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 21 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
Ries: LTSE Requires Boards to Track and Publish Stakeholder Metrics
“So we require companies to, at the board level, identify a committee of the board who has a fiduciary obligation to identify who the company's key stakeholders are. Identify what are the effects that you want to have on those stakeholders, then have the compan…”
Ries: Amazon's long-term orientation as a public company is a singular anomaly
“And people are like, well, Jeff Bezos thinks long-term. I'm like, ok, but then you study the history of Amazon. That's a very unusual, singular situation that's unlikely to ever be repeated in history.”
Ries: Companies not governed for the long term are worth less money
“If companies are not governed for the long term, then they're worth less money. They're distracted. People are playing the beat and raise game. They are distracted from their fundamental mission of serving customers. Therefore, they're worth less money. Theref…”
Ries: Public company stock surveillance data is inaccurate and delayed 90 days
“Stock surveillance can tell you approximately who your investors probably were 90 days ago. It's time delayed. It's not very accurate. It's not what is needed.”
Ries: LTSE enables direct block transactions at 50 bps versus standard 5%
“So we have a mechanism that allows the long-term and certified long-term investors of a company to bid directly to the company, purchase stock directly from them, and we can consummate that transaction after market close for more like 50 basis points rather th…”
Ries: Most passive funds will not register for LTSE tenure tracking
“In the short term, I don't expect that most passive investors will do this registration that we're talking about, because they don't care about the governance side of companies.”
Ries: LTSE will impose strict limits on earnings guidance
“We will have very strict limits on guidance.”
Ries: LTSE will require companies to disclose EPS net of share buybacks
“We also require, or we will require, companies to disclose their, for example, EPS, net of buybacks. You can still do the buybacks, but you have to disclose how much of your improvement on an earnings basis is being driven by buybacks versus actual fundamental…”
Ries: Long-term asset owners are systematically excluded from IPO roadshows
“Our allies, the people we spend the most time with, are asset owners, even more than asset managers, who are absolutely left out of the roadshow process, the IPO. I mean, I, the people we talk to, who I think are the best investors on the planet, the most long…”
Ries: Lean Startup is about efficient use of proceeds, not low cost
“It's not about low cost. It's about efficient use of proceeds.”
Ries: Delayed IPO timelines locking retail investors out of growth is a travesty
“All growth companies, the average time to becoming public has gone way, way, way up. That means that the great public has been blocked out of the ability to invest in growth, and everyone, I'm sure your listeners know this phenomenon very well, but it's a trav…”
Ries: LTSE listings guarantee full public market liquidity
“Because we're a stock exchange, we're integrated with the financial system to such a degree that companies that list with us can be guaranteed the same access to the full liquidity of the public markets.”
Ries: LTSE strips tenure rewards from investors who loan or swap shares
“But like, let's say you build a total return swap, or you loan the shares out for shorts, or you do any activity that builds a derivative out of the economic ownership of the share, that automatically deregisters you from the ledger that we maintain on behalf …”
LTSE restricts specific comp instruments and mandates alignment disclosure
“So we have principles around certain compensation instruments that companies can't do. And generally require companies to disclose how they've created interest alignment between executives and their long-term investors.”
Ries: Incumbent exchanges pursue listings to drive trading volume, not for fees
“The reason that incumbent exchanges want listings so badly is not actually for the listing fees, but for the extra trades that it generates on their platform.”
Eric Ries: LTSE operates as a high-margin, low-volume business
“We think of our business as a high margin, low volume business. We're happy to make money by selling services, data, technology, directly to companies and their long term investors.”
Ries: Spent five years unsuccessfully trying to give LTSE concept to incumbents
“I tried for almost five years to give this idea away for free to the incumbent exchanges. I didn't want to build a stock exchange. It's a real pain. You know, it's a lot of work. That's not what I want to do with my time, but I couldn't get any of the incumben…”
Eric Ries: A bubble reaching New Haven signals its tail end
“One of my new investing rules is by the time the bubble gets to New Haven, Connecticut, it's a little bit towards the tail end of things.”
Ries: LTSE is a fully regulated national securities exchange, not an ATS
“We are a national securities exchange. We're in the same regulatory category as NYSE or NASDAQ. So this is on an alternative exchange or a venture exchange.”