I Got Scammed - A Startup Worker Tells A Cautionary Tale of Working For WrkRiot, Including Forged Wire Transfers, A Company Mole, and Being Fired From The Company Wrkriot, JobSonic - Quartz

8/31/2016 "Igotscammed":AstartupworkertellsacautionarytaleofworkingforWrkRiot,includingforgedwiretransfers,acompanymole,andbeingfiredfromth
CAUTIONARY TALE
I got scammed: A tech workers

awful story shows the gap
between idealism and reality in
Silicon Valley
Michael J. Coren
August 30, 2016
The dream doesnt always match the reality. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Come to Silicon Valley, California. Build something important. Get rich! Its a narrative that has attracted
thousands. But for some, it turns into a nightmare.
That appears to be the story of Penny Kim, a former marketing director at a company called WrkRiot
(before that, JobSonic and 1for.one). The company described itself on a Facebook page that has since been
taken down as disrupting the job search by offering just jobs: No more games. No more sponsored
jobs that dont apply to you. No more unfairness in the job market.
http://qz.com/769654/igotscammedatechworkersawfulstoryshowsthegapbetweenidealismandrealityinsiliconvalley/
1/13
Archived screenshot of WrkRiots website.
For all the companys self-professed straight talk, Kim tells a devastating tale of alleged deceptions,
including forged wire transfer receipts, late paychecks, and lies from executives. This week, she wrote
about her experience working at the company in a Medium post titled I Got Scammed By A Silicon Valley
Startup.
It was traumatic for me, Kim tells Quartz in an interview. My main goal [in publishing the post] was to
show people the other side of what Silicon Valley and startups are like. Everyone has hopes and dreams. I
did. I moved out to California to achieve that dream.
2/13
Penny Kim (LinkedIn)
The world is captivated by the success stories of people like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and
many chase their own entrepreneurial ambitions in Silicon Valley. The mythology of the Valley is that its
a place where a few people can make a huge difference, and maybe hit the jackpot in the process. But the
optimism and idealism behind startups can mask deeper problems with those who run them.
In retrospect, Kim realized there were red ags about the company all along, but she pushed aside her
concerns. She was spurred on by the companys seeming credibilitybuilt upon the established
reputations of investors and advisors involved, as well as the assurances of the CEO. Theres no way a
startup I found on Angel.co is going to screw me over, she says she thought to herself during the
interviewing process.
The company and its management were left unnamed in Kims post, but archived versions of WrkRiots
team page and biographies match the work pro les of executives described in Kims piece. Kim also
con rmed the companys name in an interview after WrkRiot seemed to acknowledge the post on its
Facebook account.
3/13
WrkRiots of cial website and several social media posts have been taken down, but WrkRiots of cial
Facebook account posted an apparent rebuttal (also since removed) to Kims piece the same day,
promising to employ all legal remedies to end this campaign of slander. (Technically, a written
defamation would be libel, not slander.)
Kims chronicle of a company spiraling into dysfunction has riled the tech community, and elicited a
social media response similar to that a letter from an unhappy former Yelp employee did earlier this year.
Heres the story Kim lays out in her Medium post: In May 2016, after three interviews, she says she
accepted the role of marketing director at 1for.one, one of WrkRiots earlier incarnations. From the
beginning, things didnt seem quite right, she says. The CEO, Isaac Choi, hired one of her direct reports
without consulting her. A promised $4 million marketing budget never materialized. At investor meetings,
the co-founders talked about themselves, their connections, and their quali cations for 30 minutes
rather than the product, which they touted as the next Credit Karma of LinkedIn.
The software engineering team was largely made up of young Chinese employees relying on visas
sponsored by the company to remain in the US, Kim says. According to Kim, an employee loaned $50,000
of his savings to the CEO, and the chief technical of cer lent another $230,000 to the company to cover
payroll. Kims rst paycheck was late, and other employees started missing paydays after WrkRiot parted
ways with its payroll administrator ADP.
4/13
After repeated inquiries about salaries, Kim alleges, Choi sent forged Wells Fargo wire transfer receipts to
17 employees, and told them that if the money wasnt in their accounts that it was their responsibility to
follow up with their banks. Kim ended up ling wage claims with the state of California as the paychecks
stopped coming.
