At least these things come to light. I am sure there are more frauds that go under the radar

I agree man . Due to people like these edtech in the country has gone to shit .

Growth Manager

Software Engineer

Today’s news classplus win the case and Abhinay maths have to give 4 cr to classplus as compensation  and please folks don’t share this type of fake news like classplus fraud please don’t give your judgment before court

Software Developer

This shit company just doesn’t stop at doing frauds . Such a bunch of thieves and assholes ruining the whole ecosystem especially their founders !

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

5th case against fraud company Classplus

5th case against fraud company Classplus- Grapevine

It’s hard time for the community with these kind of asshole founders enjoying limelight with articles and media sitting quiet on this. 
They have fired almost everyone with their crooked and cruel strategy. 
Lame founders who micro manage and build strategies to fire people. They have a layer of puppets under them and make the whole plan to fire the employees- bhai itna mehnat kyu karte ho yaar, seedha muh pe bol do. 
They’re burning investor money and despite being productive laying these foundations for firing. Layoff everyone then, those puppets desite taking tons of bad decisions are being protected just because they lick their ass and pound them to be rockstars. 
They’ve hired hot girls under them for timepass and so called secret parties. Complete BS. 

I’m still surprised itna karne ke bad they are being celebrated what a country we live in.

Classplus firing and fraud

Silent Layoffs in Classplus

At its peak Classplus employed about 800 employees which is now down to about 300 but you'd never see this in news because they have been strategically laying off employees on high salaries one by one. Just today 4 people have been asked to leave (that I know of). They very smartly either shift people to textbook and then ask them to leave from there or directly ask them to leave. There's no PIP.
The founders are busy with setting up a new college, for some reason. Most of Classplus core business is just flat, people are asked to just maintain the business. It is losing big clients to competition. I don't know what the outlook of the company looks like but it's not looking good.

Silent Layoffs in Classplus.

Classplus is falling apart. The CTO, CBO and VP-Business have resigned from the company amidst rumours around financial irregularities. Classplus now joins a long list of Indian startups caught amidst fraud/financial irregularities allegations. Classplus was last valued $600Mn in their last funding round and counts Tiger Global, Falcon Edge, Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India) as their investors.

Classplus is going belly up. Big news to come out soon.

Founder

Project Manager

Welcome to Office Gossip's Private Community

I have worked over 10 years never felt this pathetic  at a freelance job which I did

The founder girl used to ping 24 hrs saying stuff like it's been 1 month u are not able to complete a whole portal as of it takes only this much time building an entire portal

Was paid same as what I earned on 2014

Lost my sleep because of this bullshit

Assumed I will work on Christmas because I took leaves for my brothers wedding

To everyone out their no one is worth your peace of mind no amount of money

Wasted 1 and a half month on a super toxic workplace

There is one rule as a freelancer. Never work for an Indian founder.

Product Designer

I have evaluated a lot of startups as part of my work. My approach has changed from being optimistic to being suspicious of a lot of founders, even before the process starts. 

The sheer number of founders that I come across that try to game metrics/play around with data to make the startup look good. 

Most commonly:
1) Completely changing the definition of margins, repeat rates, etc. and never clarifying that they are using different definition. 
2) Often giving rebates/discounts to key stakeholders but finding ways to hide it from their P&L so that it’s not visible. THIS IS SO COMMON - lot’s of them start showing revenues, and then you will see another cost item rising at the same pace, and lot’s of times it will just be money moving around
3) Sometimes completely giving the wrong picture of how their product works on ground. You then speak with their customers, and they describe something completely else.

Things like these are eating up the ecosystem. These founders also end up fooling some VCs, and then capital get’s kept away from actually good founders who have good intentions.

There was a recent major investment in the commerce space, and that is another one such example of a startup doing this. Needs to stop.

RANT: Founders who fake metrics

Product Owner

Edtech startup Classplus unveils second Esop buyback, over 150 employees eligible

Classplus Launches Second Esop Buyback

Former Mooofarm Employees allege that the company's founders ignored widespread sales misreporting and misled investors with projections

How Accel-Backed Mooofarm’s Dairy Tech Promise Soured

Another one bites the dust!

What made it worst? The pay, the culture, or your manager?

What's the worst company you have worked for?

ICICI Bank, they had a strict sign in timing policy where if you are late to corporate office, half day salary would be cut, It would be reversed only when manager approves. The sign out time used to be 5.15pm, but you would be made to sit till 8 pm by most of the managers even if your job is done for the day. A sign out at 6 pm used to be called as half day by most of the managers. 
 I heard now they donot have this dictatorial policy.

Data Analyst

Product Manager

Don’t think Zilingo, GoMechanic, Mojocare founders faced any such enquiries? Or did they?

Might be the first time a founder is being litigated against for fraud?

Analyst

Reason given by investors on Mojocare sounds very fishy. At one end they are blaming the founder for embezzlement while on other end they are blaming market conditions and unsustainable business model for the layoff of employees. Doglapan?

