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
Brown: Consumers do not buy sustainable products; they buy great products
“People don't buy sustainable products. They buy great products.”
Zwillinger: Corporate charter legally binds Allbirds management to environmental responsibility
“Our charter says we have a fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders, and we have a equal responsibility to the environment. And so if Tim or I are no longer in the business, and some other person takes over, ah, they still have a responsibility to do what …”
Zwillinger: No inherent tension exists between financial returns and sustainability
“We don't believe that there needs to be the tension between financial success and success for other purpose-driven aspects of our business, and namely the environment for us. And I think that's true for a lot of businesses.”
Zwillinger: Allbirds generated $1 million in sales in its first month
“We done a million dollars in sales in the first month.”
Brown: Founding a business brings more sustained pressure than professional sports
“It's like when you start something, this thing embeds six inches in your brain, and you don't shut it off, and it's a voice that's there, 24 seven all the time, and you're constantly thinking about it, and I, you know, I retired from sport, and I, That, that h…”
Zwillinger: Better to co-own a big business than solo-own a small one
“Doing it alone is really lonely, and I'd always been of the opinion that if I was gonna do a business, I wanted to do it with someone, cause I knew my shortcomings were substantial, and that I would much rather have a piece of something big than a lot of somet…”
Brown: Consumers buy shoes for comfort, but equate comfort with ugly design
“Comfort is the number one reason why people buy shoes, and comfort often is equated with ugliness, so if your dad tells you he's got a comfortable pair of shoes, you assume they don't look very good”
Portuguese supplier went bankrupt shortly after delivering the initial Kickstarter order
“The factory in Portugal decided to go bankrupt right at the end of this shortly after we just delivered it.”
Factory erroneously produced early Kickstarter shoes in identical men's and women's sizes
“The factory's made the men's and women's shoes exactly the same size.”
Zwillinger: Allbirds sold exclusively the Wool Runner for its first 14 months
“We sold one style, the Wool Runner, for 14 months. We didn't do anything else except sell the Wool Runner.”
Brown secured a New Zealand government grant to engineer woolen shoe textiles
“With the help of you know, some friends at the time put together a grant on a whim to develop a woolen textile for making the upper of a shoe out of.”
Brown: Americans view wool as scratchy, so marketing must emphasize merino
“Well, first of all, I realized that wool to Americans meant hot and scratchy. So all of a sudden you actually had to talk about merino. It's a different shape. And it's a finer material and it's softer and then you also had to talk about not just the material,…”