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Former Rothenberg employees allege mistreatment and cash management problems
As TechCrunch has previously reported, there’s been an exodus of talent from the Rothenberg “ecosystem,” amid claims of a significant breach of fiduciary responsibilities and other unconventional behavior by the venture firm’s founder, Mike Rothenberg. This week, we have learned more details about alleged employee abuses within Rothenberg Ventures, recently re-branded… Read More
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Oculus founder admits he funded pro-Trump group, but says he won’t vote Trump
A day after a Daily Beast story revealed that he had donated money to an organization supporting Donald Trump’s President run, Oculus founder (and Facebook employee) Palmer Luckey has come clean about his activities. Well, kinda. Read More
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Mike Rothenberg allegedly wired $5.2 million from Silicon Valley Bank without investor permission
As we first reported last month, Mike Rothenberg, the beleaguered founder of the San Francisco-based venture firm Rothenberg Ventures, has been involved in an ongoing SEC inquiry into possibly deceptive financial practices within his firm that include wire fraud, bank fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and retaliation against a lower-level employee who was fired and allegedly threatened with… Read More
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Despite looming jail time, Gurbaksh Chahal is back as Gravity4 CEO
Gurbaksh Chahal is back as CEO of Gravity4, the adtech startup he founded and was forced to relinquish control of after his probation was revoked in a domestic violence case, according to a post on the company’s website. Chahal handed the reins of the company to his sister, Kamal Kaur, after a judge found in July that he violated his probation by attacking a woman in his apartment… Read More
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Startup accused of scamming employees scrubs its online presence
A little-known startup is in meltdown mode after a former employee took to Medium to accuse the company of scamming her out of her wages and firing her in retaliation after she filed a wage claim to recoup the unpaid cash. The Medium post was widely shared online; in response, the company shuttered its website and threatened legal action against the writer, calling her “a disgruntled… Read More
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Olympic GIF ban flip-flop shows once again that Twitter can’t manage its users
Here’s a fresh example to show that Twitter, a ten-year-old company that has been public for the last three, retains the propensity to act like a newborn when it comes to its users. Read More
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SEC looks into Hampton Creek’s mayo buy back scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a preliminary inquiry into Hampton Creek after it was accused of running a secret project to buy up its own mayonnaise product from stores. Bloomberg, which first reported the news of the buybacks, now says the agency is looking at whether the startup inappropriately counted revenue from these purchases made with company money. The scheme is… Read More
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At Rothenberg Ventures, the rise and fall of a virtual Gatsby
We reported yesterday that several high-level employees had parted ways with Rothenberg, including its director of finance and the head of its SF office, who happen to be father and son (Tom and Tommy Leep). We’ve subsequently learned that firm departures run far more widely. Other top executives who’ve left include the company’s chief revenue officer, who quit… Read More
Latest Crunch Report
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Skully officially admits it’s over
It took more than a week for remaining Skully execs to admit to themselves it was time to shut down. But late last night the company finally sent customers an email, which was obtained by TechCrunch, telling them it has officially closed its doors. The startup’s troubles have been brewing for several months but came to a head two weeks ago when Skully’s board forced… Read More
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Skully has crashed and burned
Last week TechCrunch came to you with the dramatic departure of AR helmet maker Skully’s CEO and co-founder Marcus Weller and now several sources from inside the company tell us the startup is no more. Operations have ceased within the company, and we’re told the website will be turned off at some point today. Weller has also been asked to sign a confidentiality deal with… Read More
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A hack by any other name
Early this morning — so early that most of our audience probably didn’t see it — a story was posted on TechCrunch from the ever so friendly OurMine hacking team. The post was up for a handful of minutes and was removed, along with automatically generated social posts. Read More
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Judge finds Gravity4 CEO Gurbaksh Chahal violated probation in domestic violence case
A San Francisco judge ruled today that adtech CEO Gurbaksh Chahal violated his probation in a domestic violence case. Judge Tracie Brown ordered Chahal to surrender his passports to the court on Monday and will determine his sentence on August 12. Chahal’s legal woes began when he was accused of attacking a woman inside his penthouse apartment in August 2013. Prosecutors said… Read More
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Tech reacts to Trump’s RNC speech
Trump’s RNC speech was long, so we here at TechCrunch cut it down for you with 10 quick reactions from investors, executives, and engineers. Read More
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After 3 weeks, Worldpay still fumbling millions of Etsy transactions
Etsy users had another bad week as payment processor Worldpay continues to cause problems. Late last week, some Etsy users began reporting that they had experienced duplicate charges. The forum on Etsy for duplicate charges is approaching one thousand posts. In a statement, Worldpay admitted to causing the duplicate charges for Etsy users in its attempts to rectify the… Read More
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Hyperloop One files $250 million countersuit accusing BamBrogan of a “malicious smear campaign”
Hyperloop One filed a countersuit against co-founder and former CTO Brogan BamBrogan today, claiming he was part of a group of four employees engaged in misconduct and abusive behavior. The transportation startup developing a high-speed shuttle is suing the plaintiffs for at least $250 million in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County. Hyperloop One’s countersuit says… Read More
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Kim’s Snapchat Story, Taylor’s Instagram, and all the 1’s and 0’s in between
Not-so-breaking news from the world of celebrity gossip: Kimye and T-Swift are at it again! And with this particular stage of the celebrity feud, we are given an amazing opportunity to look at how social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat can be used as weapons. As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, Kim whipped out the big guns this weekend, posting a Snapchat Story of… Read More
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L.A. judge dismisses Hyperloop One co-founder Brogan BamBrogan’s restraining order against Afshin Pishevar
A Los Angeles judge has dismissed former Hyperloop One CTO and co-founder Brogan BamBrogan’s restraining order against the company’s former head of legal Afshin Pishevar. BamBrogan and several other former employees are suing Hyperloop One for wrongful termination and claims of failure toward fiduciary duty. BamBrogan separately filed a restraining order against Pishevar for… Read More
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AR helmet maker Skully investors boot founders, replacing them with Martin Fitcher as CEO
Anonymous sources have confirmed to TechCrunch that Skully co-founders Marcus and Mitch Weller have been kicked out of the company by investors. Marcus served as CEO of Skully while his brother Mitch served as chief of staff and provided business operations, product management, and material logistics support to the company. Skully jumped into the tech scene two years ago after a highly… Read More
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Ousted Hyperloop One co-founder Brogan BamBrogan is suing Shervin Pishevar, claims harrassment
Recently departed Hyperloop One co-founder Brogan BamBrogan has filed a restraining order against the company’s former head of legal Afshin Pishevar and a lawsuit against both Afshin and his brother and BamBrogan’s former startup partner Shervin Pishevar. Hyperloop One, the brainchild of Elon Musk to transport people and goods across the country at 700 mph in a vacuum tube, has… Read More
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