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 14 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
In media, a smart point of view beats long-term correctness
“It's more important that we have a smart point of view than that we're right in the long term.”
Henry Blodget did nothing legally wrong during Wall Street research scandals
“And so legally, I don't think he did anything wrong. Everything he wrote was approved by his superiors and order.”
Puri: Business Insider contacting Barstool advertisers is warfare, not journalism
“There was a reporter for Business Insider that started reaching out to Barstool's advertisers and saying, Hey, are you aware of the story we wrote about how bad Dave is and businesses and a Barstool? Like, you know, would you like to comment on being an advert…”
Parr: Dave Portnoy's retaliation makes him look weak and endangers employees
“Now, the reaction, I think, is totally inappropriate, and I think it totally makes him look butt hurt. I think it makes him look weak. I think it's a bad move. The reason why it's a bad move is because Dave has fans, and he could be like, well, you know, I'm o…”
Business Insider reached 300 million unique visitors with zero ad spend
“What I'm proudest of is that Business Insider is at three hundred million uniques today and never spent one dollar in advertising.”
BuzzFeed failed to build a durable daily brand compared to Business Insider
“I don't believe they built up a true brand. They showed up in search results, they got traffic, but there were many, many people that religiously read Business Insider every single day. So it just had a brand that I think was much stronger and more defined.”
Puri: Portnoy made a big mistake targeting junior Morning Brew staff
“I think it was a big mistake. To go pick on the little guy. He had it right at the beginning when he was picking on the big guy. Oh, business insider. You're trying to ruin my reputation. You're trying to hurt my business and my advertising, my revenues and my…”
Parr: Business Insider timed Dave Portnoy exposé to parent company earnings
“Business insider released an article last week on Friday or Thursday, Coincidentally, right when Barstool, which is owned by a publicly traded company, had their earnings call, they released their article at the same time.”
Business Insider sold to Axel Springer for 11x its $40 million revenue
“We were doing forty million at the time. We sold it for 11 times revenues, which is a big, big number for immediate properties.”
Henry Blodget's lack of newsroom experience was a strength for Business Insider
“He had never really worked in a newsroom, which can be viewed as a weakness. I viewed it as a strength, and so he changed the rules, and we were willing to do that, and he did an incredible job.”
Parr: PR warfare requires punching up to look like David, not a bully
“Swinging below, that's the rule here. Swinging below, you can't do. So like when you're trying to create an enemy, you always got to go up. You always have to go up. If you go down, you're a bully. If you go up, you're David.”
AlleyCorp invests $1.5 million to launch each new startup
“So we started each company with a million dollars. So 500,000 from each one of us. And that was for Gilt, Business Insider and Mongo. And then we, I did after that Dwight semi-retired. And so I did that with Nomad. I did that with Zola. And now, by now I put a…”