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 35 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
Dubin: Do not believe anyone claiming they can engineer a viral video
“Anybody that tells you that they can build you a viral video or don't believe them, I did not have huge hopes for this video.”
Dubin: Incumbents sue startups primarily to scare off capital and potential acquirers
“That's a playbook that big competitors, big incumbent competitors can do, you know, to make you look unattractive to capital, to make you look unattractive to potential acquirers.”
Dubin: Incumbents sue startups specifically to scare off investors and acquirers
“That's a playbook that big competitors, big incumbent competitors can do, you know, to make you look unattractive to capital, to make you look unattractive to potential acquirers.”
Dubin: Dollar Shave Club captured 20% to 25% of men's non-disposable razors
“I won't know the exact market share numbers off the top of my head, but I think that, you know, as of now, there's about 20 to 25% of the men's non-disposable razor market that we have.”
Dollar Shave Club captured 20% to 25% of the non-disposable razor market
“I think that, you know, as of now, there's about 20 to 25% of the men's non-disposable razor market that we have.”
Dubin: Great UX and UI design functions like a guided maze
“UX, UI is a maze or a puzzle. That's what great architects do. That's what great restaurant designers do when they lay out a space or design a hotel lobby. You know, it's great, what great product designers do, UX, UI designers do. They create these mazes for …”
Dubin: A business name should immediately convey what the company does
“I wanted the function of the business to come through in the name. And I think if you know, were to pluck somebody off the street and say what does a company called Dollar Shave Club do? You should probably be able to figure that one out.”
Gillette held an effective monopoly on razors when Dollar Shave Club launched
“This is, you know, Gillette at the time had, you know, an effective monopoly on this particular consumer product in this category.”
Dubin: Do not believe anyone who claims they can guarantee viral videos
“Anybody that tells you that they can build you a viral video or don't believe them”
Dubin: Razor manufacturing has high barriers due to metallurgical complexity
“There are not that many people in the world that make great razors. And you think about the science that's involved. For such an old school sort of product that's been around for a long period of time, There's an extraordinary amount of science that goes into …”
Dubin: Startup competition is wonderful because it validates your market category
“The presence of competition pushes you to define yourself more specifically, and focuses you on the things that you want to do, and You know, definitely makes you work a little bit harder. So, you know, most people, when they first start a company, and then th…”
Dubin: Startup near-death crises happen frequently, but worst-case outcomes are rare
“I think there's a lot of times when you're starting a company and you're faced with certain death or near death. You have a near death experience, which will happen a lot. It's never as bad as you think. It's also not as great as you hope it will be either. An…”
Dubin: Viral Marketing Waves Are Shorter Due to Ecosystem Saturation
“I think the biggest difference might be the wave doesn't last as long as it once did because there's just so much out there.”
Dubin: Founders Should Not Expect Lifelong Employee Loyalty
“Nobody comes to your company expecting it to be a lifelong relationship and you shouldn't expect that either, right? That's just not how it works. And then eventually they're going to move on and they're going to do something else. How can you play a role in t…”
Dubin: Pitching Founders Must Detail Expansion Beyond Initial Category
“I think you always want to go if you're pitching short answer is it depends who you're pitching, but you can never go wrong with going out with a big vision for how you're going to grow beyond your initial category. So it's great advice and, you know, you shou…”
Gillette held an effective monopoly when Dollar Shave Club was founded
“Gillette at the time had, you know, an effective monopoly on this particular consumer product in this category.”
Dubin: Raising venture capital was never easy for Dollar Shave Club
“Raising money has never been easy for us, and I think for, unless you're Snapchat circa 2000 whatever, you know, it's hard to raise money for any kind of company”
Dubin: Competition forces startups to sharpen identity and focus
“The presence of competition pushes you to define yourself more specifically, and focuses you on the things that you want to do, and You know, definitely makes you work a little bit harder.”
About 80% of Dollar Shave Club's 300 employees are recent hires
“Something like, you know, 80% of our, you know, three hundred-ish employees are new within the last 18 months.”
Dubin: Catastrophic startup outcomes are rare and composure develops with experience
“And, you know, yes, there are some times when the worst possible outcome happens, but it's really rare. And you go through enough sort of crises and near-death experiences, and you come out on the other side, and you kind of like, in your mind, you say to your…”
Mark Levine had 250,000 surplus razors and thousands of cake slicers
“Well, the two things that he approached me about were, he was like, I've got razors. I got about 250,000 razors. Ok. He also had a couple thousand cake slicers.”
Dubin paid $700 sight unseen to save Dollar Shave Club's razor stockpile
“So I had to go get 700 dollars sight unseen and give it to the guy so that he didn't throw out the razors, and I could have access to them.”
Broad City's Lucia Aniello wrote Dollar Shave Club's viral video punchline
“So the line, are our blades any good? No. They're fucking great. Used to be, are our blades any good? No. And then some other bad joke. And she gave me that line. So I actually owe that to Lucia.”
Dollar Shave Club raised $1M in venture capital before its public launch
“We had just raised about a million dollars in, in in venture capital.”
Startup studio Science wrote Dollar Shave Club's first $100K investment check
“So our first investor was a company called Science. They're out in Santa Monica. They gave us a 100,000 dollar check.”
Dubin: Dollar Shave Club struggled to raise venture capital through Series D
“Raising money has never been easy for us, and I think for, unless you're Snapchat circa 2000 whatever, You know, it's hard to raise money for any kind of company and for all the reasons that you pointed out in the beginning, you know, what, how do you think th…”
Dubin: Dollar Shave Club Founder Exploring Ideas for New Venture
“I'm starting to noodle a few new company ideas. You know, at this point, I am ready to jump back into something, but it has to be the right thing, and I'm excited to start building again.”
Dubin: Dollar Shave Club's First Check Was $100K From Science Inc.
“So our first investor was a company called Science throughout in Santa Monica. They gave us a 100,000 dollar check.”
Mark Levine held 250,000 surplus razors when he met Michael Dubin
“Well, the two things that he approached me about were, he was like, I've got razors. I got about 250,000 razors. Ok. He also had a couple thousand cake slicers.”
Dubin paid $700 to rescue 250,000 surplus razors from warehouse disposal
“I had to go get 700 dollars sight unseen and give it to the guy so that he didn't throw out the razors, and I could have access to them.”
Dollar Shave Club raised $1 million in VC before its viral launch
“We had just raised about a million dollars in, in in venture capital.”
Science was Dollar Shave Club's first institutional investor with a $100,000 check
“So our first investor was a company called Science. They're out in Santa Monica. They gave us a 100,000 dollar check.”
Dollar Shave Club shifted from monthly razors to infrequent full grooming kits
“We went from selling razors once a month to selling everything that you need a couple times a year. And that's working out really well, but just to get to that point required Transformation in advertising, and frankly, transformation of personnel.”
Dubin: Founded a Wildfire Management Nonprofit During the Pandemic
“During the pandemic, I started a wildfire nonprofit, and we do some lobbying, we do some fuel mitigation work, and some forest management work as well.”
Dubin: UX and UI design function like architectural mazes guiding users
“UX, UI is a maze or a puzzle. That's what great architects do. That's what great restaurant designers do when they lay out a space or design a hotel lobby. You know, it's great what great product designers do. UX, UI designers do. They create these mazes for p…”