The Argument Index
Debate potential by speaker, the highest-scored statement each year, and the companies with the most bearish calls on record. All of it clickable, all of it playable.
People
Average debate potential by speaker
All 130 guests with 5 or more scored statements, ranked. 16 more have fewer than 5, too few for a fair average. Sort or filter below.
| # | Person | Avg debate potential | Statements scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calley Means Co-founder, Truemed | 3.24 | 34 |
| 2 | Martin Shkreli Co-founder, DL Software | 3.13 | 30 |
| 3 | Nick Bilton Executive Producer, 60 Minutes | 2.94 | 16 |
| 4 | James Currier General Partner & Co-Founder, NFX | 2.93 | 27 |
| 5 | Jason Lemkin Founder & CEO, SaaStr | 2.76 | 29 |
| 6 | Balaji Srinivasan Founder, The Network School | 2.7 | 60 |
| 7 | Jason Yanowitz Co-Founder, Blockworks | 2.65 | 17 |
| 8 | Jeremy Giffon Founder & Investor, Octave | 2.59 | 22 |
| 9 | Mike Maples Founding Partner, Floodgate | 2.5 | 22 |
| 10 | Joe Lonsdale Founder & Managing Partner, 8VC | 2.47 | 17 |
| 11 | Michael Saylor Executive Chairman, Strategy Inc. | 2.45 | 22 |
| 12 | Matt Mazzeo Investor & Technologist | 2.43 | 14 |
| 13 | Chris Voss CEO and Founder, The Black Swan Group | 2.41 | 22 |
| 14 | Scott Galloway Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern | 2.39 | 51 |
| 15 | George Mack Founder and Writer, High Agency | 2.35 | 26 |
| 16 | Anthony Pompliano Founder & CEO, Professional Capital Management | 2.34 | 32 |
| 17 | Marc Lore Founder, Chairman & CEO, Wonder Group | 2.32 | 22 |
| 18 | David Heinemeier Hansson CTO, 37signals | 2.31 | 29 |
| 19 | Joe Liemandt Principal, Alpha School | 2.25 | 28 |
| 20 | Howie Liu Co-Founder & CEO, Airtable | 2.25 | 12 |
| 21 | Will O'Brien Co-Founder and President, Ulysses | 2.25 | 16 |
| 22 | John Coogan Co-Host, TBPN | 2.24 | 17 |
| 23 | Palmer Luckey Founder, Anduril Industries | 2.24 | 29 |
| 24 | Sasha Issenberg Managing Editor, Enterprise, POLITICO | 2.22 | 18 |
| 25 | Gary Vaynerchuk Chairman, VaynerX & CEO, VaynerMedia | 2.2 | 15 |
| 26 | Jess Mah Founder & Managing Partner, Mahway | 2.19 | 37 |
| 27 | Sarah Moore Owner and President, King Sales Group | 2.19 | 21 |
| 28 | Rob Walling General Partner & Co-founder, TinySeed | 2.19 | 16 |
| 29 | Jason Cohen Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, WP Engine | 2.18 | 11 |
| 30 | Ben Horowitz Co-Founder and General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz | 2.17 | 24 |
| 31 | Nader Al-Naji Founder and Leader, Decentralized Social | 2.17 | 18 |
| 32 | Ryan Petersen Founder & CEO, Flexport | 2.16 | 19 |
| 33 | Logan Ury Director of Relationship Science, Hinge | 2.15 | 20 |
| 34 | Mark Manson Owner, Infinity Squared Media | 2.15 | 20 |
| 35 | Jason Fried Co-founder and CEO, 37signals | 2.13 | 31 |
| 36 | Greg Isenberg CEO & Co-founder, Late Checkout | 2.11 | 19 |
| 37 | Brett Adcock Founder & CEO, Figure AI | 2.11 | 35 |
| 38 | Ramit Sethi Founder and CEO, I Will Teach You To Be Rich | 2.09 | 43 |
| 39 | Saagar Enjeti Co-host and Co-founder, Breaking Points | 2.09 | 11 |
