[professortarzan]

Originally Posted by SR-71

On a side note and an off hand remark, I see SoftBank as a key investor in many of these new gen online platforms which eventually fizzle in a big way. Does SoftBank not keep a tight leash on its investments.

It makes one wonder how much of a visionary Masa san really is. I do understand that execution is down to the start-up. But did he just luck out by being first to the VC game? A good number of their investments have been going bust off late.

[RT13]

‘Errors in financial reporting’?!

Yeah right!

Outright fraud! He’s just been caught is all. And has no face to show because it was a potential investor who caught them out.

This whole funded startup industry is one big cash-burn-driven exercise in sleight of hand and circle-jerking where every investor is feverishly trying not to be the last in the sucker chain. And if they do get to IPO, it’s simply offloaded on retail investors.

Which is one thing, but my grievance is how along the way they have destroyed much of what I loved of old Bangalore. I mean, IT companies get all the flak but anyone who tries to get a nice meal or a coffee or a beer anywhere in central Bangalore is assaulted by startup pitch BS from all sides at idiotic decibel levels. An Udupi restaurant is preferable! I mean, its almost like nobody can even talk like a normal human being any more.

May they all be caught and taken to the cleaners!

End of rant.

[srikanth.vemuri]

Originally Posted by SR-71

On a side note and an off hand remark, I see SoftBank as a key investor in many of these new gen online platforms which eventually fizzle in a big way. Does SoftBank not keep a tight leash on its investments.

SoftBank has indeed burnt their hands in the past. But in this particular case, it would be fair to point out that they did not end up investing in GoMechanic. Guess their diligence is getting more stringent based on their past experiences

[Aditya]

GoMechanic admits to accounting irregularities | To lay off ~70% workforce - Posts moved to a new thread.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by GTO

End of the day, with threads like these - fake customer reviews & fake AC services - how can any brand survive? If I hear from 10 people about GoMechanic, 9 are complaints & 1 is satisfied. How can you survive with a 90% dissatisfaction rate?

A cousin shared this. Millions of dollars to invest, but can't even paint a door properly? He'd sent the Baleno to GoMechanic last week for denting & painting of the rear-right door. GoMechanic in turn sent the car to some local garage in Adarsh Nagar.

No QC, no commitment, nothing.

[aadya]

Originally Posted by GTO

A cousin shared this. Millions of dollars to invest, but can't even paint a door properly? He'd sent the Baleno to GoMechanic last week for denting & painting of the rear-right door. GoMechanic in turn sent the car to some local garage in Adarsh Nagar.

No QC, no commitment, nothing.

Attachment 2407899

certainly not at the cost of your cousin. A new Dual tone baleno. I hope they have not charged premium for the smart upgrade.

[PrideRed]

Never found these kind of startup trustworthy. Create an App, aggregate existing garages , lack of co-ordination, lack of checkpoints/quality control, the business was bound to fail since inception. Just because Uber/Airbnb etc. worked, investors are standing in queue to invest to all the aggregator model business.

There are plenty of these service apps and thought of trying few but found them shady. These guys don't take enough responsibility and are just connecting you to a nearby garage. Better to deal directly or visit authorized dealer.

[sanjayrozario]

It's always the employee who pays. Losing a livelihood is never easy.

VCs love the Greater Fool Theory. Most wait for the next fool, and the cycle continues as the greater fool theory never fails them. To put it crudely, even if 9 out of 10 investments fail, the one that succeeds makes up for the lost 9 as that particular one succeeds handsomely.

[poloman]

Who ever have habit of ordering online or using such apps, please check the offline prices once in a while to understand that you are getting cheated. This includes amazon, Swiggy, zomato or any xyz third party app or market place.

Most items available on amazon are available 10-15% cheaper offline or order directly from the vendor website.

Swiggy and Zomato prices are different from restaurant price by atleast 20% Add delivery charges and tax you are paying 30% more. No discounts either. Walk or drive to the restaurant and pick the food yourself if you are averse to dine in.

I had the misfortune of dealing with Gomechanic once. They quote low prices initially, guide you to some shady vendor with their branding. Suddenly the price will go up and these paint booths are poorly managed than the road side ones.

[rt363]

Originally Posted by SR-71

On a side note and an off hand remark, I see SoftBank as a key investor in many of these new gen online platforms which eventually fizzle in a big way. Does SoftBank not keep a tight leash on its investments.

I think SoftBank backed off from this investment. It was during the due diligence initiated by them that fraud came into picture. Please correct me if my understanding is wrong.

[Torqueceptor]

Originally Posted by TusharK

GoMechanic co-founder Amit Bhasin has admitted to errors in financial reporting after irregularities were found in the company’s account books.

In plain english-" We cheated and we are sorry we got caught". As always, VC's and PE guys lured in by exponential potential returns are the suckers.

[Contrapunto]

Originally Posted by GTO

By the way, this is yet another Sequoia-backed company caught in fraud. Makes me wonder if the Sequoia dudes need some more QC & monitoring of their companies.

Not condoning unethical practices in any form or manner, but it is also important to understand the context and culture which gives rise to these bevior (IMHO)

Many start-up founders are young, ambitious, fire-in-the-belly techies, above all. Many of them have not even managed their pocket money before this- they jump straight from college campus to overfunded startup with barely a small job as a junior engineer in between. Even fewer still come from families or communities who focus on business and entrepreneurship - so they do not grow up with a culture of business conversations around the dinner table and family weddings.

These guys get generously funded by VCs and again very few of them understand the Faustian bargain when they sign on the dotted line. So when then face the hot, abnormal pressure from their VCs to show "market-ready products, hyper-scale growth", "customer-acquisition blitz", they just crack, or let their baser instincts take over. And once you are riding that tiger, its impossible to dismount (as the erstwhile Satyam founder famously quoted).

I feel very sad for the employees as well as their suppliers who would be left holding the can. This will cloud their lives, if nothing else, they will have to live with this on their conscience for a long, long time. For acts that are clearly illegal, they may even go to jail. Certainly their career may be over. As a mid-ranking manager, I had to go through a process of "shrinking" my team after the 2008-09 crash. I still remember those with some pain, and I still can't face those ex-team members and look at them in the eye.

[bharanidharang]

Originally Posted by GTO

A cousin shared this. Millions of dollars to invest, but can't even paint a door properly? He'd sent the Baleno to GoMechanic last week for denting & painting of the rear-right door. GoMechanic in turn sent the car to some local garage in Adarsh Nagar.

No QC, no commitment, nothing.

Attachment 2407899

This is horrible ! I am sure the owner is cursing giving it to GoMechanic. I always feel for painting to stick to authorised garage's as they will have the shade nearest to original.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by poloman

Swiggy and Zomato prices are different from restaurant price by atleast 20% Add delivery charges and tax you are paying 30% more. No discounts either. Walk or drive to the restaurant and pick the food yourself if you are averse to dine in.

Absolutely correct! Used to use Zomato a lot, till I began to think the price I was being charged was looking a bit excessive for the quantity delivered. So tested this a couple of times, went to the restaurant and ate there, ordering the same dishes. Not only was it cheaper, the quantity for the same dishes was significantly more!

[poloman]

Originally Posted by poloman

Most items available on amazon are available 10-15% cheaper offline or order directly from the vendor website.

Forget attaching this as an example. Am I missing something or this is just a mistake?
Pricing for same item in Amazon (official Ashirvad store) and another store.