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 13 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
Kanji: Most European VCs Are Momentum Investors Seeking Quick Markups
“I think most of us become momentum investors in this industry. We write the check largely to get the next markup, not to build the long-term, durable, big company of tomorrow. And I don't think there are that many people in Europe who do those kinds of things.”
Kanji: European VCs are trained in private equity and focus on downside protection
“And I don't think people in Europe think in that kind of way. I think people in Europe are largely trained in private equity. They think about how do I minimize my downside.”
Kanji: European Investment Fund is too dominant and should be split into five
“I think if you have someone like the EIF where there's 30% of the aggregate capital of the LP commits, it's too big. What you should really have is what happened with AT&T in the US where they broke it down into the bells. You had five different bells kind of …”
Kanji: Europe needs dominant superstar VC funds, not micro funds
“I don't know if the world right now needs yet another emerging manager, yet another micro cap fund. I think what we need is like five to 10 dominant Superstar venture funds in Europe, kind of the way in the Bay Area, they're like, 10 or 15 of those.”
Kanji: Carried interest should be taxed as income, not capital gains
“I have no problems paying income tax on carried interest. Like, I think it's income, right? I mean, it's not my capital work doing it. It's because I'm doing my job.”
Kanji: America is the best path for scaling a startup financially
“Your best path to scale from a financing perspective is America. The rounds are bigger.”
Kanji: Multi-Stage VC Funds Treat Early Checks as Simple Call Options
“But these days, with the growth of those guys, it's all call options for them, right? They will invest into something and see how it plays out, so they can write the 30, fifty million dollar check, where it starts to get meaningful.”
Kanji: AI euphoria is driving venture investors to skip due diligence
“And I think we're seeing some of that same stuff in AI. Like, there's so much euphoria for AI that people feel they have to have some of these companies in their portfolio.”
Kanji: Founders avoid working with overly controversial VCs
“I think who wants to work with people who are too controversial or too unpopular? I mean, you want, like, especially when things are going up, right? You want people who are going to be cheerleading as much as possible.”
Kanji: VC partnerships outperform solo GPs due to error-correction mechanisms
“I think partnerships are way better Than solo GPs, because you get this error correction mechanism from other smart people.”
Kanji: Unified European entity initiative 'Europe Inc' is unnecessary
“It's like people want to solve Europe Inc. They want to make it really easy to incorporate a company in Europe. Like, why? Incorporate in Delaware or the UK? Like, problem solved.”