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 23 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
Garg: The company cracking food personalization will win the sector long-term
“I still today think that the power of personalization, what Amazon brings to e-commerce and what Netflix and Spotify bring to movies and music. That level of personalization has not taken off in food. And just like Google with search, the company that cracks i…”
Ooshma Garg: Selling Gobble Now Would Leave Billions on the Table
“Now we've started, like, you know, doubling or tripling year on year, And so, if someone were to acquire us now, and we can't weather the storm of a bad meal kit market, I think we're, like, leaving billions on the table.”
Garg: Gobble shut down previous business model at $1.5M to $2M ARR
“I shut down that personalized dinner service, and we were doing maybe, like, one and a half to two million in ARR, but it wasn't going anywhere, and the food wasn't different enough”
Garg: Whoever pays a company determines how its product evolves
“What ended up happening is I learned the hard lesson that whoever pays you kind of owns you and determines how your product evolves.”
Garg: Investors view new startups as greener because they ignore competitors' flaws
“Every time there's new startups coming up, the grass is always greener, because the investors know all your problems, and they don't know any of the other problems.”
Garg: Founders can validate an MVP with sales instead of code
“In the first few months, you need to prove your concept. You need to have an MVP. You can do that with code. You can do that with sales, whatever.”
Garg: Early startup employees stay longer when founders share hard times transparently
“Sometimes you think you're protecting people by not telling them, but actually your closest employees, especially when you're four to six, if you bring them into the challenge, And if they are challenge oriented, they will stay with you. But if you hide it, th…”
Garg: Great products require cross-industry domain experts over homogenous engineering teams
“What I would suggest to an entrepreneur is that real entrepreneurship comes from diverse perspectives and from innovating at the edge of different industries. It's really hard just to get 10 homogenous engineers in a room and, like, make something incredible. …”
Ooshma Garg: Email Is the Best Tool for Early Pricing Experiments
“In a, if you're in a scrappy company, the best tool for pricing experimentation is email.”
Garg: Solo founders should crowdsource co-founder support from peer networks
“In the early days, what I say for single founders is, you kind of have, like, if you're swimming in the ocean, it's kind of like a net buoy system, so you have to find, like, three or six people that are, like, those orange buoys, and you're swimming by yourse…”
Garg: Investors do not care about getting their money back, only massive upside
“Investors do not care about getting their money back. That is not sexy to them. You shouldn't say that. Founders are kind of like hedging against themselves and saying, don't worry, I'll still protect your money. But You need to up level that when you go talk …”
Garg: Starting a company is intensely lonely, especially in the first 1,000 days
“Starting a company, at least, especially in the first thousand days, is very, very lonely. Very few people believe in the idea outside of yourself, and most people think you're crazy, most people don't care about you, and so you're the only thing that keeps yo…”
Garg: Tracking growth attribution from day one is critical for startups
“One of the first valuable innovations or features that we released into our product was the ability to accept promo codes, because attribution of your growth is extremely important from day one, or else I can't tell you what's working or not working.”
Garg: Gobble had 75% enterprise revenue when raising Series A
“When we went to raise Series A, the investors asked, how much of your money is from families, and the model you're pitching, and how much of your money is from catering, and from enterprise? And at that point, some 75% was from enterprise, because when you do …”
Garg: Gobble maintained a $40,000 average monthly burn before product-market fit
“Over those three and a half years of finding product market fit, our monthly burn was 40,000 dollars on average.”
Garg: Gobble had about $8,000 left before joining Y Combinator
“There was a time in 2013 when no one would invest in me, and I was running out of all of my money, and we had like one payroll in the bank. I think our bank was like 8000 dollars or something and that's when I did YC.”
Garg: Most 'Overnight Successes' Are 10 Years in the Making
“I think the most overnight successes are like 10 years in the making. There are some flukes that are like one year, two year, three years that the media celebrates in a disproportionate amount, and I'm always very enamored by them, but the only way that I know…”
Garg: Gobble Aims to Become the 'Disney of the Home'
“In the 50 to a hundred year vision, I actually want Gobble to be, let's call it the Disney of the home, and I, my thing with Gobble is about creating magical experiences at home that are easy and fit into this busy life for any kind of person”
Garg: Gobble Employs Overseas Engineers Due to 14-Month Visa Delays
“Gobble actually has an engineering team in India and in South Africa, and, like, we're just waiting for the visas. And it's been, some people have been waiting for, like, 14 months, and they're still working for us remotely.”
Garg: Gobble's Series B was hindered by Amazon-Whole Foods and Blue Apron
“Last year for our Series B, I had a very difficult time raising money. Like, it all looks fantastic, and there's lots of news and videos, but it, like, took every ounce of my being. It was the hardest fundraising, and it's because Amazon acquired Whole Foods, …”