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 8 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
VCs rejected Dyson's pitch, preferring to invest in fast food instead
“I went to various venture capitalists, the sort of people who ought to lend to startups, and the kind of response I got was well, you know, it's not a very interesting area. We're investing in restaurants, fast food restaurants at the moment, or we're not lend…”
Dyson bought out Jeremy Fry's 49% stake for £45,000
“He just said, I hate lawsuits, and my financial advisor thinks the vacuum cleaner's going nowhere, and he owned 49% of the business.
So what'd you buy an hour for?
I bought him out.
45,000 pounds.”
Dyson: Vacuum cleaners lose suction from pore clogging, not full bags
“And I suddenly realized that the suction is created by airflow, which has to go through the pores of the bag. But this fine dust is clogging the pores. It's not the fact the bag's full. It's the fact that the bag is clogged. They call it a bag full indicator. …”
Dyson: All major vacuum incumbent competitors rejected licensing cyclonic technology
“When I was trying to license it to, I went to all the people who are now my competitors, and a lot of others as well, and they all turned it down. They were all quite interested in it, but turned it down.”
Dyson built 5,127 failed prototypes before perfecting his vacuum cleaner
“In my case, and I counted it, it's 5127 times.”
Standard motors run at 15,000 RPM while Dyson aims for 130,000 RPM
“We don't know that we can make a motor go at 130,000 RPM when existing motors only go 15,000 RPM.”