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 16 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: 10x hires almost certainly have glaring faults
“If you want to hire a 10 Xer, that person will almost certainly have glaring faults. Anyone that you could hire without glaring faults will be at best good. They will not be great.”
Hoffman: Leaders should delegate functions they are good at, not weak at
“Instead, delegate things that you're good at. This sounds really strange, so let me explain. The things that are the easiest to delegate are the things that you're already good at. You know how to do these things really well. You might already be an expert in …”
Hoffman: Most VC rejection reasons, especially TAM concerns, are lies
“The reason that most VCs give you a no is lies, and especially the reason of total addressable market in your TAM.”
Hoffman: Managing vendors is the top skill for the next 20 years
“The number one skill to have over the next 20 years is the ability to select and manage vendors.”
Hoffman: Seeking career optionality is a mistake
“Never do things to gain optionality. Optionality is bad. You need to really have a purpose-driven life.”
Hoffman: The top reason VCs reject early-stage startups is disliking the team
“And the number one reason why a VC will pass on your business is that they don't like your team. This is especially true for seed and series A deals.”
Hoffman: Investor legal fee caps dictate how fast a term sheet closes
“The most non-obvious clause to negotiate is the amount that you're supposed to reimburse the investor's legal counsel. You're actually doing your investors a favor by negotiating this. This is an actual win-win to negotiate. The time it takes you to go from te…”
Hoffman: All great opportunities have big, obvious downsides
“Well, my simple heuristic Is that if the opportunity has very few downsides, it's almost certainly not a great opportunity. All great opportunities have very big and very obvious downsides.”
Hoffman: Companies rarely excel at areas outside their founders' core traits
“They rarely get great at the things that are not the traits of their founders.”
Hoffman: Almost every company today has more vendors than employees
“Almost every company today has more vendors than employees.”
Hoffman: Most smart people mistakenly optimize for the midterm
“Many, most smart people optimized for the midterm. They delay gratification in the short term. They're experts at passing the marshmallow test, but while they think they're optimizing for the longterm, they're actually usually optimizing for the midterm.”
Hoffman: The smartest people think 10 days and 30 years out
“Smart people are always thinking 10 years out. The smartest people are always thinking 10 days out and 30 years out.”
Hoffman: 10x performers take more management time than average employees
“The better the person, the less time it takes to manage them. That's the obvious thing, but that's only up to a point. The true 10 Xers actually take more time to manage than the average performers.”
Hoffman: Never take advice from someone over a decade older
“This advice comes with a warning, which is never take advice from somebody who's more than 10 years older than you, and that's probably me.”