| 40 | Andrew Huberman Associate Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine | 2.09 | 22 |
| 41 | Ariel Helwani Host, The Ariel Helwani Show | 2.09 | 11 |
| 42 | Dan Held General Partner, Asymmetric | 2.09 | 22 |
| 43 | Thomas Braziel Distressed Investor | 2.08 | 13 |
| 44 | Christina Cacioppo CEO and Co-founder, Vanta | 2.08 | 13 |
| 45 | Sarah Guo Founder & General Partner, Conviction | 2.07 | 15 |
| 46 | Ben Wilson Host & Creator, How to Take Over the World | 2.07 | 15 |
| 47 | Wade Foster Co-founder & CEO, Zapier | 2.06 | 17 |
| 48 | Graham Weaver Founder & CEO, Alpine Investors | 2 | 24 |
| 49 | Jeff Bonforte Managing Partner, Catapult Capital | 2 | 11 |
| 50 | Nick Gray Author & Founder, Party.pro | 2 | 18 |
| 51 | Patrick Campbell Founder & CEO, ProfitWell | 2 | 16 |
| 52 | Codie Sanchez Founder & CEO, Contrarian Thinking | 2 | 34 |
| 53 | Julian Shapiro Startup Growth Expert | 2 | 14 |
| 54 | Ankur Nagpal Founder & CEO, Carry | 1.98 | 42 |
| 55 | Furqan Rydhan Founder & CEO, Founders, Inc. | 1.98 | 42 |
| 56 | Samir Chaudry Co-Host & Co-Founder, Colin and Samir | 1.97 | 31 |
| 57 | Dharmesh Shah Co-Founder and CTO, HubSpot | 1.97 | 65 |
| 58 | Andrew Wilkinson Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Tiny | 1.96 | 190 |
| 59 | Michael Sonnenfeldt Founder & Chairman, TIGER 21 | 1.96 | 25 |
| 60 | Ishan Haque CEO & Co-founder, Origami | 1.94 | 16 |
| 61 | Ryan Holiday Founder & Host, The Daily Stoic | 1.94 | 35 |
| 62 | Leila Hormozi Co-Founder, Gym Launch | 1.92 | 13 |
| 63 | Tony Robbins Chairman, Robbins Research International | 1.92 | 12 |
| 64 | Hasan Minhaj Co-Founder & CEO, 186K Films | 1.92 | 12 |
| 65 | Brian Halligan Co-Founder & Executive Chairperson, HubSpot | 1.9 | 10 |
| 66 | Sheel Mohnot Co-Founder & General Partner, Better Tomorrow Ventures | 1.89 | 18 |
| 67 | Pat Walls Founder, Starter Story | 1.88 | 8 |
| 68 | Elad Gil Founder, Gil Capital | 1.88 | 16 |
| 69 | Jack Abraham Founder, Managing Partner & CEO, Atomic | 1.88 | 25 |
| 70 | Daniel Negreanu Global Ambassador, GGPoker | 1.86 | 22 |
| 71 | Suleman "Suli" Ali | 1.86 | 21 |
| 72 | Will Guidara Founder, Thank You | 1.83 | 24 |
| 73 | Dan Porter Co-Founder and CEO, Overtime | 1.83 | 18 |
| 74 | Kevin Rose Venture Partner, True Ventures | 1.83 | 23 |
| 75 | David Senra Host, Founders Podcast | 1.8 | 15 |
| 76 | Bryan Johnson Founder, Project Blueprint | 1.8 | 25 |
| 77 | Jack Smith Syndicate Lead, The Tribe | 1.79 | 14 |
| 78 | Laird Hamilton Co-Founder, Laird Superfood | 1.79 | 14 |
| 79 | Anand Sanwal Executive Chair & Co-Founder, CB Insights | 1.78 | 18 |
| 80 | Austin Rief Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Morning Brew | 1.76 | 17 |
| 81 | Danny Yeung Co-Founder and CEO, Prenetics and IM8 Health | 1.76 | 21 |
| 82 | Connor Price Musician & Content Creator | 1.75 | 8 |
| 83 | Sabri Suby Founder and Head of Growth, King Kong | 1.74 | 19 |
| 84 | Kevin Ryan Founder and CEO, AlleyCorp | 1.74 | 46 |
| 85 | Michael "Harry-O" Harris COO, Death Row Records | 1.74 | 19 |
| 86 | Will Ahmed Founder & CEO, WHOOP | 1.74 | 19 |
| 87 | Jack Carr Author & Host, Danger Close Podcast | 1.73 | 11 |
