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Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

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Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#131

Post by cperciva »

h4nkoslo wrote: post #34

Has there ever been an instance of late payroll (as opposed to eg sales commission checks being calculated wrong) where the company actually pulled out of the nosedive? It seems like it's almost always the death knell.

I remember reading a couple years ago about a company where the CEO came in and announced that they weren't going to be able to make payroll so he was going to have to lay everybody off; some of the employees left, but others stuck around working "for free", and the company turned around within a few months. A couple years later they exited and the CEO gave large gifts to the employees who stuck around because they didn't own any stock but he knew that the company would have failed if they had left when he couldn't make payroll.

But that was a case of a CEO who was honest with the employees about the state of the company; I don't know of any cases where a company succeeded after a CEO lied about failing to make payroll.

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#132

Post by bambax »

choiwisely wrote: post #91

> Employees and investors absolutely need the right to know about the people doing this "Michael" the CEO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaacchae1981 "Charlie" the CTO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albrown "Jessica" the CMO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tess-stevens-28bb9138 Company: http://www.wrkriot.com/ + https://www.linkedin.com/company/7587861

"It’s very honored to have worked with Al." I bet it is.

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#134

Post by semi-extrinsic »

mkoryak wrote: post #32

I once worked for a startup here in boston that didn't pay me for a few months until I threatened to file a wage claim (did't work) and to quit (worked). I got the hell out of there as soon I got paid - some of my coworkers weren't so lucky. It seems crazy to me now that I wound up in such a situation, but what it is happening to you, it is usually accompanied by a healthy helping of lies, misinformation and hope. It…

> But it was fun getting ~3 months salary in cash and going to Jordan's to buy furniture with my girlfriend like a gangsta'

Fo' shizzle, if I'm ever gonna buy a nailgun, it's gonna be paid in cash.

https://youtu.be/JDpvkwBBu6U

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#135

Post by x0x0 »

cperciva wrote: post #117
jboggan wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This stood out as well. I'd wager that those 9 Chinese employees might be misled about their legal status.

Wouldn't that get caught at the airport? I mean, when someone arrives and says they have an H1B visa, USCIS does check, right? Now, given everything else here I wouldn't be surprised if there was fraud involved in getting the H1B visas issued, but that's separate from the question of whether people who think they have H1B visas actually have H1B visas.

I've read (in a lawsuit!) about a former boss lying on immigration forms. It happens.

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#136

Post by yid »

readitmeow wrote: post #115
jboggan wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This stood out as well. I'd wager that those 9 Chinese employees might be misled about their legal status.

There are work VISA's also for people that have pending H1-B applications which is what I think OP meant. It would also explain why the employees weren't able to leave easily since the H1-B's are pending.

This is absolutely incorrect. There are no temporary work visas for people with "pending h1-b applications".

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#137

Post by x0x0 »

liquidise wrote: post #50

I found the bit about the negotiated salary of particular note. I have never included severance in my negotiations, mostly because i have always left my jobs willingly. Is that something more common than i know of? What is a reasonable target to aim for?

I think it's more common for positions that would disappear in an acquisition -- think CFO (only one per company), maybe finance, CMO (same deal), etc.

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#138

Post by ian1111 »

programmer_guy wrote: post #41

Hey guys, just wanted to clear the air on some of the speculation: I'm actually with WrkRiot and can guarantee you we're not the company in question: I've got many weeks of paid on time pay stubs sitting right here. Plus we didn't have anyone matching any of the descriptions in this article. Interesting article though, it's really shitty some have bad experiences like this.

Also the ceo isaac choi seems to be claiming he was a JP Morgan analyst on his crunchbase profile: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/isaac-choi-2#/entity

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#139

Post by readitmeow »

yid wrote: post #136
readitmeow wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are work VISA's also for people that have pending H1-B applications which is what I think OP meant. It would also explain why the employees weren't able to leave easily since the H1-B's are pending.

This is absolutely incorrect. There are no temporary work visas for people with "pending h1-b applications".

I worded it poorly. It's not a work visa for that case specifically, but I know there are work visa's for people who were students that have their h1-b applications in the lottery. I think non-stem students with masters get 2 chances while STEM students get 3? I work with a lot of immigrants so this is from what I understand. Sorry if I'm giving false info.

Re: Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup

#140

Post by yid »

readitmeow wrote: post #139
yid wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely incorrect. There are no temporary work visas for people with "pending h1-b applications".

I worded it poorly. It's not a work visa for that case specifically, but I know there are work visa's for people who were students that have their h1-b applications in the lottery. I think non-stem students with masters get 2 chances while STEM students get 3? I work with a lot of immigrants so this is from what I understand. Sorry if I'm giving false info.

Yes, it's called "OPT", but is only for students on f-1 visas to get practical training in their areas of study. While it is temporary work authorization, it is not a work visa. There's a pretty huge difference in that h1bs offer a path to naturalization, whereas f-1 opt does not.
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