“Age six is a really critical time, even before middle school, when girls are losing confidence in their ability in math and science.”
Target eliminated gender labeling in its retail toy aisles
“Target has taken down its gender labeling and its toy aisles.”
GoldieBlox proved to legacy toy manufacturers that empowering toys are profitable
“I think GoldieBlox has played a huge role in not only pressuring those companies to do the right thing, but I think more importantly, showing that they could make a lot of money doing it too.”
GoldieBlox aims to reach the scale of Barbie and Disney Princess
“Ultimately, what I really want to build is a global franchise of the size and scale and influence of Barbie, Disney Princess, Dora the Explorer.”
Stanford Engineering maintained an aggressive weed-out culture
“At Stanford, the engineering program was a weed-out program in a pretty aggressive culture, where they made a point to tell all of the students that, you know, they're really trying to weed out the weak and have only the strong survive”