How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money • Hacker News Board

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#21

Post by valuearb » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

Tyrek wrote: post #13

the-dude wrote: post #5

What I feel is lacking from this postmortem is looking inwards : did you make mistakes and how did it affect the outcome. Answer : we made a huge mistake to trust people with all our money. This mistake has led to all our problems. I know it sounds obvious, but still.

It seems like it's even worse - "we were too lazy to jump through additional hoops to open a bank account in the proper jurisdiction and instead relied on a business partner to handle it for us"

Their explanation was their marketing was already starting, they didn't have time to resolve the bank account issues.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#22

Post by aqme28 » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:39 PM UTC

soared wrote: post #16

I don't buy this story. The entire post is one sided - am I really supposed to believe some pr agency straight up stole your money? And now 7 months later you are "doing what we can on a legal front"? This is a perfect example of why we should all follow the "innocent until proven guilty" idea. There is no proof, no chance for the agency to refute claims, etc. Convenient that they are also asking for more financing.

I think it's great to get both sides of a story, but this is a blog post by one side of the issue. Of course it's going to be their side.

And if the other side has "cut off all communication," I don't know how you can expect them to not be one-sided.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#23

Post by valuearb » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

the-dude wrote: post #11

learc83 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's in big bold letters. "We were wrong."

I see what you are getting at, but my comment stands. Responsibility is not being taken.

What I feel is lacking from your response is looking inwards : did you actually read the post.

Answer : I made a huge mistake to blame people for not doing what they clearly did. This mistake has led to my defensive shit-posting.

I know it sounds obvious, but still.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#24

Post by valuearb » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:42 PM UTC

soared wrote: post #16

I don't buy this story. The entire post is one sided - am I really supposed to believe some pr agency straight up stole your money? And now 7 months later you are "doing what we can on a legal front"? This is a perfect example of why we should all follow the "innocent until proven guilty" idea. There is no proof, no chance for the agency to refute claims, etc. Convenient that they are also asking for more financing.

The culprits have chosen to block people who ask them about it on twitter, and so far haven't told "their side".

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#25

Post by the-dude » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:43 PM UTC

valuearb wrote: post #23

the-dude wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see what you are getting at, but my comment stands. Responsibility is not being taken.

What I feel is lacking from your response is looking inwards : did you actually read the post. Answer : I made a huge mistake to blame people for not doing what they clearly did. This mistake has led to my defensive shit-posting. I know it sounds obvious, but still.

Oh I definitely read it, not spelled it out but definitely not rushed it.

I just expressed my feelings.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#26

Post by kjrose » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:44 PM UTC

valuearb wrote: post #20

spelunker wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or possibly damaging a reputation of a company unreasonably because we're only hearing one side of the story: https://twitter.com/Woodshedagency/status/943508162002513923 I mean there's a reason why the "court of public opinion" isn't the best way to resolve issues... edit: well, looks like Woodshead Agency protected their twitter account so you can't see the tweet now. That's not great.

If there is another side to the story, whats taking so long to tell it? And if they have a good explanation, why have they been blocking people on twitter for asking for it?

The blocking people asking about it on Twitter is what leads me to be concerned. While there may be an explanation, blocking third parties trying to get your side of the story seems to imply there’s something they feel they need to hide from.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#27

Post by soared » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

valuearb wrote: post #24

soared wrote: post #16

I don't buy this story. The entire post is one sided - am I really supposed to believe some pr agency straight up stole your money? And now 7 months later you are "doing what we can on a legal front"? This is a perfect example of why we should all follow the "innocent until proven guilty" idea. There is no proof, no chance for the agency to refute claims, etc. Convenient that they are also asking for more financing.

The culprits have chosen to block people who ask them about it on twitter, and so far haven't told "their side".

Blocking people on twitter doesn't mean anything, and this blog post came out today so I'm sure the agency is working on writing something with actual proof to respond with.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#28

Post by kjrose » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

valuearb wrote: post #24

soared wrote: post #16

I don't buy this story. The entire post is one sided - am I really supposed to believe some pr agency straight up stole your money? And now 7 months later you are "doing what we can on a legal front"? This is a perfect example of why we should all follow the "innocent until proven guilty" idea. There is no proof, no chance for the agency to refute claims, etc. Convenient that they are also asking for more financing.

The culprits have chosen to block people who ask them about it on twitter, and so far haven't told "their side".

I have a feeling this may be a crossed wires problem where someone spent the money raised before they sent it because of bad accounting or whatever.

Regardless, if the statement “we received none of the money” is true. There is definitely something bad going on here.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#29

Post by soared » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

aqme28 wrote: post #22

soared wrote: post #16

I don't buy this story. The entire post is one sided - am I really supposed to believe some pr agency straight up stole your money? And now 7 months later you are "doing what we can on a legal front"? This is a perfect example of why we should all follow the "innocent until proven guilty" idea. There is no proof, no chance for the agency to refute claims, etc. Convenient that they are also asking for more financing.

I think it's great to get both sides of a story, but this is a blog post by one side of the issue. Of course it's going to be their side. And if the other side has "cut off all communication," I don't know how you can expect them to not be one-sided.

True, but outside of 2 screenshots of messages we don't see any of their communication prior to them cutting it off. I feel like there are a thousand details the author didn't share with us.

Re: How a PR Agency Stole Our Kickstarter Money

#30

Post by kjrose » Wed, Dec 20, 2017, 5:47 PM UTC

nimos wrote: post #6

I don't know why but it kind of rubs me the wrong way PR agencies for Kickstarter/crowd-funding even exist. I'd rather back something that had someone passionate with a shitty cell phone video over the generic sterile PR videos that everything seems to have now. https://twitter.com/Woodshedagency The hashtags on their twitter description almost seem like satire.

The reason these guys exist is because the difference between a 100k+ campaign and a 10k failed campaign can come down to straight marketing which most engineering minded folks are not trained/knowledgeable with.