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 10 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
Raz: Lonely Planet was valued at $250 million at its peak
“By the way, at its height, the company was valued at a quarter of a billion dollars.”
Tony Wheeler: Lonely Planet sold 100,000 copies of its India guidebook
“Suddenly we had this book that was over 700 pages, and it sold for, you know, double figures. It was 12 dollars or 14 dollars or something instead of three or four, and it just sold, it sold, we sold a 100,000 copies of it.”
Lonely Planet's India guide sold 100,000 copies at $12 to $14
“And, ah, suddenly we had this book that was over 700 pages, and it sold for, you know, double figures. It was 12 dollars or 14 dollars or something instead of three or four, and it just sold, it sold, we sold a 100,000 copies of it.”
The first Lonely Planet guidebook was 96 pages and cost $1.80
“It sold for, it was 96 pages. It sold for one dollar 80.”
A Singapore bookshop bought 1,000 copies of Lonely Planet's second guide
“I saw him writing Southeast Asia on a shoestring in the, on the order form, and then write some number down. And he spun the order around and pushed it across the desk to me, and he bought a thousand copies. You know, I walked out of that that office you know,…”
Lonely Planet founders left London for Asia with only 400 pounds
“See, we had so little money. We left London with 400 pounds, so that was our money.”
Tony Wheeler: Lonely Planet's first book was 96 pages and cost $1.80
“It sold for, it was 96 pages, it sold for one dollar 80.”
Lonely Planet was named after misheard Joe Cocker lyrics
“One of the songs in that, that That movie and that, that album is Joe Cocker singing a song called Space Captain, and the first line of the song goes, once while traveling across the sky, this lonely planet caught my eye. And I said to Maureen, I was humming t…”