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
Bookman: Software companies must build systems of record before leveraging network data
“You come for the tool, you stay for the network.
We've got to build the systems of record before we get the data to do the amazing things that we always wanted to do.”
Bookman: Govtech Competitors Acquired for Financials Rather Than Product Quality
“Our competitors would buy companies Based on revenue, based on profit, customer footprint, based on basically anything other than product quality.”
Bookman: Nonprofits cannot build enterprise software at scale
“And it was through that work that actually you and we realized you can't really build technology and software at real scale and get it to the enterprise in a nonprofit context.
You've got to combine the for profit motive to get the very best people with the m…”
Lonsdale: Palantir and OpenGov succeeded by partnering with internal civil servants
“That's how I've always succeeded at Palantir, and I think at OpenGov as well, as you find, but also you find at the government that there are some good people there, and you partner with them, and they pull you in.”
Lonsdale: Govtech companies struggle to grow organically above 20-30%
“I guess you have some stuff growing at 50% right now, which is unusual, but it's hard for these companies to grow faster than 20 or 30%, usually for the most part.”
Lonsdale: Governments only pay to automate existing processes
“The first thing was that government only pay for the processes that they're already doing, right?”
Lonsdale: Cox Enterprises acquired OpenGov for $1.8B
“I'm dealing with all these government budgets right now on Doge, so it's like, it's really in this, it went with 1.8 billion dollars, which is a nice, it was a nice win.”
Bookman: Selling benchmarking data to governments is not a viable software business
“They say they want it, and then they'll offer you 5000 bucks for it.
Well, you know what?
It costs a lot more than 5000 bucks to build, and a lot more than 5000 bucks to even sell it to you.
It's not a business.”
Bookman: Half of OpenGov's team quit following pivot to systems of record
“Half the freaking team quit in the next two or three months.”
Bookman: OpenGov originally mistakenly assumed government needs were uniform
“And this is something we started off with that I think we weren't very clear on. We thought there is a little more one size fits all. The tech can be useful, but the way they want to use the tech is very, very different.”
Bookman: Multi-fund accounting is the core difference between governments and companies
“The core difference between a company and a government is often the multi-fund accounting. So everyone says, you're taxing my gas, you idiots, you can't even, you know, deliver My water correctly. Well, I can't spend the gas tax on your water because it goes i…”