Getting Pitched by a Fake Employee
This morning I got an email about a stealth startup. It was fishy and I wondered aloud (by aloud I mean on Facebook) who would answer an email like this.
It’s not horrible that Amanda is asking for me to work for them without knowing what the product is. It’s not horrible that Amanda sent me a form email and couldn’t even format things correctly. The deal breaker is that Amanda clearly doesn’t exist.
You see I clicked over on that LinkedIn profile because on the off chance that Amanda is from LA I’d want to see if we have friends in common. I like being helpful to LA area startups.
Amanda doesn’t know a single person on LinkedIn. Not one, she allegedly graduated college in 2002 and has a link to her LI account on her footer.
Amanda’s Facebook page has two stock photos and her history dates all the way back to February 4th when she joined Facebook and decided she liked the Bloggess.
The google plus in her footer? Also a ghost town.
Of course I channeled my modern day Nancy Drew and opened up the header. Amanda is using a private server (or more likely the gmail web app which treats IP address as private information) so I couldn’t identify the region, or at times the business, Amanda was emailing me from.
I guess a web browser to protect your anonymity while you troll the web for free consulting services is a good idea. Hopefully whomever invented Amanda is equipped to build it. Though I suspect that’s just not the case.
Updated to add a little note to Amanda: You may think I’m being mean by posting this but if you’re starting a business that’s supposed to help people and preserve their privacy the best way to start is with a good reputation, a solid introduction and some honesty. I gave you what you wanted, feedback. My feedback is that today’s Mom Blogger is looking for transparency and when we feel like we’re being tricked we don’t support you. Thanks for asking for my opinion. I’m glad you respect it and hope you take it to heart.