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 25 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
Post-acquisition, Dell's bureaucracy operated like a slow-moving aircraft carrier
“There was a lot of corporate, you know, like, requests, and a lot of, ah, decisions that would take a long time, because there was a lot of analysis that had to be done, understandably slow, so it was a public, ah, company, and I understand that, but, Man, I k…”
Gonzalez: Dell did a phenomenal job preserving the Alienware brand
“Honestly, they did a phenomenal job of preserving the brand.”
Azor: Boutique PC makers gain advantage via emerging tech unfit for mass production
“Because we were smaller, we were, we had access to certain components and ultra high tech and emerging technologies that weren't ready for mass scale and mass adoption. So that we used our size to our advantage.”
Michael Dell's company reached $66 million in revenue when he was 21
“I think it was sixty-six million that, that year, and I was 21.”
Michael Dell: Most early Dell sales came from businesses, not consumers
“A lot of people thought, oh, only consumers buy from Dell. That's actually not what was happening. We were selling to all sorts of companies and governments and small and medium-sized businesses, and that was most of our business, even from the beginning.”
Dell introduced a PC twice as fast as IBM's for half price
“IBM at the time had a six megahertz, two 86 computer that they sold for 3995 dollars. So, you know, we introduced a 12 megahertz two 86 base computer and we sold it for 1995 dollars. So our computer was twice as fast and was half the price.”
The FCC ordered Dell to halt all computer production around 1986
“I remember one time we got this letter from something called the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, and apparently, ah, you know, computers fall under something called the Federal Communications Commission Class B device, which means they have to be a…”
Michael Dell admits Dell underinvested in innovation prior to 2007
“There were definitely some areas where we could have been investing more in innovation.”
Michael Dell temporarily pulled out of due diligence before acquiring Alienware
“Well, the funny thing is that we come to terms. He sends his guys over. They start doing the due diligence. Then, a month or two into it, all of a sudden, Michael sends, you know, calls me and says, hey, we're gonna have to pull out.”
Azor: Alienware initially competed internally with Dell's XPS brand post-acquisition
“Initially when Dell acquired Alienware, we were still competing against XPS gaming because XPS was their gaming brand.”
Dell began building PCs internally because buying them became too expensive
“And by this time, we had actually been assembling our own computers just to format the hard drives, because it became too expensive to buy them from other people.”
Michael Dell: Most of Dell's early business came from B2B and government sales
“We were selling to all sorts of companies and governments and small and medium-sized businesses, and that was most of our business, even from the beginning.”
Dell's Sales Doubled Three Months After Introducing On-Site Technical Service
“And, you know, we thought the minute we announced this, our sales will double, you know, because it was, like, so much better than what we were doing before, and they didn't double instantly, but after about three months, they doubled, so.”
The FCC Ordered Dell to Stop Manufacturing Computers in 1986
“I mean, I remember one time we got this letter from something called the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, and apparently, ah, you know, computers fall under something called the Federal Communications Commission Class B device, which means they have…”
Dell Initially Assembled PCs Just to Format Hard Drives Cheaply
“And by this time, we had actually been assembling our own computers just to format the hard drives, because it became too expensive to buy them from other people.”
Michael Dell Reached $80,000 in Monthly PC Sales From His Dorm Room
“I was doing about 50 to 80,000 dollars a month in business when I was in my dorm room.”
Dell Reached $66 Million in Annual Revenue When Michael Was 21
“I think it was sixty-six million that, that year, and I was 21.”
Dell Launched a Computer Twice as Fast as IBM's for Half Price
“So, you know, we introduced a 12 megahertz two 86 base computer and we sold it for 1995 dollars. So our computer was twice as fast and was half the price.”
Michael Dell: Dell's 1989 engineering initiative 'Project Olympic' failed
“You know, around the same time, we also had a wildly ambitious engineering program that our team had cooked up, and It was too big of a technical leap, and the project failed. It was a project called Olympic.”
Rypka: Managed $10M–$15M Annual Food Operations Across 12 Cafes at Dell
“I ran all the food service over both campuses, and there was about 12 different cafes and different buildings, and we also had a huge catering department that did tons of catering. So it was a big, big job. And a lot of responsibility. I mean, I was in charge …”
Gonzalez: Alienware mimicked Dell's direct-to-consumer business model
“The only reason I said Dell was because Dell, we mimicked Dell's business model. We didn't reinvent the wheel.”
Dell was the most featured brand in movies in 2016
“In fact, a few years ago, in 2016, Dell was the number one brand featured in movies. More than Sony, more than Mercedes Benz or Adidas, and yes, more than Apple Macs.”
Dell has sold over 650 million computers since its 1984 founding
“Dell has sold more than six hundred and fifty million computers since Michael Dell founded it in 1984.”