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 9 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
Shah defends 2019 controversial mattress sale to border refugee shelter nonprofit
“It was actually mattresses sold to a non-profit, a that operates refugee shelters all over the world, in Africa and in the United States and Europe. And they were actually operating three shelters along the southern border.”
Shah: Wayfair hit 84% growth and massive profitability during COVID-19
“All of a sudden the growth came in at 84% and we were massively profitable.”
Shah: Online furniture grew during 2008 despite a 30% industry crash
“In the Great Depression, it shrunk 35% from the top to the bottom. In the financial crisis, it actually shrunk, the furniture industry shrunk by 30%, three-zero, and so it was really devastating. What was interesting, though, is online, except for an immediate…”
Shah: Wayfair grew from $700K in 2002 to $27M in 2004
“Well, 2002 was our first year. We did about 700,000. 2000 three was our second year. I think we did about seven million. And then the following year, 2004, I think we did twenty seven million.”
Shah: US segment is 90% of Wayfair and profitable for five quarters
“In our case, the United States has been profitable. You know, if you look, read our financials and we break out the adjusted EBITDA for the US and international. Yeah. So US is 90% of our business and that's been profitable for the last five quarters.”
Shah: Wayfair operates a 2,500-person tech team and 25M sq ft logistics network
“We have enough scale to have, you know, a 2500 person technology team, and we have enough scale to have A twenty-five million square foot logistics network that's warehouses and transportation delivery operations.”
Shah: Wayfair spends over $1B annually on advertising
“The fact that we spend over a billion dollars on advertising a year.”
Shah: Wayfair bootstrapped profitably for a decade before raising venture capital
“And so we were profitable for the first decade plus of the business. But then when we raised money to build up the Wayfair brand, then we're losing money.”
Shah: Wayfair's $15B run rate is under 2% of the furniture market
“Depending on what number you want to take the run rate of, you know, we're at 1314, fifteen billion dollars in annual revenue, but that compares to an end market that's eight hundred billion dollars, so we're still less than two percent of the end market.”