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 17 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 3 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
Vaccarella predicts that Bogg Bag will become a billion-dollar brand
“I believe it'll be a billion dollar brands.”
Vaccarella gave a 25% stake in Bogg Bag for a $120,000 investment
“And we signed the paperwork, and I gave them 25% of the business.”
Bogg Bag reached $50 million in 2023 revenue with five core employees
“The greater part of 23, and at the end of 2023, we had five people and some warehouse workers. None of us had any experience in what we were doing, and we closed 2023 at fifty million dollars.”
Bogg Bag hit $20 million in sales while taking orders manually
“The only need was I was probably in the, you know, twenty million dollar range at that point. And we had no systems. I was taking orders on pen and paper. Everything was done like manually.”
Vaccarella sold a 40% stake in Bogg Bag to preserve founder control
“Yeah, 40% stake, so I maintained control, which was, you know, the issue with the other deal, and, you know, we started the ball rolling”
Vaccarella's factory threatened to sell defective Bogg Bags independently if rejected
“And basically they were like, no, you need to take these bags first so that we have more room in the factory so that we can make you more bags. And I said, I'm not taking any of these bags. And the guy said well, we'll just sell them then.”
Vaccarella says Bogg Bag was the only EVA bag available initially
“Well, shoes in my bags, because we were the only EVA bag at the time, but they were being made in the same type of machinery.”
Vaccarella kept Bogg Bag at 90% wholesale during the COVID-19 pandemic
“We kind of took the opposite, and we went wholesale heavy, so I was about 90% wholesale over COVID.”
Vaccarella says up to 1,000 bags in a 1,200-unit order arrived defective
“Between 800 and a thousand.”
Vaccarella says Bogg Bag reached $1 million in sales in 2018
“So you had three months to hit a million dollars. That's a lot of pressure. Yeah, it was. But we did it. We squeaked it by.”
Sandy relief recipients later contacted Vaccarella to purchase more Bogg Bags
“Between nine months and a year after Sandy,
Now, all these people have had their bog bags in the worst possible scenario.
Guy Raz: All these people who got a donation.
Kim Vaccarella: Oh, all the, yes.
Kim Vaccarella: Everybody that received a donation had the…”
Vaccarella funded a $30,000 Bogg Bag order using her children's college fund
“This was my savings, yeah. Well, my husband and my savings, yeah. And my kid's college fund.”
Vaccarella funded early Bogg Bag expenses with her husband's pension loan
“One point we took out a pension loan from my husband's pension. I used some of the money.”
Vaccarella distributed defective Bogg Bags filled with supplies for Sandy relief
“And we handed out every single bag.”