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 9 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
Marla Beck: Conglomerate acquisitions of indie brands created barriers protecting Bluemercury
“All of these independent brands were purchased by L'Oreal, by Estee Lauder, and Shiseido. So, overnight, we were then in business with the big companies, and that did two things for us. It provided a wall around us for new entrants, because the indie brands di…”
Marla Beck: Traditional Department Store Beauty Models Served Brands, Not Customers
“The department store model was designed to serve the brands, not to serve the customers.”
Barry Beck: Being too early is functionally equivalent to being wrong
“I think that what we realize that sometimes being too early is really just being wrong.”
Barry Beck: Carlyle Group partner signed a blank seed check for Bluemercury
“Yeah, I think our first, one of our first checks, we went down to the Carlisle Group, and Dick Darman and Ed Mathias wrote the first checks, and I sort of remember, just to underscore the point, is that Ed signed a blank check, and then called out to his assis…”
Barry Beck: Bluemercury hit $150K cash and 60 days runway with 20 staff
“But when you're down to your last 150,000 dollars in the bank, and you look around the room, and you have 20 employees, and you realize you have 60 days of cash left, but you have to make some tough calls.”
Marla Beck: Bluemercury Seed Investors Demanded Pure-Play Internet Business
“At that point in time, all of our sort of e-commerce techie investors only wanted pure play internet businesses.”