They're not even 'facts', but 'strong opinions'. AT&T might have lucked out and hired some savants, for example. Or in another timeline, the company might have

They're not even 'facts', but 'strong opinions'. AT&T might have lucked out and hired some savants, for example. Or in another timeline, the company might have actually been able to handle both cloud and software vending had they tried. But ultimately, what the author is talking about is really "let's start with the basic blocks and build up".