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Eric Gunderson

CEO, Mapbox · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

Eric Gunderson is the CEO of Mapbox. He led the company from its bootstrapping phase to fundraising.

14statements → 6claims → 2claims resolved → 3.86/5average certainty → 2.21/5average debate potential →

0 supported 1 partly supported 1 contradicted 4 not checkable as stated how the 6 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 5 assertions · 2 opinions · 4 insights · 2 disclosures · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 6 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 2 are resolved, and 4 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Eric argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Gunderson: Nine of Apple's 13 acquisitions in 2013 were geo-related
“I think that, that, that, that year Apple bought, of their 13 acquisitions, nine of them were geo-related.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 20:11 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
0% certainty 3
50% certainty 4
none yet certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

Everything Eric Gunderson said on the Official SaaStr Podcast that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Opinion
Gunderson: Most Silicon Valley VCs have no understanding of tech
“When I first came out, I was like, holy shit, most of these VCs have no, you know, no idea in regards to tech”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 12:25 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Insight
Gunderson: Complexity is the new moat for tech platforms
“Complexity is the new moat.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 19:49 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Disclosure
Gunderson: Mapbox prioritized cash reserves over higher valuations
“And I've, what I always did was I optimized to have cash on hand. I didn't try to optimize valuation.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 23:46 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gunderson: Only three full global mapping datasets exist worldwide
“There are three full global data sets in the world.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 6:38 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Insight
Gunderson: Timing matters more than team, product, or culture
“The most important thing is obviously timing, right? Team, product... Timing, timing, timing. I mean, the culture stuff gets, gets sorted with team and timing.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 11:48 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Insight
Gunderson: Without owning your data, you cannot control real-time updates
“If you don't own the data, you don't have control to update it.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 21:20 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Gunderson: AR and VR will become bigger than mobile and browsers
“I personally think, ah, the, ah, the AR and VR space is going to be bigger, bigger than the browser, and, ah, and bigger than the mobile.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 28:48 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gunderson: Mapbox uses Snapchat data to improve car navigation
“The reality is we, ah, we power better turn-by-turn directions for car companies. Because of Snapchat.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 29:14 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gunderson: Over 300 million people interact with Mapbox maps monthly
“So we're touching over three hundred million people a month right now, or better said, three hundred million people a month are touching our maps.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 3:45 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Opinion
Gunderson: Mapbox is the default location platform like Stripe for payments
“When a developer goes out and is gonna build something, they're gonna go get a cloud provider, like, Amazon, or if you're going to use Payments, you might use Stripe, or if you're going to use Notifications, Twilio. But if you're going to use Locations, you're…”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 15:58 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Insight
Gunderson: Consulting keeps founders close enough to customers to build products
“The good news about consulting is you stay close enough to your customer, so you really know what's needed.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 16:54 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Assertion Partly supported
Gunderson: Mapbox took no outside funding between 2008 and 2013
“Literally I bought Mapbox and the domain name in 2008, and we didn't take any outside funding until 2014, 20 13.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 10:55 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Disclosure
Gunderson: Mapbox grew to 35 people profitably before raising venture capital
“We grew it to 35 people profitably.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 17:17 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising
Assertion Contradicted
Gunderson: Nine of Apple's 13 acquisitions in 2013 were geo-related
“I think that, that, that, that year Apple bought, of their 13 acquisitions, nine of them were geo-related.”
Eric Gunderson Aug 28, 2018 ▶ 20:11 Bootstrapping vs Fundraising

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
Bootstrapping vs Fundraising Aug 28, 2018 21m
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