1/ An email I sent out to Stuff, Newshub, Nz Herald, and other media on July 22. Retweet far and wide.
I am emailing you today, anonymously with my concerns around many claims being made by National's Upper Harbour candidate Jake Bezzant.
I must start by saying that I have
I am emailing you today, anonymously with my concerns around many claims being made by National's Upper Harbour candidate Jake Bezzant.
I must start by saying that I have
2/ been a National party supporter my whole life, and am saddened by the deception I see happening.
Over the last months I have witnessed what I consider deliberate deception in Bezzant's campaign for the Upper Harbour seat in the 2020 General Election.
Not only do I
Over the last months I have witnessed what I consider deliberate deception in Bezzant's campaign for the Upper Harbour seat in the 2020 General Election.
Not only do I
3/ believe that Bezzant has misled the local party members and the electorate on more than one occasion, I also believe that he is purposefully avoiding me, after I had made contact with him questioning his supposed claims.
About five weeks ago, in a campaign letter which
About five weeks ago, in a campaign letter which
4/ was sent out to the whole Upper Harbour electorate, Jake Bezzant claimed that he has had left a successful career as a CEO of a world leading tech company in Silicon Valley to come back to help New Zealand. The reality is that Jake has been back in New Zealand from the
5/ middle of 2019 – well before COVID struck.
On this letter Jake used his official National Party email address on which I emailed him back asking about details of his supposed Silicon Valley career. With no response, I looked over Jake's LinkedIn page and saw no mention of
On this letter Jake used his official National Party email address on which I emailed him back asking about details of his supposed Silicon Valley career. With no response, I looked over Jake's LinkedIn page and saw no mention of
6/ a Silicon Valley career, only a career pursued in Texas.
Two weeks later, another electorate pamphlet arrived in our letterbox, this time with Jake's personal email address rather than his National Party one - perhaps concerned that the party could be monitoring his
Two weeks later, another electorate pamphlet arrived in our letterbox, this time with Jake's personal email address rather than his National Party one - perhaps concerned that the party could be monitoring his
7/ emails with questions about his claims. That wasn't the only thing that had changed. He also scrapped the Silicon Valley claims and replaced it with "I come from a family of tradies and I've started a small business". Was he afraid that someone was closing in on his
8/ exaggerations? I have attached images of both letters to this email.
The closest link Parking Sense (the company Jake Bezzant worked for according to his LinkedIn) seemed to have with Silicon Valley was that its VC investor, Movac, also invested in other minor silicon
The closest link Parking Sense (the company Jake Bezzant worked for according to his LinkedIn) seemed to have with Silicon Valley was that its VC investor, Movac, also invested in other minor silicon
9/ valley ventures. In other words, Bezzant's business had no links with Silicon Valley, whatsoever and was certainly not based there.
The Parking sense press statement in Feb of this year makes it obvious that Bezzant did not leave to come back for philanthropic reasons or
The Parking sense press statement in Feb of this year makes it obvious that Bezzant did not leave to come back for philanthropic reasons or
10/ of his own volition, but was pushed out and suggests that the company was attempting to re-strategize to revive its failing fortunes. This is definitely not a good look for a candidate promoting himself as a tech savvy entrepreneur and is something that can be easily
11/ verified with a call to the company.
It is also apparent that the company was certainly not a high flying Silicon valley entity but a struggling tech company in Texas, being propped up with VC funding. Their turnover was a paltry $3.4 million
It is also apparent that the company was certainly not a high flying Silicon valley entity but a struggling tech company in Texas, being propped up with VC funding. Their turnover was a paltry $3.4 million
12/ owler.com/company/parkin…
It also turns out that Jake Bezzant is an accountant/lawyer and does not come from a tech background. Neither is he a tech entrepreneur but was employed by Parking sense NZ as an accountant before being
It also turns out that Jake Bezzant is an accountant/lawyer and does not come from a tech background. Neither is he a tech entrepreneur but was employed by Parking sense NZ as an accountant before being
13/ transferred to manage their US foray. MOVAC, a New Zealand venture capital investor in Parkhelp, lists Paul Collins as founder, not Jake, who as CEO was 'replaced' by Ed Robbins (within 18 months of Jake being CEO).
For a man who is running for Parliament, misleading the
For a man who is running for Parliament, misleading the
14/ electorate that he returned from his entrepreneurship role in Silicon Valley to help New Zealanders is simply not ethical. He is misleading the electorate to vote for him on exaggerations and downright lies.
Jake Bezzants exaggerations and grandiose claims now seem to
Jake Bezzants exaggerations and grandiose claims now seem to
15/ have taken a new turn. Along with a friend he has registered a new company Invisible Urban (IU) Charging Ltd in Nov 2019 and has been claiming that the company already has upwards of $88 million dollars of contracts in the US.
The reality I suspect is far from that. The
The reality I suspect is far from that. The
16/ company website is an out of the box design hosted on squarespace. The website is a desperate pitch for investors – something that a company with $88 million of firm contracts should have had people and institutions fighting to put money into! The About us is also classic
17/ – It highlights Jake and his partner and then goes on to say
“As well as these two chaps we also have a world-class team consisting of our CFO, COO, and CTO. They are a bit shyer than these two peacocks, but we will be profiling them in the weeks ahead. Watch this space!”
“As well as these two chaps we also have a world-class team consisting of our CFO, COO, and CTO. They are a bit shyer than these two peacocks, but we will be profiling them in the weeks ahead. Watch this space!”
18/ This venture has the hallmarks of the classic snake oil pitch. The company is not a tech company but a middle man trying to clip the ticket and leveraging off the clients of Jakes last company in the US. It would be interesting to check with them if this breeches any non
19/ competitive or confidentiality clauses.
I hope you can investigate this under some urgency as I am getting really disappointed at the calibre and character of the MPs we are putting into Parliament. It is simply not on and I am keen to see transparency and honesty in a
I hope you can investigate this under some urgency as I am getting really disappointed at the calibre and character of the MPs we are putting into Parliament. It is simply not on and I am keen to see transparency and honesty in a
20/ party that I usually support.
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