So finally, someone spoke about this fraudulent startup AstroTalk. How they operate and how they take advantage of gullible people, is completely explained in the video. These kinds of startups need to be busted on LinkedIn and other social media platforms so that no one calls prey for such cheap tactics. This is just another BYJUs in the making. The cofounder is an IIT IIM grad. Shows how greed can even pollute the minds of even highly educated people. Really don't understand how the VCs can be so fucking dumb, funding them with 165 Crores!! Shocking but it isn't surprising since the Indian Startup ecosystem is filled with such scam artists.

Scam called AstroTalk - BYJUs 2.0

Jab tak hum jaise log IIM/IITians ki G chaat te rahenge tab tak ye hume chutiya banate rahenge. 4 din baad tum chutiye sab bhool jaoge fir kisi naye IIT/IIM led startup ko linkedin par praise karoge jab tak wo bubble itna bada na ho jaye ki use criticise kar pao…fir kisi anonymous platform par aajakr “OMG SO FUCKING DISGUSTING” bold doge kyuki linkedin par to tumhari gaand thandi ho jati hai kisi ko criticise karte hue…aur ye cycle bas chalta rahega…so moral of the story is, tum hi log chutiye ho wo nahi.

Sales

Context - Morning Context article on Teachmint
https://themorningcontext.com/internet/teachmint-is-the-latest-edtech-on-the-verge-of-a-crisis

IITians or Ponzi Schemers?

Some excerpts from the article: 
  
 Their core product is not relevant to schools in the post-pandemic world,” says the edtech entrepreneur. “Unless they are able to build additional layers, they will not be able to monetize.” 
 “Burn has been relatively high in the past, however, we have aligned our burn and business structure to be in-line with the current market and macro factors,” said the Teachmint spokesperson. After starting paid subscriptions late in 2021-22, revenue saw “a major ramp” in 2022-23, they said. The company is “working towards breaking even over the next 3 years”. 
  
 “The money got to their head. It gave them fake confidence and COVID exacerbated that. They became cocky and arrogant,” says the second former employee. “I remember discussions used to be like how to make a $10 billion company. And we were like, please get the revenue of $1 million. They thought whatever they touch will turn to gold. And this has been the reason for their downfall.” 
  
 “It is pretty shocking to see identical Mercedes SUVs in the parking lot. How can you do this after raising just a Series B?” asks a second former employee, also on condition of anonymity. “Especially when you don’t have a product and vision?” 
  
  
 “Both Mihir and Divyansh bought houses worth crores of rupees. All this was done when the company still had no steady revenue,” says a third former employee, requesting not to be identified. 
  
 The buyback “is very similar to a founder secondary [just a different structure],” says a VC investor, asking not to be named. “Founder shares are typically locked in. So, if it is a small amount, <Rs 10 crore type in a mature company, yes. Else, likely no.”

Program Manager

You can mention current/ex company. Or don't mention. Just say the scam. Let the common things be known.

What's a scam that your company does?

Welcome to News Discussion's Private Community

So Bewakoof got acquired by Aditya Birla group and sent a mail to employees that their ESOPs are now worthless “as determined by the board.”
I mean, I know what they’re doing is completely legal, they must have covered themselves with escape clauses, but how are founders okay with this? They basically ripped off and wiped off the wealth of the very employees that worked for them for years. Shameful, man! Never buying from this shit company again. Not that it will matter, but won’t give a penny to this hideous organization.

<Rant on Bewakoof.com> Employees got nothing for their ESOPs

Second meeting with the guy, thought his outlook might improve because we had better numbers than the first meeting (few months ago). Didn't even remember the first conversation, or our business, didn't do any research on our startup or industry before the meeting. Kept forcing opinions on me instead of listening, same as the first meeting.

Extremely rude and a waste of time. He said many things no founder should say, that too for another founder.

(Pitching is difficult as is, rejection is common and it's very easy to get demotivated)

When I said I'll share my experience with other founders and startups so they don't engage with that platform, got a reply saying they'll send me a defamation notice if I do, and will also tell other investors in the community that we are doing this startup as a "hobby" and no investor will come onboard.

It's amazing to see the kind of arrogance some people have, especially in the investor and VC network. Would have loved to name and shame him but I have better things to do than to get into petty court cases with assholes. 

Fellow founders, please be very careful and choosy with who you talk to about your startup's fundraise. Indian VC ecosystem is mostly a circlejerk and a shitshow. You're better off raising from friends and family and even individual angel investors than trying to bargain with devils in disguise.

I will most likely stop pitching for investment altogether and focus on growing my profitability than waste time convincing idiots who'd rather throw money on pitch decks without an MVP and startups without PMF, revenue or profitability.

/endrant

Defamation notice threat: Pitching in India

Fuck the defamation notice. Don’t take shit from anyone, if someone crosses their line, reply to them then and there, so that you never think about that again. 
  
 VC and angel market is big in India now. No one has full control of the full ecosystem.  
 This is not Bollywood and there is not Salman khan and Karan Johar. 
  
 Here even fraudsters are getting second chance. Keep building.

Generalist

I’m surprised why isn’t this a news? More than 500 people are fired with crooked strategies planned by founders. With out financial support.

5th case against fraud company Classplus

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