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 20 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
Outdoor Voices competes against consumer self-doubt, not Nike or Under Armour
“We're not up against the Nikes or Under Armors of the world. As a company, we're up against people's negative perceptions of themselves.”
CEOs of fast-growing companies do not have to sacrifice family life
“There don't have to be, like, sacrifices from a family
Perspective that you take to be the CEO of a fast-growing company, and you can do it all, all kind of in harmony.”
Founders should keep their day jobs as long as possible
“I was intent on keeping my job as long as possible and I think that's something that I'd recommend for people in, in the startup space or wanting to create something. Hold on to that job as long as you possibly can.”
The future of athletics is consistency, not competition
“For me, I realized that the future of athletics wasn't about being there first, but about being there most frequently and consistently,”
Offline community gatherings are the best driver of word-of-mouth marketing
“Back to when I was initially starting the product, I had always brought these groups of people together to do an activity, and at this stage, I started realizing that this offline kind of gathering of community was really the best way to drive word of mouth, a…”
Former J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler joined Outdoor Voices as chairman
“We've been lucky with the funding and engagement around the brand to have Mickey Drexler from J. Crew actually joined as the chairman of the board in 2016.”
General Catalyst's Peter Boyce led Outdoor Voices' seed round
“Yeah, Peter Boyce from General Catalyst. General Catalyst is a big VC. You're probably familiar with him out of Boston. He saw the product, saw the pitch, had gotten product on his girlfriend, Natalia. She loved it, and he said, I love this concept. I want to …”
Lena Dunham organically endorsed Outdoor Voices while filming 'Girls'
“And pretty quickly after that launched, got a post in from Lena Dunham in this kit, the man repeller kit. And she had been running for the first time on the set of Girls, something for the episode. And on Instagram, she had a caption that said, I've never been…”
Angel investor Kal Vepuri invested up to $50,000 from a cold pitch
“There was a guy named Cal Vipuri, who I remember reading a ton about, and so I went to him, knocked on his door and said, hey, this is what I'm doing would love for you to put 25 to fifty-k in, and he did.”
J.Crew sold through 50% of Outdoor Voices inventory in week one
“It did phenomenally, and so I think within the first week, they had already sold through 50% of the product.”
Outdoor Voices raised $400,000 in months to fulfill J.Crew's massive order
“I think I raised within two to two and a half months, 400 K, which was more than I needed to fulfill that 500 K order.”
Outdoor Voices launched with fabric passed over by Nike and Lululemon
“Stefan, he and his team were constantly making new materials to present to the likes of the Nikes and Underembers and Lulus, so they had created a material kind of at a similar time that they ended up showing me and maybe they had shown it to the other compani…”
J.Crew placed a massive $500,000 initial purchase order with Outdoor Voices
“It was 500,000 dollars. A 500,000 dollar purchase order.”
Outdoor Voices spent $150,000 to build its Austin flagship store
“So we spent a 150,000 dollars to build out our first store in Austin, Texas.”
19 of 25 VCs responded to Haney's student email cold outreach
“Of the 25, let's see, I would say probably 19 got back to me.”
Outdoor Voices' first two product sketches remain its best sellers
“The crop top and the two-tone legging, which are some of our best sellers today, are the first two things I sketched.”
Outdoor Voices produced 200 initial units for $5,000
“After that initial run of 10, I think I paid 5000 dollars to get 200 units, or 200 tops and bottoms made so that I could show up to this trade show.”
New York's Garment District factories initially refused to manufacture activewear
“Most of them, almost all of them, only made high-end fashion product, so they weren't wanting to make activewear”