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 36 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
Chen: Pure shareholder profit maximization is unfit for humans
“If underneath the mandate is, at the end of the day, make the most money for shareholders, it's a really, it's not really a good fit for humans, and I don't think it's, It portends very well for society if this is what we accept as the only way to do it.”
Perry Chen: Many founders work years in misery just to avoid failing
“I think so many entrepreneurs just drive themselves to not fail their employees, not fail their investors, not fail, you know, success, and will add years and years and years onto businesses that they're running, 70, eighties hours a week that they really wish…”
Chen: Early-stage founders must be deluded and ignore the odds
“I think it's just that you do have to be deluded when you're in those stages. You have to not think about the odds. You know, you have to have just incredible belief that it is worth it.”
Chen predicts corporate governance will become the primary differentiator for companies
“I mean, at the organizational governance level, the corporate governance level, I think that's a big thing that people are going to start paying more and more attention to. We've been running so much on this kind of totally profit-centric system in the U.S., a…”
Kickstarter's founders told early investors they would never sell or IPO
“Going into it, we knew that we weren't building this to sell this, and we weren't trying to create a public company. And when we went out for investment, this was, you know, one of the first things we discussed with people.”
Perry Chen: Maximizing shareholder profit is a poor fit for human society
“But really, if underneath the mandate is, at the end of the day, make the most money for shareholders, it's a really, it's not really a good fit for humans. And I don't think it's, It portends very well for society if this is what we accept as the only way to …”
Perry Chen: Future common sense might have stopped me founding Kickstarter
“The delusion that I had, and I think the delusion that we all have as entrepreneurs, if I cut through that delusion with some common sense from the future, to be honest, who knows if I would have gone through with it.”
Perry Chen: Founders are far more likely to succeed solving their own problems
“You're so much more likely to be successful if you're solving a problem that you have, so you know when you're really solving it. You don't have to focus group it.”
Chen: Day traders provide no value beyond shuffling numbers
“The traders like to think that they're providing liquidity, like some great service, but, you know, it's, you're doing nothing. You're shuffling some numbers from one computer to another.”
Kickstarter explicitly told early investors it would not IPO or sell
“I think going into it, we knew that we weren't building this to sell this, and we weren't trying to create a public company. And when we went out for investment, this was, you know, one of the first things we discussed with people.”
Kickstarter rejects special promotional deals for big companies
“If you want, like, some special stuff from us or whatever, I mean, that's just not what we do. It's a relatively open door, but you're not any better than some young creator who's working on their first idea.”
Perry Chen: Day trading provides no meaningful service despite liquidity claims
“At best, what I'm doing is neutral. I mean, I'm not selling somebody on anything, so the traders like to think that they're providing liquidity, like some great service, but you know, it's, you're doing nothing. You're shuffling some numbers from one computer …”
Perry Chen: Traditional funding models force creators to compromise their vision
“So many things don't have access to funds. There aren't industries or investors or whatever set up around to fund things because the market might not be sizable enough. And then even the things where the market might be sizable enough that the deal you have to…”
Kickstarter refuses to offer special promotional partnerships or perks to large companies
“I think a lot of times big companies, they want to do a partnership, they want to sign a contract. That's, you know, we're like, listen, if you want to go do it, go log on the site. But if you want, like, some special stuff from us or whatever, I mean, that's …”
Crowdfunding removes the social friction of directly asking friends for money
“There was this social friction before that existed, and the model has been able to eliminate that, or even put it in a way that's socially positive.”
Kickstarter reincorporated as a Public Benefit Corporation in 2015 to protect stakeholders
“And then two years ago, we became a public benefit corporation, which is still a for-profit company, but it means that the obligations of the board and the executives and the company is to balance the shareholder interest with greater stakeholders, including t…”
Kickstarter originated as an all-or-nothing funding model for concerts
“I thought, what if the people that, Would want to come to the show could have a say in that, and if enough people could do that before a certain point, then the show could happen, and if not, then it doesn't.”
Kickstarter founders wrote a 100-page spec before writing any code
“I think at the end we produced a document over a hundred pages about how the site would function, with zero code written, mind you.”
Comedian David Cross was Kickstarter's first angel investor
“I had a friend of mine, and her cousin is David Cross, the comedian from Arrested Development, and many other, Mr. Show, and great stuff. And so she connected us, and we went and had a drink at a bar, and I talked to him about the idea, and, ah, a few months l…”
Andy Baio screened early Kickstarter developers because founders couldn't review code
“One of the people we met was Andy Baio, who really helped us kind of figure out what kind of technology we should be using, and helped us interview the developers that we Would hire, and he eventually became our first CTO. That was tremendously helpful because…”
Kickstarter reached profitability within 18 months of launch
“I think, you know, the first six months, not at all, no revenue. I think within a year after that, so probably within the first 18 months, we got in the black.”
Kickstarter has surpassed $3 billion in total project pledges
“Recently, we passed the three billion dollar pledge mark.”
Kickstarter's core model originated from a canceled New Orleans concert
“I thought, what if the people that, Would want to come to the show could have a say in that. And if enough people could do that before a certain point, then the show could happen. And if not, then it doesn't. So that, that was it. That was the beginning.”
Perry Chen preferred making music in New Orleans over 70-hour corporate weeks
“This is why people work for 35 years and retire, so they can move to New Orleans and work on music. So, am I jealous of my friend who works 70 hours a week? No.”
Neither Perry Chen nor Yancey Strickler could code when starting Kickstarter
“I cannot code and I couldn't code, but I think I had a sense of what it should feel like. I know what I like, I know what I think feels good when I'm on a site, but from the deep technical stuff, No, that was not my background at all. Yancey probably had been …”
Comedian David Cross was Kickstarter's first investor after a 2006 meeting
“I had a friend of mine, and her cousin is David Cross, the comedian from Arrested Development, and many other, Mr. Show, and great stuff. And so she connected us, and we went and had a drink at a bar, and I talked to him about the idea, and a few months later,…”
Andy Baio joined Kickstarter as CTO because the founders couldn't review code
“One of the people we met was Andy Baio, who really helped us kind of Figure out what kind of technology we should be using, and helped us interview the developers that we would hire, and he eventually became our first CTO. That was tremendously helpful because…”
Kickstarter achieved profitability within 18 months of launching the platform
“I think, you know, the first six months, not at all, no revenue. I think within a year after that, so probably within the first 18 months, we got in the black.”
Kickstarter added 'not a store' warnings and prototype rules to manage risk
“So we said, hey, you need to show where your prototype is at. You need to add the risks and challenges of this project as you see them. In the checkout process, we had Kickstarter is not a store, and we linked to some of our policies to let people know what di…”
Kickstarter surpassed $3 billion in cumulative pledged project funding by 2017
“Recently, we passed the three billion dollar pledge mark.”
Perry Chen stepped completely down from Kickstarter's board in late 2024
“I went from CEO, stayed on as chairman for many years, then was just a board member, brought on a new chairman, and then, really, as of about six months ago, I am now liberated.”
Neither Kickstarter co-founder knew how to code
“Well, I certainly didn't from any technical sense. I cannot code, and I couldn't code. But, I think I Had a sense of what it should feel like. I know what I like, I know what I think feels good when I'm on a site, but from the deep technical stuff, no, that wa…”
Kickstarter raised just $120,000 in seed funding over 18 months
“It took us a year and a half, so from that point, probably from there to early 2008, we raised maybe a 120,000 dollars in a year and a half.”
Kickstarter raised approximately $120,000 across 18 months leading up to 2008
“It took us a year and a half, so from that point, probably from there to early 2008, we raised maybe a 120,000 dollars in a year and a half.”