A startup called ON Platform, once known as GameOn, raised $80m in funding from investors including celebs like Snoop Dogg and Joe Montana.
Today its founder, Alexander Beckman, and his wife, Valerie Lau, were arrested for fraud.
Some of the craziest details from the indictment...
GameOn was founded in 2014 and based in SF. It provided an AI chatbot for pro sports teams and luxury brands.
Beckman's alleged lies start with his background: He told investors his past company sold for just under 100m when it actually sold for less than $2m.
Per the indictment, he also:
-described non-existent revenue
-inflated cash balances
-made up customers
-used the names of 7 real people (with fake email addresses and signatures) to share this false info with investors.
@yaffebellany SBF told them that he didn't want oversight -- investors should "support him and observe."
None joined the board. None were given infor about Alameda's dealings a/FTX. Now, they're gobsmacked the visionary wunderkind they backed could have done this.
Everyone thought the pandemic boom times would keep going, and they staffed up accordingly. Facebook / Meta doubled staff over 3 years. Robinhood headcount grew 6x. Hello corporate bloat.
Even those who expected a post-pandemic pullback underestimated the extent. Past bubble panics have been short-lived. (see The Tech Bubble That Never Burst nytimes.com/interactive/20…) People were slow to accept that this pullback one will be deeper and last a lot longer.