| 88 | Chris Koerner Host, The Koerner Office | 1.71 | 35 |
| 89 | Jenny Hoyos Content Creator & Video Strategist | 1.71 | 17 |
| 90 | Audie Attar Founder & CEO, Paradigm Sports | 1.71 | 14 |
| 91 | Justin Mares Founder & CEO, Truemed | 1.7 | 20 |
| 92 | Noah Kagan Founder & CEO, AppSumo | 1.64 | 22 |
| 93 | Doug DeMuro Co-founder, Cars & Bids | 1.62 | 16 |
| 94 | Kaitlyn Siragusa (Amouranth / Kate) Content Creator & Entrepreneur | 1.62 | 24 |
| 95 | Elaine Zelby Co-Founder and CRO, Tofu | 1.62 | 16 |
| 96 | Alex Lieberman Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Morning Brew | 1.6 | 5 |
| 97 | Steph Smith Creator, Internet Pipes | 1.58 | 43 |
| 98 | Craig Fuller Founder & CEO, FreightWaves | 1.58 | 24 |
| 99 | Dave Selinger Founder and CEO, Deep Sentinel | 1.57 | 7 |
| 100 | Jesse Pujji Founder and CEO, Gateway X | 1.56 | 18 |
| 101 | Kevin Van Trump Founder & CEO, Farm Direction | 1.55 | 20 |
| 102 | Jon McNeill Former Executive, Tesla-related Operations & Sales Leader, Tesla | 1.54 | 13 |
| 103 | Mike Posner Musician, Songwriter, and Adventurer, Monster Mountain | 1.54 | 13 |
| 104 | Kevin Espiritu Founder, Epic Gardening | 1.53 | 15 |
| 105 | Anne Mahlum Founder, [solidcore] | 1.5 | 16 |
| 106 | Max Litvin Co-Founder, Grammarly | 1.44 | 16 |
| 107 | Eric Glyman Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Ramp | 1.43 | 23 |
| 108 | Andrew Gazdecki Founder & CEO, Acquire.com | 1.43 | 7 |
| 109 | Alex Hormozi Founder & Managing Partner, Acquisition.com | 1.42 | 19 |
| 110 | Cody Ko Content Creator & YouTuber | 1.42 | 12 |
| 111 | Brianna Price | 1.42 | 12 |
| 112 | Rob Dyrdek Founder and CEO, Dyrdek Machine | 1.4 | 25 |
| 113 | Brianne Kimmel Founder & Managing Partner, Worklife Ventures | 1.4 | 10 |
| 114 | Isaac French Founder and Principal, Experiential Hospitality | 1.39 | 18 |
| 115 | Scott Harrison Founder & CEO, charity: water | 1.38 | 13 |
| 116 | Colin Rosenblum Co-Host, The Colin and Samir Show | 1.38 | 8 |
| 117 | John B. Allen (MrBallen) Founder & Host, Ballen Studios | 1.33 | 9 |
| 118 | Val Katayev Founder & CEO, Jocalio | 1.33 | 12 |
| 119 | Jesse Itzler Founder, The 100 Mile Group | 1.31 | 13 |
| 120 | Isaac Katayev Founder, Cookieduck Games | 1.29 | 7 |
| 121 | Amy Porterfield Founder & CEO, Amy Porterfield LLC | 1.25 | 8 |
| 122 | Ramon Van Meer | 1.25 | 8 |
| 123 | Mark O'Brien Founder, Build Me A Brownstone | 1.2 | 10 |
| 124 | Nick Allen | 1.2 | 5 |
| 125 | Ryan Smith Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, Qualtrics | 1.17 | 12 |
| 126 | Mike Wittmeyer Board Director, A-Mark Precious Metals | 1.17 | 12 |
| 127 | Tony Hawk Founder and Owner, Birdhouse Skateboards | 1.16 | 25 |
| 128 | Rick Marini Co-Founder, President & COO, Rails | 1.09 | 11 |
| 129 | Kendall Saville Co-Founder, Bitfo | 1 | 6 |
| 130 | Alejandro "Alex" Velez Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Back to the Roots | 1 | 7 |
Companies
The most bearish calls
Debate potential is an AI score of how much a statement invites disagreement. Bearish counts tally what was said about a company on the show; they describe the conversation, not the company. Every count opens to the exact tape. full disclaimer →
