The Latest Forbes 30u30 FRAUD

@andrewchanvc

13.2K followers · usually 1.6K views a post

Views

14.2K

Likes

658

Comments

39

Shares

40

Selling · SaaS › Other SaaS

Phiaseen in 6 videos →bloom.bg/4wErGxe ↗

Why it worked

The video leverages a current news event involving a high-profile figure (Phoebe Gates) and a well-known publication (Forbes, Bloomberg) to discuss a potentially fraudulent business practice. The creator's personal experience with web automation and cookies adds credibility to their analysis, making the content engaging and informative for a tech-savvy audience.

Summary

A Bloomberg report accuses the shopping app Phia, co-founded by Phoebe Gates, of falsely claiming credit for sales by injecting referral codes into user checkouts. The creator explains this practice is common but highlights the dishonesty and lack of technical diligence from investors.

Structure

1Introduction of Phia and the Bloomberg report
2Explanation of Phia's alleged fraudulent practice
3Comparison to similar past accusations and the commonality of the tactic
4Critique of the dishonesty and lack of investor due diligence
5Concluding remarks on the negative implications for the startup

Original caption

Basically, imo it’s not necessarily fraud it’s just deceptive to consumers and legitimately the exact same thing that Honey/PayPal is still in litigation for. If you’re a startup transparency is really the solution. You may be able to fool silly venture capitalists like me but unless you’re the crypto queen it always catches up to you. Phoebe Gates is def not beating the nepo baby sheet on this one I fear. also shout out to @Kate McAndrew for being more on top of this than I was today. Crazy news #forbes #phia #siliconvalley #startup

More from @andrewchanvc

Their other posts in the index, biggest breakout first.

Product placement

The video discusses the shopping app 'Phia' and references a Bloomberg report detailing its alleged fraudulent sales practices. The creator also mentions 'Honey/PayPal' in relation to similar past accusations.

On-screen text

The Latest Forbes 30u30 FRAUD B Bloomberg @business x.com Phia - the buzzy shopping app co-founded by Bill Gates' daughter, Phoebe - is claiming credit for online sales it didn't actually drive, a Bloomberg investigation found. Read our exclusive story: bloom.bg/4wErGxe Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images TOI Don't search for the latest news. Get notified by them. DOWNLOAD TOI APP chrome

Transcript

A new startup fraud just dropped and this one is bad. A bloomberg report has officially accused FIAT of taking credit for sales that it did not drive and I said this. One way or another if you have tens of millions in GMV and it's consumer GMV that actually is pretty much a series B and emphasis on the word if. The article goes to detail that what FIAT is doing on the back end is injecting their own referral code over users when they go to check out. If a user had installed the app even if they weren't referred by FIAT to a website and they're making a purchase FIAT would still take credit for that purchase and they would still be paid as a result of that credit. Here's the thing. That's not new. Basically, every startup that's been in the space of online checkout discount has had this exact same accusation. And the unfortunate truth is that's how they make money. Now, what I don't like is the dishonesty here and look. I guess that you have to deny, deny, deny, deny. But I write a lot of code. I do a lot of web automation. I mess with cookies a lot. There's no way that you can accidentally inject cookies and inject that into a checkout process. And this makes the eponym story all that more clear because it's an if they had that GMV that it was actually worth that value. And yeah, I get it. Most of VC's aren't going to do any technical diligence. They're not going to read the code to check and check your math. But this is not a good look for anyone involved with the startup and I just like really guys.