Balancing the Crowdfunding
Communicating with 1,000+ investors is a balancing act
Yesterday I sent a note out to all of the crowdfunders who backed Balance in 2017. The vast majority of responses were incredibly kind & supportive. A few people were angry & upset. Several people were unforgivably rude.
Over 1,000+ people gave Balance just over $1m in 2017 (after fees & Wefunders cut). We deployed that capital over 3 years and failed to raise more capital. I poured a significant amount of my own money into the company. So did my father.
No one lost more than the Burtons. I am proud of that fact. We put our skin in the game. We did our absolute best to keep this show on the road. That is how we roll.
The people who complained fall into three clear buckets:
People who have never started a business
People who have never invested in a startup
People who have no understanding of cryptocurrency
I cannot fault anyone for not having these experiences. The kindest notes were from people who understand how tough this game is. The people who actually start things.
This is the most glaring example of how hard startups are: Wefunder is down.
Wefunder is probably on its last legs. It went down when we launched our funding in 2017. The team mean well but they are also struggling to keep the project going.
I want to make some things clear to all the Wefunder investors:
Balance the company is just doing consulting. It is alive.
I never paid myself a regular salary from the company.
You are going to get a share in what I am doing next. More to come.
Please be patient. I am never giving up. I am not stopping.
Investing in DeFi
The world is heading into a huge Coronavirus-induced recession. Lots of people are going to lose their jobs. Lots of people have already lost a lot of money.
I am going to invest the remaining capital I have into the one thing I think I understand better than most investors, the decentralised financial system emerging on top of Ethereum:
I think this is the best way for me to generate a return for myself (and my investors) over the long term. I think this system is going to grow while the traditional economy implodes. If I am right, we will all benefit together.
What I want you to do
My plan is to give back to people using the Ethereum network. I will share more soon. First, I would like you to do three things:
Register for the Argent Ethereum Wallet: argent.xyz
Install the MetaMask Wallet in Chrome: metamask.io
This will give you a mobile wallet & a desktop wallet that we can use to manage any distribution in the future.
Any questions?
Just reply to this email & I will follow up ASAP.
I'm not the only one to think the lack of communication throughout "Balance's" lifespan was despicable.
Obviously most startups fail. That's fine.
Obviously most crowd investors don't understand this. That's a given.
It's not about that.
Real entrepreneurs and decent people update their investors and their supporters throughout the process. They are resourceful. You are clearly not. It was obvious within ~6 months that Balance would fail because or your piss poor communication and attitude. Many saw this.
All the best startups communicate openly about progress and iterate and collaborate with their people. Not the case here. Such a blatant failure of transparency.
And on top of ALL of that, you have this obnoxious, entitled, teenage response to your supporters and investors. It's absolutely mind blowing.
Of course you also haven't at all communicated this "new opportunity" you're dangling in front of everyone without any details. What is it, "Rainbow" or some shit? Where the hell is the post talking about this in detail and asking people if they even WANT to opt-into this after your childish behavior? At least let people get the docs for a tax write-off.
This is some rag tag, phony nonsense. You should be exposed to the crypto community for what you are. They only see you on Twitter with your generic clout posts. They should all see your comments on WeFunder and here to see what kind of toxic person you are.
You're one of those fake "I got ETH rich" people (even though you still mostly get supported by your daddy) and it's the precise cliche of an entitled millennial.
You'll be exposed soon enough.
Please rethink your increasingly binary statements. Essentially, if an investor complains about losing money in Balance then according to you; They have never started a business / They have never invested in a startup / They have no understanding of cryptocurrency.
This is not the way to communicate to understandingly upset investors from a CEO that all but admitted he really didn't have a game-plan from the beginning and was hopelessly out of his depth in strategy and leadership.
Not everyone is cut out to be a CEO and I applaud your intention to attempt to give some funds/resources etc back to your investors. However if a company fails the first thing an investor wants to know is "where did the money go?" - and becoming increasingly defensive and rude on being asked to share audits etc does not chime with your intention to be as transparent as possible!
I've been a part of and invested in several start-ups - some successful, others not - so the loss of my investment is unimportant and part of the game.