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
Wang built a Linux-based smart TV prototype with apps in 1998
“I actually had a whole design lab. We laid out a board. We found a software company in Boston to do, to Linux-based software for us. I found the chip supplier. Put a CPU in the TV and connect it to the internet. And when you turn on that TV, first page was app…”
Wang: Sony and Panasonic avoided Costco to protect Best Buy and Circuit City
“People like Sony and Panasonic, and they don't want to deal with Costco. They give Costco the leftovers because it's, ah, they want to protect their existing dealership with Circuit City and Best Buy.”
Wang: Vizio built the first Wi-Fi TV using Yahoo's operating system
“We had the first Wi-Fi TV, and we had the first TV with a little keyboard, right? So you can browse the web. And back then with T-Lab was Yahoo, and they built the first operating system for TV for us.”
Vizio generated over $700M in media platform revenue last year
“We built a platform that, you know, last year we did over seven hundred million dollars in media.”
Wang: Mag InnoVision held $25M to $30M in debt at sale
“I think we had 25, thirty million dollars of debts.”
Wang: Costco had no market share for TVs around 2004-2005
“Around, I think, 2004, 2005, I used to sell computer monitor at Costco, so I know the people a little bit. I had a connection there, so at the time, Costco had no market share for TVs.”
Wang: Costco's break-even margin was around 9.5% during Vizio's launch
“At that time their break even is around nine and a half percent. And they don't want to make money on merchandising anyway. They just want to make money on membership fee, right?”
Wang: Circuit City required a 25% margin to break even
“You got Circuit City require, what, 25% to break even.”
Wang: Mag InnoVision launched with $350k raised from suppliers, Tatung, and family
“They say, oh yeah, if you do this, I gave you a 150,000 dollars. So you gave me a 150,000 dollars, so I went to my dad, and I put together 50,000 dollars. Like, some of them from my dad, some of them from my own saving after four years of working. Then After, …”