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
Mackey: Supermarkets ignored Whole Foods until its NYC Columbus Circle store opened
“Whole Foods flew under the radar. The supermarkets never took us seriously for decades. It wasn't until we opened up in Columbus Circle in New York City.”
Mackey: Whole Foods Had 20 to 25 Years of Competitors Ignoring Them
“We had, you know, 20, 20 to 25 years where nobody paid any attention to us, and that allowed us to scale and compound, and they just dismissed us.”
Mackey: VCs owned 34% of Whole Foods before IPO and another round would forfeit control
“The founding investors still had a majority of the stock. The VCs on 34%. But if we'd done another round, they would have gotten control of the business, and they had different agendas.”
Mackey: Whole Foods gave stock options to all employees, creating many millionaires
“So many of our team members became millionaires through our stock option program. If you're on a winning team that grows, you can make a lot of money, even if you're not the most senior executives. We gave stock options to everybody that worked there.”
Mackey: 74% of Americans Are Overweight and 43% Are Obese
“74% of Americans are overweight, and 43% are obese, and that has not peaked. It is still going up.”
Mackey: Whole Foods avoided opening stores in competitors' home markets
“But I didn't compete directly with anybody else in stores ever. I didn't, I never did it. I didn't go to Portland for that reason, because Nature's was there. I didn't go to Boulder until Alfalfa's and Wild Oats had sort of partnered up.”
Mackey: 250 years ago 94% of humanity lived on under $2/day
“250 years ago, 94% of everyone alive. 94% lived on less than two dollars a day. 94%, and that's in today's dollars. 88% of the people alive were illiterate. 88%. The average lifespan was 30.”
Mackey: Only three or four natural food supermarkets existed when Whole Foods started
“When Whole Foods started, there were only, like, three or four other natural food supermarkets in the United States. There was, like, Bread and Circus in Boston. There was Mrs. Gooch's in L.A. There was Frazier Farms in San Diego.”