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  "documentTitle": "QuantumScape (QS)",
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  "authorName": "Scorpion Capital",
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  "presentationDate": "2021-04-15 00:00:00",
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  "notes": "Includes a screenshot of a tweet by Vinod Khosla and a quote from Barron's to illustrate the 'celebrity endorsement' and hype.",
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      "text": "Without their “celebrity endorsement” and star power, we believe QS would trade at a fraction its $15B valuation.",
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      "text": "Quantumscape was initially backed by Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures and John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins, two Silicon Valley venture capitalists with a legendary track record. They were listed among its largest holders in the S-1. Without their “celebrity endorsement” and star power, we believe QS would trade at a fraction its $15B valuation. When QS announced its SPAC transaction in September, Khosla did a victory lap on Twitter stating that this one deal could return his entire VC fund and that its battery could be charged in 15 minutes.",
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      "text": "Khosla promoting QS in Barron’s on February 1, 2021 as $250 billion opportunity. [Khosla] believes that Quantum is in the lead. ‘Is there a competitor that will have a comparable battery in the next five years? Extremely unlikely,’ he says. ‘That gives us the ability to be dominant in the battery market.’ Dominance for Khosla translates into higher-than-average profit margins. If the car industry reaches 30 million electric vehicles by 2030, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggests it will, that would add up to roughly $1 trillion in annual EV sales. By Khosla’s math, that amounts to $250 billion in annual battery sales.",
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      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "Quantumscape incubated at @khoslaventures with 5 time CEO and EIR Jagdeep Singh. Took patient 10yrs to deep technology, bold first product risk but can return the fund and make huge dent in EV consumer experience (2x range, 15min charge)! — Vinod Khosla",
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      "text": "Source: https://twitter.com/vkhosla/status/1301905913112965125; EV Battery Start-Up QuantumScape Is Driven Solely by Promise | Barron's",
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      "text": "Quantumscape’s lead investors are key drivers of its credibility and $16B valuation, hyping a $250B opportunity and boasting of its impact on their fund’s returns. However, we find their track record in the EV battery space troubling.",
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      "text": "9) Quantumscape’s lead investors have a track record of backing frauds and failures in the EV battery/cleantech space",
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