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 12 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
Parse sold to Facebook too early and would have survived independently
“Yeah, we sold early. I think we had a lot of momentum, something great going. One thing I think people don't realize is the venture market actually really didn't appreciate the type of thing we were doing in the same way that it appreciates it now. You look at…”
Early-stage valuation matters far less than power-law company selection
“Taken in the last, I don't know, maybe year or so is at the very early stage. It doesn't really matter. I care a lot more about ownership that I get. I mean, you know, when I look at my angel portfolio, which is finally starting to bloom, I don't know, seven y…”
Mark Zuckerberg resets Facebook's top priorities every six months
“I think working with Mark, the thing that really struck me about him and how he runs his organization and what he pushes down through the ranks is we can only do so many things at once. And he's set up his company in a way that, you know, roughly every six mon…”
Angel investors are rarely a founder's primary contact
“I really enjoy angel investing, but you know, sometimes you're one of many and you're not necessarily that one call that the founder has for any given thing.”
Matrix Partners does not require formal votes or consensus for investments
“We have a pretty nice setup at matrix where we don't really have a formal vote and we're not oriented around consensus decisions.”
Simple MVPs no longer work in crowded software categories
“The bar has moved, you know, dramatically higher. You can't just launch with that very simple, rough nugget of value because you're competing against 15 other things that look roughly like you, users have tried a bunch of them.”
Tripled VC fund sizes have raised the Series A bar
“Their fund size are triple the size they were, I don't know, seven years ago. And they want to wait until they can write a 12 to fifteen million dollar check in the Series A, but that means the bar is higher.”
Paul Graham's key innovation was backing young hackers rejected by others
“Paul Graham's fundamental innovation and how he changed our entire world is he bet on folks that others weren't willing to, the kind of young hacker who can build and learn everything else. And I really just believe in that.”
Hiring candidates who fail to leave a trail of respect is risky
“A lot of really ambitious people can break some glass, so to speak, on their journey. They step on some toes, they have disagreements, whatever. I think that's actually typically a good sign, at least in moderation, but they always leave a trail of respect alo…”
Investors risk bad decisions by over-rotating on single negative references
“While I think most investors don't do enough referencing, it is a dangerous trap to hear the loudest voice and over-rotate on it.”
Matrix Partners targets 20% to 25% ownership in early-stage deals
“At the end of the day, just like any other fund, we're shooting for 20 to 25% ownership”
Matrix Partners does not invest in Series B or later rounds
“At least at Matrix, we have a very We really don't do any Series Bs at this point, and certainly nothing later, and so we don't have the luxury of buying up ownership over, like, four or five rounds. We're not going to really increase our ownership dramaticall…”