ClaimsMarc Andreessen

“We do not have a major sales force in Europe at this point.”

Marc Andreessen, Netscape COO, interviewee June 1995 Smithsonian Oral and Video Histories: Marc Andreessen (Smithsonian) archived copy

Factual Their own work or organisation

Netscape did not have a major sales force in Europe as of June 1995.

Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.

Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?

The second judge would not resolve this claim; the verdict shown is the first judge's.

Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.

What would count as true or false

Judged as of June 1995. True: contemporaneous records (Netscape's S-1/IPO prospectus of mid-1995, press coverage, company announcements) show Netscape had no sales force in Europe, or only a minimal one (a handful of staff, or reliance on distributors and partners), as of June 1995. Mostly true: Netscape had a small European sales presence that could fairly be called not 'major'. Mixed: the records are ambiguous, for example a European subsidiary with a moderate sales team. Mostly false: Netscape had an established European sales organisation of meaningful size. False: records show a large, dedicated European sales force at that time.

Set before the research began.

Evidence (2)

  1. E1 History of Netscape (1993): founders, timeline, facts | ShipStack ShipStack · 10 August 1995

    “1995-06: by Andreessen's own account, Netscape already has about 6 million Navigator users and a global sales department of 6 people”
  2. E2 History of Netscape (1993): founders, timeline, facts | ShipStack ShipStack · 10 August 1995

    “through the first year it worked almost without a sales department”

Reasoning

E1 is a timeline entry for June 1995 saying Netscape had a global sales department of 6 people. A team that size worldwide cannot include a major European sales force. E2 adds that Netscape worked almost without a sales department through its first year. Both items come from a single secondary website, and the figure in E1 traces back to Andreessen's own account. Neither item mentions Europe, so the evidence supports the claim but is weaker than a full 'true' would need.

Cite this claim

Marc Andreessen, “Netscape did not have a major sales force in Europe as of June 1995.” (said June 1995). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_4179af68218b, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_4179af68218b

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

Reply to this claim

For Marc Andreessen, or someone speaking for them: a correction or counter-evidence. Replies are read before anything is shown; an approved reply shows your name, role, date, statement and link. Your email address is never shown and is deleted 30 days after the decision (privacy).

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  3. Mostly true Factual 1 January 2018
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  4. Mostly true Factual 1 January 2018
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  5. Resolved true Factual 1 January 2018
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All of them

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