WrkRiot CEO Isaac Choi red Kim in mid-August, she writes in her post, claiming that she tried to kill
the company by turning the team against him by encouraging them to le wage claims. Kim said she
later found out another employee was acting as a mole, relaying her and other colleagues complaints to
the CEO.
Choi, who did not respond to requests for comment through the companys Facebook or LinkedIn
accounts, described his work experience on Crunchbase as the former CEO of C2S Mining Group, a
cofounder of SavantLingo, and an analyst at JP Morgan.
Kim claims Choi red her without cause and owes her back wages, a promised $10,000 relocation bonus,
and three months of severance worth $50,000, as negotiated in her contract (Kim declined to share her
contract with Quartz). The company eventually paid her back wages, although not her bonus or severance,
she says. In a Facebook post, WrkRiot claims there was no verbal agreement or contract that she was owed
$50,000 (it did not address the $10,000 bonus she says shes owed).
A series of former employees, advisors, and even the the companys former CTO have since denounced
WrkRiot and its leadership, in particular Choi. The companys currently listed chief marketing of cer, who
replaced Kim, also appears to have written a brutal two-part series, How Working At a Start Up Almost
Killed Me.
LinkedIns former director of engineering, Daniel Tunkelang, wrote on Medium that he had cut ties with
WrkRiot, apologizing to anyone who took the company more seriously because of my association with
them, and saying he himself had overlooked the red ags. I should have gotten to know the company
and its leadership better before associating myself with them and lending them my credibility, he wrote.
Lesson learned.
The companys former CTO, Al Brown, responded on HackerNews on Aug. 29, con rming the facts of
Kims account and claiming he too had been deceived. Quartz veri ed his HackerNews user albertcbrown
in an interview with Quartz on Aug. 30. I was conned as much as anyone in this company if not more,
Brown told Quartz. [Choi] is actually very convincing. The stories he came up with were always very
believable.
Brown of cially severed ties with the company on Aug. 29. He said he had been unable to con rm Chois
personal story after talking with family members and colleagues. The development team he led, most of
whom are on F1 visas, must return back China if they cant nd new jobs quickly. He is now owed
expenses, August of ce rent, back pay, and the $230,000 bridge loan. Its bad, he said.
5/13
I wasnt thinking of really doing deep due diligence on my partner. I took him at this word, said Brown
who was introduced to Choi by a trusted colleague. I really wanted to believe in the dream and him.Its
really hard to face the fact it might not be true.
WrkRiots story appears to be one of willful deception and wildly misplaced trust. Friends and family
members introduced the companys executives. Employees, up until very recently, seemed to still have
faith in the CEOs promises. Advisors had taken the companys management at its word. It seems a
mounting wave of mistakes, coverups, and outright deception led to the companys current predicament.
This looks naive in retrospect, but it is how much of Silicon Valley operates. Despite claims of due
diligence, many deals and company foundings are brokered largely on the strength of personal
relationships, especially within trusted social networks. These recommendations remain a valuable
currency in the valley, despite the reoccurrence of apparent horror stories like WrkRiot.
That will likely be little consolation to the people involved with WrkRiot. Kim has since moved back to
Dallas as she looks for another job. Its not a happy ending, she says, and its not great for anyone.
She still dreams of working in California, but is now looking for roles at more established companies. For
the time being, shes trying to readjust to her post-startup life. I feel like I am a whistleblower, she says.
Im still going through this hell. I still have to face retaliation.
Read this next: I cant afford to buy groceries: Yelp red an employee after her scathing open
letter to the CEO
AUGUST VISITOR
Mark Zuckerberg is on a surprise

visit to Nigeria, Facebooks
largest African market
Yomi Kazeem
August 30, 2016
Quartz Africa
6/13
"Hi!" (Reuters/Stephen Lam)
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, is visiting Nigeria for a few days. Zuckerberg says hell be
meeting with developers and entrepreneurs, and learning about the startup ecosystem in Nigeria during
his time in Lagos. In line with this, Zuckerbergs rst notable stop was at Co-Creation Hub (Cc Hub), in
Yaba, Lagos Silicon Valley-style ground zero for start-ups. Over the years, Cc Hub has served as a start-up
incubator and accelerator, housing successful start-ups such as BudgIT, a civic enterprise which focuses
on accountability and transparency in government budgets. While at Cc Hub, Zuckerberg also met with
young kids attending a summer coding camp.
