The Ledger
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why aren't all 21 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
Jeremy Stoppelman emphatically denies that Yelp allows pay-to-play review manipulation
“The answer is, of course, absolutely not. That's never been the case. And in fact, you can prove it to yourself. Look at any one of our advertisers and see if you find negative reviews. Chances are you will, because everyone gets the occasional negative review…”
Jeremy Stoppelman says Yelp filters out 25% of submitted reviews on average
“Yelp has a mechanism where 25% on average of reviews are not shown on the businesses page, and we are by far the most aggressive of any review site out there.”
Jeremy Stoppelman argues transaction verification fails to prevent fake online reviews
“And there is this like false, I would call it very false belief That if you prove that someone transacted, then that review is therefore trustworthy, but all you have to do is, like, read one of the 20 stories on Amazon about how people still easily game that …”
Steve Jobs called Stoppelman urging Yelp not to sell to Google
“You know, he said, don't sell to Google. We think you're a great company. We think what you're doing is really interesting. He didn't say, oh, well, Apple, you know, is interested in you, but he did say, is this about money? Because Apple has a lot of money, a…”
Google licensing clash led directly to Yelp acquisition talks
“We started by licensing our content to them in a way that we thought was reasonable, and then over time, it became clear that they really wanted to compete with us directly and collect information. Reviews themselves. And so then they said to us, well, we're g…”
Yelp removes unrelated reviews and places public alerts during media controversies
“We can put up an alert on the page and we actually pull down the content that's unrelated to the actual business.”
Jeremy Stoppelman claims Google takes a lenient stance on fake business reviews
“Google, for instance, doesn't take as harsh a stance on, you know, allowing people to solicit reviews or fake reviews or what have you, like ratings tend to be more positive and business owners love that.”
Max Levchin invested $1M for 40% equity to start Yelp
“So Max committed the million dollars. He got a large chunk of equity. I think it was 40%.”
Stoppelman: Writing online reviews functions as self-expression like blogging
“The idea shifted from, hey, the only way that we're going to get reviews is if you're asked a question, to, hey, maybe reviews are a form of self-expression. You know, just like someone writes a blog for fun to talk about what's going on in their life, or what…”
Yelp succeeded because post-crash 2004 had few competing internet startups
“That was part of why I think we ultimately were successful, is there were just so few people working on new internet ideas in 2003, 2004, around that time period.”
VCs in 2004 demanded Yelp replace its young founders with seasoned executives
“So in our case, we're young, we're technical, and so we look kind of like what happened in the late nineties, and so everyone still had PTSD from the dot-com bust, And so one of the common refrains to me was, you know, and this is straight to my face, was like…”
Stoppelman attributes 60% of Yelp's success to luck and timing
“I'd probably give it 60% luck would be my breakdown. I do feel like circumstances played a big role.”
Levchin offered $1M on a whim to fund Yelp at inception
“And entirely on a whim, I basically said, I will buy as much of this company as you'll sell me for a million dollars.”
Levchin held 11% of Yelp at IPO and significantly more initially
“By the time of the IPO, yes, but in the moment it was much more since there was really nothing.”
Yelp executives considered a skeleton-staff contingency plan during early COVID-19 lockdowns
“You know, is there a freeze the company in Amber type strategy literally was something we were talking about, like where we just go down to the skeleton of staff. If it's a nuclear winter type of situation.”
Yelp furloughed 1,000 employees during early COVID, later rehiring up to 80%
“And so it ended up being a thousand people. That we put on furlough. And we said at the outset, Hey, this, we think our best guess is, is we think this is four months. And fortunately that guess proved to be accurate. And at the end of the four months, we were…”
Yelp provided $32 million in forgiven fees to restaurants during early COVID
“So, so pulling together a bunch of different things to support the restaurant nightlife industry at that time became a big priority and ultimately culminated with about thirty two million dollars, you know, worth of forgiven fees and other things to support re…”
Yelp's early adopters were urban culture seekers, not techies
“I assumed that the first users of Yelp would be tech early adopters. You know, in my mind, we're a technology site. But I would actually say the early users of Yelp were urban early adopters. Like, they're looking for what's new and cool and interesting in the…”
Yelp had a native app ready on day one of the App Store
“So we actually had a, an app ready to go day one when the app store opened.”
Empathetic public responses can neutralize negative online reviews for prospective customers
“Also, you can respond, and that's one of the most powerful tools, I think, out there, because think about yourself as a customer. If you see a negative review, you might read that and say, oh, that's weird, but then if you see a very thoughtful Reply from the …”