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
Hoffman: Founders should seek polarized reactions to early-stage startup ideas
“What you want is some people going, you guys are out of your minds, and some people going, I see it. You want a polarized reaction.”
Hoffman: The best venture investments produce polarized partner reactions
“What you want is some people going, you guys are out of your minds, and some people going, I see it. You want a polarized reaction.”
Jerry Chen: Track Customer Complaints as a Positive Metric of User Engagement
“The worst thing is you launch a product and no one cares or notices. And if you had sales reps complain or customers file bugs against it, then two things. One, you're releasing while you're so embarrassed, a la your role, and B, people only complain when they…”
Hoffman: Investors must back founders they can leave alone for five years
“That being said, the investment criteria that I apply is, would I give this person the money and walk away and say, Five years from now, how did it go? Because it's about the entrepreneur's journey, not yours, not I, as an entrepreneur, can make this successfu…”
Hoffman: A startup's first 150 hires make or break the business
“I believe that the first 150 hires will make or break your business. They are your cultural co-founders, and it's up to you, the founder, to get everyone right.”
Hoffman: I was part of why Greylock passed on Magic Leap
“So, like, I'm part of the reason why Greylock didn't invest in Magic Leap and other things because I go, look, this is really amazing technology, but I just don't see it coming together as the new tech platform yet.”
Paul English: Greylock passed on investing in Kayak
“We then went pitch Greylock on Kayak, and Greylock turned us down”
Hoffman: David Sze returned $2.5B to Greylock via LinkedIn, Facebook, Pandora
“He invested in LinkedIn. He invested in Facebook. He invested in Pandora. He personally returned two and a half billion dollars to Greylock's funds.”
Hoffman passed on Stripe and Square due to PayPal 'curse of knowledge'
“You know, there are some great payments companies out there, Stripe, Square, et cetera, that I talked to very early and couldn't bring myself to kind of lean in to do, despite world-class great entrepreneurs, note to self, mistake, right? Because I was going, …”