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privco's sales people e-mailed the address on my company's domain and offered research services. when we declined, four days later an article ran on privco (an

privco's sales people e-mailed the address on my company's domain and offered research services. when we declined, four days later an article ran on privco (an 'exclusive') reporting that we refused comment on something we had never seen which was an article full of made-up dire horseshit. so I was left explaining to my employees why this company was out to get us and no, I wasn't misleading them about our finances. we do not have the resources to sue. wish livingsocial and the other companies targeted by these pieces of shit would. it's all a giant scam. what hurts the most is the pubs that parrot the 'research', like cnn did this time around, which gives it credibility. edit: a16z and google pay them for their research. sad. http://www.privco.com/testimonials http://www.privco.com/testimonials

BostonCFO2 14y ago
That's an outright lie. No PrivCo salespeople and research people interact whatsoever or coordinate whatsoever. And salespeople deal with partners at top VC firms, major law firms, etc. They would never email some random little crappy company an email off their domain, not would they ever waste their once a week featured research note covering a mom and pop operation like you sound. Who would even read it? This is completely made up and libelous. Expect a subpoena for your IP address because that's a made up outright defamatory lie. Leaving aside it makes no logical sense whatsoever, go read PrivCo's featured research notes and the companies the subjects of them (usually new IPOs like Zynga, Facebook etc., which you obviously aren't) right on PrivCo.com home page for all to see. Which "Company" were you supposedly featured in your fantasy world?
FinTechCTO 14y ago
That's an outright lie. Look at their website, they only do featured research on major companies usu about to IPO (some positive and Buy Rating some Avoid IPO/sell). So far has mostly been right every time (Avoid ZYNGA, Avoid Groupon, FB fair value = $24 not $38). positive on Workday and Palo Alto Networks (both up over 50% since IPO) positive on Twitter, negative on Foursuare. But they're major companies. What article is YOUR admittedly tiny company? That's clearly an outright lie. You're a shill for LivingSocial's PR firms scrambling obviously for anything. So link to this "article/analyst research note" that they would bother doing on what you say is a tiny crappy business. Go ahead, link now. Otherwise, proof you're a liar and being libelous and deserve what you get for anonymously investing this story.
BostonCFO2 14y ago
I thought they only cover IPOs or huge private companies. Go to their home page and see their "articles" (Featured Research). Scroll through - no way any of those huge companies are yours. You created that "onetimecomment" anonymously and made it up and then disappeared. That's not intelligent discussion, that's a provable defamatory lie. Where would your little company "without resources to sue" be exactly? Facebook? Palo Alto Networks IPO? Twitter? Where? Liar.
deleted 14y ago
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tptacek 14y ago
It's like the shareholder lawsuit shakedown, only targeting private companies.
- jrs235 14y ago
  I wonder if they have short bets (in systems like InTrade or similar shadow trading systems) on the companies they drag through the dirt.
  - samstave 14y ago
    I'd bet they do. and they probably have some hedge fund backer thats specifically creating these shorts.
  - bitcartel 14y ago
    Probably not. First, if you search InTrade you won't find anything related to LivingSocial. Second, it's not legal for anybody in the US to bet via InTrade[1], and Privco is a US company with it's founder Sam Hamadeh based in New York[2]. [1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/after-regulatory-sanction-intrade-closes-to-u-s-investors/ http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/after-regulatory-sanc... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hamadeh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hamadeh
- trevelyan 14y ago
  I have no dog in this fight, but surely it's hypocritical to slam PrivCo while taking the anonymous commenter above at face value. The company is apparently posting further down on this thread -- why not just ask them your questions directly? This funding round is going to play out in a way that will make it very clear in a few months who nailed the story and whether this reporting is malicious. If PrivCo is guilty of systemic fraud or extortion, there are surely online discussions that can support the claim. As a web entrepreneur myself, I also find the anonymity here puzzling for another reason -- if I had a legitimate grievance with the company I would be doing everything in my power to inject my story into the national media at this point. Free SEO from CNN and other major news outlets? Sign me up.
deleted 14y ago
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BostonCFO2 14y ago

That's an outright lie. No PrivCo salespeople and research people interact whatsoever or coordinate whatsoever. And salespeople deal with partners at top VC firms, major law firms, etc. They would never email some random little crappy company an email off their domain, not would they ever waste their once a week featured research note covering a mom and pop operation like you sound. Who would even read it? This is completely made up and libelous. Expect a subpoena for your IP address because that's a made up outright defamatory lie. Leaving aside it makes no logical sense whatsoever, go read PrivCo's featured research notes and the companies the subjects of them (usually new IPOs like Zynga, Facebook etc., which you obviously aren't) right on PrivCo.com home page for all to see. Which "Company" were you supposedly featured in your fantasy world?

FinTechCTO 14y ago

That's an outright lie. Look at their website, they only do featured research on major companies usu about to IPO (some positive and Buy Rating some Avoid IPO/sell). So far has mostly been right every time (Avoid ZYNGA, Avoid Groupon, FB fair value = $24 not $38). positive on Workday and Palo Alto Networks (both up over 50% since IPO) positive on Twitter, negative on Foursuare. But they're major companies. What article is YOUR admittedly tiny company? That's clearly an outright lie. You're a shill for LivingSocial's PR firms scrambling obviously for anything. So link to this "article/analyst research note" that they would bother doing on what you say is a tiny crappy business. Go ahead, link now. Otherwise, proof you're a liar and being libelous and deserve what you get for anonymously investing this story.

BostonCFO2 14y ago

I thought they only cover IPOs or huge private companies. Go to their home page and see their "articles" (Featured Research). Scroll through - no way any of those huge companies are yours. You created that "onetimecomment" anonymously and made it up and then disappeared. That's not intelligent discussion, that's a provable defamatory lie. Where would your little company "without resources to sue" be exactly? Facebook? Palo Alto Networks IPO? Twitter? Where? Liar.

deleted 14y ago

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tptacek 14y ago

It's like the shareholder lawsuit shakedown, only targeting private companies.

jrs235 14y ago
I wonder if they have short bets (in systems like InTrade or similar shadow trading systems) on the companies they drag through the dirt.
- samstave 14y ago
  I'd bet they do. and they probably have some hedge fund backer thats specifically creating these shorts.
- bitcartel 14y ago
  Probably not. First, if you search InTrade you won't find anything related to LivingSocial. Second, it's not legal for anybody in the US to bet via InTrade[1], and Privco is a US company with it's founder Sam Hamadeh based in New York[2]. [1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/after-regulatory-sanction-intrade-closes-to-u-s-investors/ http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/after-regulatory-sanc... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hamadeh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hamadeh
trevelyan 14y ago
I have no dog in this fight, but surely it's hypocritical to slam PrivCo while taking the anonymous commenter above at face value. The company is apparently posting further down on this thread -- why not just ask them your questions directly? This funding round is going to play out in a way that will make it very clear in a few months who nailed the story and whether this reporting is malicious. If PrivCo is guilty of systemic fraud or extortion, there are surely online discussions that can support the claim. As a web entrepreneur myself, I also find the anonymity here puzzling for another reason -- if I had a legitimate grievance with the company I would be doing everything in my power to inject my story into the national media at this point. Free SEO from CNN and other major news outlets? Sign me up.

deleted 14y ago

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