PrudenceOkoilu
@donprudence
Follow
MarkZuckerbergatthecocreationhub.
8:56PM30Aug2016
18
13
Zuckerberg may meet with Nigerias president Buhari or vice president Osinbajo before he leaves,
according to one person familiar with the plans, but the meeting hasnt been con rmed. The
arrangements for Zuckerbergs visit to Nigeria were successfully kept under wraps till he appeared in
7/13
arrangements for Zuckerbergs visit to Nigeria were successfully kept under wraps till he appeared in
Lagos today (Aug. 30) after a visit to Rome with his wife Priscilla Chan, where he is reported to have met
the Pope.
Zuckerberg watching on at a Cc Hub session of a summer coding camp for kids. (Idea Engineers)
Tomorrow, Zuckerberg is expected to host a Q&A session sharing Facebooks strategic plans in Africas
largest economy. Though the visit is part of a series of global town hall meetings, Facebooks strong ties
with Nigeria cannot be ignored. With 16 million people visiting the social media platform monthly,
Nigeria remains Facebooks biggest market in Africa. In a bid to further grow that market, Facebook
launched its FreeBasics service in Nigeria in May. Targeting a bulk of the population who cannot afford
internet access, the service will allow users to access Facebook as well as other listed websites at no cost.
For his part, Zuckerberg has also given several nods to Nigeria over the past year, acknowledging the work
of start-ups like BudgIT and job listing service, Jobberman. Most recently, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
(CZI), founded by Zuckerberg and his wife, led a $24 million investment round in Andela, a Lagos start-up
that trains and outsources local software developers.
The rst major investment by the foundation, it was heralded as a big bet on the future of African tech.
But just as the news was met with excitement locally, controversy soon followed. Nigerian tech
8/13
But just as the news was met with excitement locally, controversy soon followed. Nigerian tech
enthusiasts were upset with the description of Andela as a New York company, and Iyin Aboyeji, the
Nigerian co-founder of Andela, hardly mentioned in the press coverage that followed the investment. At
the time, Aboyeji attempted to stem the criticism via a blog post explaining the companys origins but
two months later, he announced his departure from Andela to start Flutterwave, a new payments
company. Zuckerberg visited Andelas Yaba campus today.
Seni Sulyman, director of Andela Lagos said Zuckerbergs visit reinforces not only his support of Andelas
mission, but his belief that indeed the next generation of great technology leaders will come out of Lagos,
Nigeria and cities across Africa.
Sign up for the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief the most important and interesting news from across the
continent, in your inbox.
SPONSOR CONTENT BULLETIN BY
How can cities with 18th century

infrastructure support 21st
century life?
EY: Building a better working world
Infrastructure improvementonce considered a dry topicis having its moment in the limelight.
Municipalities around the world are recognizing its crucial role in economic development and making
9/13
decisions that affect millions of citizens. The nancing required for infrastructure building and
maintenance is at the forefront of the conversation, with current estimates of the next 15 years of global
spending ranging from $60 to $70 trillion, with a shortfall projected of roughly $15 to $25 trillion.
Expected to house 67% of the global population by 2050, cities face particularly steep challenges.
Whether in emerging markets where the lack of ef cient water and power systems impedes
modernization, or in the US and Europe, where decades-old highways and bridges are ill-equipped to
handle modern traf c, the obstacles to building infrastructure t for the needs of the future are diverse
and daunting.
Employing public-private partnerships to close funding gaps is a potential solution, one that has been
successfully tested in the UK, Australia and Canada. Alternate nancing modelsincluding plans used in
London and proposed in New Yorkwould raise tolls on bridges or roads to match increased use. But for
cities and countries whose budgets are limited by political inaction, the best strategy might be focusing
on approaches that offer ways to lower costs over time.
