why aren't all 6 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
Assertion Supported
Ball: ZIRP-era funding rounds lacked ratchets blocking down-round IPOs
“The reality of the moment we live in today is a lot of these zerf rounds, they didn't have ratchets. It was the opposite. They were very light on terms and they were very light on structure. So you don't have this Dynamic of super heavy ratchets, anti-dilution…”
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Ball: Regulatory opposition will block large-scale tech M&A in 2024
“From a regulation standpoint, it is really hard to see any large-scale M&A.”
Assertion Partly supported
Ball: Software venture funding fell 90% from peak to 2016-2017 levels
“Really, twenty-twenty-one and probably the first half of twenty-twenty-two, and now in twenty-twenty-three, we're down 90% from where we were at the peak, but we're really just back to the 2016, 20 17 trend line, right?”
Assertion Supported
Ball: Public software companies average 7x to 8x forward revenue multiples
“You know, on average, software companies trade around seven and a half times forward revenue, right? You can ignore that 20, 20, 21 period when interest rates went to zero. And so companies on average are going to exit at seven to eight times forward revenue, …”
Prediction Held up
Ball: Major tech acquirers like Palo Alto Networks will buy few startups
“Palo Alto isn't going to go acquire 10 companies, right, in the next year. They might acquire a couple. Same with all these other, like, large acquirers.”
Assertion Supported
Ball: Bessemer invested in MindBody at $10M ARR on a $42M valuation
“This was 2010, and they were doing a deal at ten million of ARR at 42 pre”