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The article alleges that they used remelted chocolate in 2007. This is startup land. You hustle and cut corners to prove your MVP. You know who is mad? The hip
by cheez 11y ago
The article alleges that they used remelted chocolate in 2007. This is startup land. You hustle and cut corners to prove your MVP.
You know who is mad? The hipsters who couldn't tell the difference.
- dylz 11y agoThe problem here isn't that they remelted. The problem is that they actively lied about their ingredient lists and told people they were strictly making it from the bean.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y agoWhich is true. But that seems to be more important to buyers than the taste/experience of the product. I'm not a fan of dishonest advertising. But that conclusion seems a bizarre place to end up in.
- biot 11y agoSo a startup that sells artisanal crafted bottled water, produced from recombining pure hydrogen and pure oxygen gas, and sold for $15/litre... you wouldn't see any problem if they actually used filtered sewer water? Caveat emptor, yes. But there's a responsibility to be truthful in your advertising as well.
- bdcravens 11y ago> You hustle and cut corners to prove your MVP Don't confuse hustling with dishonesty and poor ethics.
- cheez 11y agoFrom where are you drawing this conclusion? The article itself does not state anything except that the brothers actually said they use remelted chocolate. The whole claim seems to rest on the meaning of "bean to bar". OK, fine. People are mad that these guys are making money executing good marketing and this is nothing but a hit piece.
- stefantalpalaru 11y ago> You hustle and cut corners to prove your MVP. This does not include lying to your customers.
- eropple 11y agoYou sure about that? How many startups feed their customers a line of bullshit around, say, uptime or data security? The answer, in my experience, is "bunches". Which is emphatically not to excuse them, I wish pretty much every kind of ill on that sort of company, but I think that's just "part of the process" for plenty of morals-optional people in startupville.
- chasing 11y ago"Which is emphatically not to excuse them..." Then don't excuse them. And try to avoid "morals-optional people" -- not just in business, but in life in general.
- eropple 11y agoI'm not excusing them. Nor am I claiming any association with that sort of startup or the people who run them. I am noting that they exist, and that that is what "startup land" is. Descriptive, not prescriptive. But thank you very much for putting words in my mouth.
- chasing 11y agoSorry about putting words in your mouth. You're absolutely right -- liars and fraudsters exist in start-up land. They should be avoided.
- chasing 11y agoWhy would you defend such shitty, fraudulent behavior and attack the customers who were lied to? It reflects poorly on you.
- cheez 11y agoGet off your high horse. Are they still doing it? No. No one was harmed, they proved the product is needed where the product is "chocolate that looks like it was produced by artisans." Yeah, there is a market for people who want to feel as if they are buying superior products when they are not necessarily doing so. c.f. the whole bottled water industry. There are tons of examples of products where you give the impression of a huge, quality team behind it that makes you feel superior for buying but it's a couple of dudes in a basement somewhere who make you feel good for buying. Let's not get too carried away by making moral judgments.
- chasing 11y ago> Are they still doing it? Who knows? One thing about liars: They lie. > No one was harmed... No one died, sure. But people purchased a product that was not what was advertised. And an unfair marketplace was created in which one player could reap the rewards while not having the expense of actually acquiring the expertise or investing in the actual product. I'd prefer to excise fraudulent players from the marketplace just so those who are actually investing in innovation and higher-quality products can reap the rewards. Chocolate is a small and whimsical thing, but it doesn't matter: It's an industry. People make their livings in it. People work hard at it. Fraudsters should be exposed. Fraud should not be considered a normal way of doing business. > people who want to feel as if they are buying superior products > makes you feel superior for buying Get off your condescending horse.