All 324 companies, funds and products with at least one bearish claim on the record.
Highest debate potential, by year
2026
Galloway: Billionaires are generally high-character people who build allies
“I personally have found that billionaires are generally very high character people because the key to being really successful is to create allies along the way such that you're put in a room of opportunities when you're not physically there.”
2025
Currier: Nvidia and big LLM training companies will eventually go to zero
“So both Nvidia and all of these giant LM companies who are spending all this money on training are going to go to zero eventually.”
Puri: The best early-stage tech investors judge founders in under ten minutes
“The two best early pickers of startups ever in the history of Silicon Valley, both make their decisions based off of just, do they feel like these people are fierce founders and they can figure that out in less than 10 minutes. And then here you have people th…”
2024
Means: The Flexner Report legally mandates siloed pharmaceutical medicine in the US
“The way medicine exists today, the guiding law in Congress is called the Flexner Report, which actually mandates that we can't look at disease holistically. We have to look at things in silos, evidence-based. We need to name a condition and then treat it with …”
Means: Stanford medical dean took $4M from opioid firms for ethics research
“Reached out to the Dean of Stanford Med School, who was a pain specialist, and we funded him directly with consulting payments, and then made a donation to Stanford to his lab for four million dollars from opioid companies to study ethics and pain management.”
2023
2022
Luckey: Apple agreed to invest $275 billion in China to stay independent
“Apple's got 95% of their manufacturing in China. They agreed to invest. They've invested hundreds of billions of dollars in manufacturing capacity there. They've agreed to invest a further two hundred and seventy five billion dollars in Chinese manufacturing i…”
2021
Saylor: Bitcoin Is the Greatest Corporate Treasury Asset of Our Lifetimes
“Bitcoin is an exploding asset class. It's really a, it's the greatest treasury reserve asset of our lifetimes, and it's the solution to every company's treasury problem.”
Srinivasan: Crypto will replace Yale Law, Columbia Journalism, and Kennedy School
“Crypto is not just, you know, the next wall street. It's also the next Silicon Valley because decentralized social networks and so on are built there, but even less, obviously it's the next Yale law and Columbia school of journalism and Kennedy school of gover…”
2020
Puri: Sanders' tax on vested options would disrupt the startup ecosystem
“This will really screw up the way the startups ecosystem works, but it can also adapt.”
Parr: Tai Lopez's MentorBox is 'incredibly scammy'
“And there's another company called mentor box that does this and Tai Lopez is one of the owners. So it's incredibly scammy. I mean, like you sign up for like 20 dollars and then it rolls into like a 400 dollar a month thing. It's like fucking stupid.”