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
Gold: Lane Furniture forced him to hide his sexual orientation
“They had moved me down to North Carolina, and it became very obvious to me that I couldn't be out. I couldn't bring Bob with me to functions of the company functions when they had spouses, and their whole way of operating was just not honest, is the best way I…”
Gold: Cutting retail accounts from 72 to 48 grew business 48%
“Bob and I sat down, and we went through the 72 customers that we had, and we dropped it to 48, and we said, these 48 we're going to be able now to give better service to. I swear this number is true. In that year, our business increased 48%.”
Gold: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams reached $1,500 sales per square foot
“And in short order, we were doing 1500 dollars a square foot, which is unheard of in the furniture industry. The furniture industry on average at the time was about 240 dollars a square foot.”
Founders sold 5,000 chairs and 800 tables in debut pitch weekend
“We had basically, in that weekend, sold 5000 dining chairs and 800 tables.”
Founders secured rare 15-day payment terms to fund initial manufacturing
“And I went to them and said, you know, we're just starting. But I knew these people well, and they knew that they could trust me. And I said, you know, I'm being open with you. These are big orders. I got to buy a lot of materials. I can't necessarily get the …”
Gold: Competitors Could Not Match 25-Year Frame Warranty
“Nobody else could offer a 25 year warranty on the frame because those type of wooden frames at the time, they became loose. Our frame would never become loose.”
Gold: Only one factory worker quit after his LGBTQ+ advocacy letter
“I was so nervous that the next day I would come in and we'd have half the factory quit, but it turned out only one person quit.”
Mitchell Gold: Annual revenue is somewhere near $300 million
“Somewhere near there. We're a private company. Can't say.”
Gold: Homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder during his youth
“In those days, it was considered a mental disorder.”
Gold: Christian Dior launched the first designer-coordinated domestics collection
“Christian Dior had designed this comforter, dust ruffles, pillow shams, sheets, draperies. It was the first time a big-name designer like that had done anything in domestics, and the first time anybody had done this very coordinated look.”