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 22 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
Mark Pincus: Gavin Newsom's anti-Trump posture will fail if Trump proves popular
“The more that FDR style Trump and people get popular support, it's going to become a more and more isolating, lonely place in two years to still be Like, you know, California, Gavin, everyone's saying, don't worry, we're gonna protect you against these people.…”
Mark Pincus predicts DOGE will be more aggressive and overdeliver
“But I love what they're doing, and I just say that my own opinion, and this is not knowing anything I think that it's going to, I think it's going to over deliver not to set expectations, they don't want that, but I think it's going to be more aggressive and o…”
Mark Pincus: Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman had a deep falling out
“Between Peter and Reed they've been friends for life, and they had a falling, deep falling out over all this”
Mark Pincus says he helped interview candidates for Trump transition team
“I went to the transition office. Right. And helped Interview some people.”
Mark Pincus publicly endorsed Donald Trump two days before the 2024 election
“Eventually I came out two days before the election Publicly for Trump.”
Mark Pincus publicly endorsed Donald Trump two days before the 2024 election
“Eventually I came out two days before the election publicly for Trump.”
Pincus: Outside contractors account for 70% of US federal labor spending
“70% of the labor spend is for outside contractors, so I'm curious how far they can push that, because they might not have to go through all the legal labor side to cut. I think it's 1.2 trillion total spent on labor, and so, 70% of that, eight hundred billion …”
Pincus: Political campaigns will require authentic, long-form candidate media presence
“We're, we have a new way of doing politics after this election, that there's only authentic, like, only long form, and you, you're gonna have, you're, even the Democrats aren't gonna be able to field a candidate that isn't the full color”
Mark Pincus reveals he held conversations to join DOGE in D.C.
“I had some conversations. I was definitely intrigued and interested, and I was ready to take, like, the shittiest, like, least prestigious, and kind of potentially some, like, pretty polarizing position for at least six months move my family to D.C.,”
Mark Pincus rates dating apps 1/10 and Raya 3/10
“My take is dating apps are a one out of 10 experience, and Rai is a three out of 10, so I say it sucks three times less, and it's because there's a human curation level”
Pincus: Developing AI app 'Based or Biased' using Mark Cuban data
“And I've been working with these AI hackers on an app, not promoting here, it's not even available, called Based or Biased, and They used him to tune the app, the model for high bias, low base, because he flips, he's, he deleted his pro-Trump, I mean, his anti…”
Mark Pincus bought Six Degrees patents for $750K and still owns half
“Reid and I bought them because we were worried that if Yahoo at the time had gotten them, or even Friendster, that they would have blocked the whole industry, so we bought them. We paid 750 K, which was a lot then, and we were accused of being patent trolls, a…”
Mark Pincus: MBA jobs at Meta and Google have dried up
“Everyone wants a job at Meta or Google, and that's the get rich quick place, and it's, I don't even think that's necessarily true anymore, and they can't get those jobs because those companies are now trying to get rid of middle management. So those jobs have …”
Mark Pincus: Rival Playdom once burned a mannequin of him on stage
“They hated me and my company so much that they burned a mark mannequin on stage”
Pincus: Founders must define their narrative before media creates one
“Reed said to me early on, you need to pick what the easy narrative is, or the press is going to make it up for you.”
Mark Pincus wrote the first $100,000 check for Napster
“I think the first social media investment I made was Napster. I sent the first check, the first 100,000 dollars.”
Mark Pincus co-funded Friendster and invested in early Facebook and Twitter rounds
“Yeah, Reed and I put up the first money for Friendster. And then we were lucky enough to invest along with Peter in the first round of Facebook. The first on Twitter, so.”
Mark Pincus: California Coastal Commission's stated policy is managed retreat
“The people running both the staff there and the people on the board have stated on their website that their policy is managed retreat.”
Mark Pincus discloses purchasing Alibaba and other Chinese equities
“I've been loading up on Alibaba, a couple Chinese names.”
Mark Pincus considered funding a $1.5M documentary recreating military UAP encounters
“He was interested and my friend was interested in saying, okay, can you put up a couple people a million and a half dollars to recreate this and film this? And I thought about it. I even had him go meet with Reed and didn't move quickly. And then he went dark …”