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 14 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
YETI's 2008 excuse of raw materials cost increases was "total bullshit"
“We blame that price increase on a cost of raw materials increase. Which was total bullshit, but we had to tell them something.”
Competitors entering the premium cooler market were effectively fighting for second place
“And I think everyone that came into the market that it seemed like all at one time, they were all fighting it out for second place. And we felt like we had nailed the product and that it was going to be hard to improve on it, which it was.”
Investing aggressively in brand building beats spending startup resources on patent defense
“Getting a patent is an expensive process, but even more expensive is actually protecting it when you do have infringement. So we felt like it was kind of a waste of resources, you know, instead of playing a prevent defense, it was more about being offensive mi…”
Diverse independent dealer networks give brands leverage to reject big-box retailer terms
“Once you get these bigger customers, they start naming their terms and hitting you with all kinds of penalties and stuff like that. And so, I felt like once we started selling to some of these bigger accounts, we had the power to say no when they were trying t…”
Independent retailers needed premium coolers to earn viable square-footage margins
“A small sporting goods store with limited square footage, they can't make any money off of a 40 dollar cooler, you know... It's all about, at these small shops, it's inventory turns, you know, Dollars generated per square foot, and so here we are, we showed up…”
YETI's breakthrough was picking a product category capable of expanding beyond fishing
“No, I would say where we got lucky was picking an industry or picking a product category that could spill outside of the fish and tackle industry.”
YETI was cash flow positive from its first year in business
“We didn't have a budget, but we, you know, we were growing the business, and we were cash flow positive, and, you know.
[2992] Guy Raz: From year one, you were cash flow positive?
[2994] Roy Seiders: Man, we really were.”
Ordinary coolers broke down so often they were effectively disposable seasonal products
“Putting them on the boats has really exposed me to kind of the frustrations of ordinary coolers falling apart. When you our daily abuse and our daily wear and tear, the hinges would break, the latches would snap, and I think this was kind of my light bulb mome…”
YETI's sales grew from $100 million to $400 million in 18 months
“And we went from a hundred million to four hundred million. In a matter of 18 months.”
Ryan Seiders bought 49.5% of YETI by funding three shipping containers
“Ryan's buy-in to get 49.5% of the company was to use his Some of his proceeds from his Waterloo sale. And so he bought the first three container loads of product that came in from the Philippines.”
All 20 focus group participants remembered the name YETI out of 10 options
“I went back to the same group of 20 people, like, two weeks later, and I had one question. I said, hey, out of my list of 10 names, which ones can you remember? That's the only question I had, and all 20 people, they could remember maybe one or two names at Be…”
YETI grew to $3 million in sales with seven employees in 2008
“This is 2008. We're going from one million to three million in sales. I think we have, you know, probably six or seven full-time employees”
YETI reached $100 million in sales exclusively from hard coolers
“So to kind of set the stage, Yeti grew to a hundred million in sales just on hard coolers alone.”
YETI hit an inbound tipping point in 2009, adding 10 retailers daily
“And I think in 2009 and 10 is when we really, there was a tipping point and that is when we started getting phone calls from, you know, Pennsylvania, and Oregon, and Montana, and these were retailers calling us up and saying, hey, I've had three customers over…”