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 20 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
Claure: I Invested $150M Into FTX at SoftBank Due to FOMO
“So I invested hundred and fifty million dollars on FTX, which I mean, apologies to SoftBank, because I should have never made that investment, but it's probably one decision that has changed my life forever. I'm never going to invest in something that I don't …”
Claure: Bicycle Capital Raised $500M Fund With Just Five LP Calls
“It's a Mubarala, who, Mubarala wanted to make a bet in Latin America, and we've known Mubarala for a while, both you and myself, and then we called five other LPs. We made five phone calls, and the five of them said yes, and it was my family office, so we real…”
Claure: Three of Uber's Top Five Global Cities Were in LatAm
“When we were investors in Uber, you know, we had to keep it a secret that after New York, three of the top five cities were Latin American cities.”
Claure: SoftBank constructs Chinese walls when portfolio companies become direct competitors
“What we do at that point in time is we basically split the responsibilities within investment partners. We build these Chinese walls to make sure nobody except me can see what they're doing, and we're very careful in information sharing.”
Claure: Passing on Nubank early due to valuation was a mistake
“I passed on Nubank because of the price at the beginning, when we started the fund and it was the wrong decision because the opportunity was huge.”
Claure: I Am a Good Operator, Not a Good Investor
“I don't think I'm a good investor. I think I can spot good businesses, I can spot good entrepreneurs, but there is a master to invest in, and what I can do is I can bring opportunities, and I can then pass them up to Shu, and Shu often analyzes them a lot bett…”
Claure: Bicycle Capital Has a Deep Alliance With Sequoia China
“So we have a very deep alliance with Sequoia China, and we'll say more Sequoia China, with Neil Shen.”
Claure: Passing on Nubank early due to valuation was a mistake
“I passed on Nubank because of the price at the beginning when we started the fund, and it was the wrong decision because the opportunity was huge. Now I made that mistake. I said, oh my God, it's too expensive. But I didn't realize that the size of the pie was…”
Claure: SoftBank deploys $40B to $50B annually
“We're investing 40 to fifty billion dollars a year.”
Claure: SoftBank uses Univision TV ads to accelerate fintech portfolio growth
“We're using that company to put ads in traditional TV to help people to download the app of our fintech companies and making our fintech companies explode.”
Claure: SoftBank Passed on Nubank Early On Due to High Price
“I passed on Nubank because of the price at the beginning when we started the fund, and it was the wrong decision because the opportunity was huge.”
Claure regrets SoftBank missing major MercadoLibre investment in 2018
“So MercadoLibre, in July, 2018, the value was significantly less, and I didn't push mass enough for us to make an enormous play with MercadoLibre, because I didn't truly understand investing back then.”
Claure: Only 5% of investments are so large that price is irrelevant
“Yeah, that's 95% of our investments. There's a five percent where price doesn't matter, and those you cannot afford to make a mistake.”
Claure: Entry valuation did not matter when investing in Kavak
“Perfect example of that is Kavak in Mexico. The size of the used car marketplace in Latin America, especially in Mexico, is gigantic. So therefore, at the beginning, it didn't matter if the price was 204 hundred million, it really didn't matter because the siz…”
Claure: Bicycle Capital Partners Committing $200M of Their Own Money
“When you look at Bicycle Fund One, We're bringing our own capital. We're probably one of the few funds who, we're bringing more than two hundred million dollars of our own money, right?”
Claure: Bicycle Capital Started With Three Partners Before Consolidating to Two
“We had a third partner. And we, we're only two partners. And we were three when we started, and it was those hard discussions that made us be two.”
Claure: 95% of portfolio investments require strict price discipline
“Yeah, that's 95% of our investments. Five percent where price doesn't matter.”
Claure: Kavak's initial $200M-$400M price tag was negligible given market size
“Perfect example of that is Cabac in Mexico. The size of the used car marketplace in Latin America, especially in Mexico, is gigantic. So therefore, at the beginning, it didn't matter. The price was 204 hundred million. It really didn't matter because the size …”