The Compulsively Lying VC Who Stole $9 Million

from the who-invests-your-money? dept

When people talk about the VC business, they almost always focus on the part where the VCs invest in companies. What's left out is the other half, where VCs go around to institutions, wealthy individuals and big companies trying to raise money themselves. Of course, with so many VCs out there, it's often difficult for potential investors to know who it is they're investing in. For smaller VC outfits this presents a problem. Apparently, one such VC came up with an answer: he lied. He made up facts about his background, inserted his own name in place of a former boss in a magazine article, forged other documents and did a few other similar sneaky tricks (what most people would call "fraud"). Even better, after getting millions of dollars from Kodak and others, instead of investing it in new startups he kept it for himself. Of course, all of this makes you wonder if the article describing all of this is correct in calling the guy "a venture capitalist." It's not clear that he ever did any real VC work. Maybe the article is leaving out details, but from what's there, it sounds like he was just a con artist from the beginning.