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 12 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
Taber: Outdated Advice From Credible Investors Can Actually Kill Startups
“So if you just rely on your experience from 10 years ago, even though you may have been successful, I think that's actually makes you like really dangerous because now you're like credible and wrong. It's one thing when you're just wrong and you don't have cre…”
Taber: There Are Only Three Viable Ways to Build a VC Firm
“In my opinion, I think there's only maybe three ways to build a venture firm. The first way is to have extremely strong brand and be a leader in the market. So thank Ponzo, Sequoia Andreessen, funds like that, where over decades they build a moat that is their…”
Taber: VC Networks Are Not Sustainable for Long-Term Firm Differentiation
“I think a lot of other things people talk about, like networks and things like that. I just don't think they're sticking off or sustainable enough to really build a long-term differentiated strategy.”
Taber: Top Founders Ignore VCs As Much As VCs Ignore Them
“I actually think the best founders have just as much called outreach that they ignore from VCs as VCs have called outreach from the founders that they also ignore.”
Taber: Founders Cannot Prompt Their Way to Building Real Companies Yet
“But I think building a company, I'm personally not yet at the place where I think there's, where I think you can just go like you know, prompt your way into building a company. I just don't think we're there yet. Despite maybe a couple examples that show, you …”
Taber: Giving Non-Technical Founders AI Coding Tools Is Like a Bazooka
“It was basically something around taking, like giving cloud code or any of these tools or codecs to like a non-technical founder. It's like giving a bazooka to somebody who could never shot a gun. And it can work, but it can create a bunch of damage in between…”
Taber: VCs Rarely See Meaningful Returns Unless The Founders Do
“In fact, it's very rare that VC wins, but founder doesn't. I actually don't know any, I actually don't know many situations like that, like where.”
Taber: Luck Influences Venture Capital More Than Any Other Industry
“I think in the VC, probably the influence of luck on ultimate outcome is probably as high as in any other, as any other industry that I know, probably the highest.”
Taber: Many funds back emerging managers primarily for deal flow
“There's also many funds make investments into other emerging managers, like us, with primary goal to get access to their deal flow and their network.”
Taber: No PitchBook exists for discovering pre-seed startups
“But because of the stage we invest in, like we invest in the seed stage and pre-seed, there's really no, like, database you can go and, like, find things. Like, there's no pitch book for, like, pre-seed companies, right? They don't, and oftentimes, there's not…”
Taber: Liquidation Preferences Rarely Generate Meaningful Returns For Anyone
“So if you're counting on liquidation preference, then probably nobody's really making money. Maybe founders doesn't make anything, but VC is also not generating much returns.”
Taber: VC fundraising is harder because funds are blind pools
“The only difference is, you know, when they, when the investors give money to the fund, it's a blind pool of capital. They actually don't know exactly what you're going to do with it. When you invest in the company, you kind of know what the company does and w…”