Green infrastructure is projected to be one valuable method. Urban areas that incorporate solutions such
as green roofs, bioswales, permeable pavement, bioretention, and water harvesting not only attract
federal fundingthey are considered an effective way to ght rising costs associated with climate change.
Lower outlays from reduced water treatment and energy use can lead to substantial savings over time.
Hurricane Sandy in icted $32 billion in damages on New York City in 2012a year later, the city launched
a resiliency plan that called for wetlands, a high-level sewer system (expected to save $1.5 billion over 20
years), and multiple other initiatives aimed at preventing similarly expensive damage from superstorms
of the future.
Advances in intelligent infrastructure also offer some of the most exciting prospects: Using the Internet
of Things and other forms of digital technology, cities could get more out of existing systems via analytics
programs and sensors that have become both cheaper and more advanced.
One successful case study of this approach can be found in Barcelona. The citylike so many otherswas
searching for ways to stave off economic and developmental stagnancy following the 2008 recession. To
help save money and optimize the urban infrastructure, the local government employed the latest
computing technologies and embraced smart city initiatives in 12 areas, including water and lighting.
This helped reduce congestion and emissions via sensors that led drivers to empty parking spaces;
created a sensor network to monitor precipitation and humidity, allowing of cials to target irrigation;
and installed nearly 20,000 smart meters to measure energy consumption and improve ef ciency, among
other efforts. In total, Barcelona calculates that it saved $37 million from smart lighting, $58 million from
smart water measures, and increased cash ow from parking by $50 million, thanks to the citys IoT
implementation.
In Los Angeles, a simple move of switching the citys street lamps to LED bulbs equipped with mobile
sensors is saving the city $8 million a year. And most Americans probably recall the disastrous and deadly
10/13
collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis in 2007today the smart bridge that replaced it is out tted with
over 300 sensors that track temperature, vibration and possible corrosion, among other factors. Similar
technology is being used in bridges across the US to anticipate similar tragedies before they can happen.
Among transportation experts, mobility-focused digital innovations like apps that encourage car-sharing
and microsimulations that predict travel demand are expected to be essential for the safe and ef cient
growth of the 21st-century city, as reported in a new study from EY. These localized tools help bring a
level of precision to a eld that sometimes suffers from fuzzy thinkinga microsimulation in Sydney,
Australia, for example, helped show that employing ride-sharing in autonomous vehicles to transport
children to and from school could have a small but signi cant impact on traf c congestion.
Similar technology-enabled measures are expected to have equally positive effects in cities around the
world, especially in urban areas in Asia, which, along with Africa, is due to see the biggest urbanization
growth in the next few decades. A report issued by the GMS Association estimated that Bangkok
infamous for its gridlock and nightmarish traf c jamscould save up to a billion dollars a year by using
intelligent transportation systems, which could improve traf c, cut emissions, and boost productivity.
Employing technology to reduce the long-term cost of infrastructure is likely to become only a larger
phenomenon in the coming years. According to an EY report looking at rising megatrends affecting the
urban world, the number of IoT units used in smart cities could increase to nearly 10 million by 2020. By
embracing strategies to connect existing infrastructure to digital networks that can make the most
ef cient use of them, metropolises can save in the present and invest in the future.
EYs Better Questions series asks some of the tough questions faced by todays global businesses.
Better questions. Better answers. Better working world. Discover more. #BetterQuestions
This article was produced on behalf of EY by the Quartz marketing team and not by the Quartz editorial staff.
TWO CITIES
For more proof that men, not

skirts, are the reason women are
raped, look to Hong Kong
Heather Timmons
33 mins ago
Quartz India
11/13
No connection. (Reuters/Aly Song)
The latest advice from Indias tourism minister about women visitors to the country repeats a tired trope
to stay safe, Mahesh Sharma told foreign women, dont wear skirts. Sharmas advice is similar to other
cringe-worthy reasons that Indian of cials have offered for years for sexual attacks, blaming women for
everything from donning Western clothing to not wearing overcoats.
There is no evidence to support these reasons, and plenty to refute them: Women get raped no matter
how covered up they are, and some studies even suggest (pdf, pg. 20) that more revealing clothing might
signal a con dence that scares off potential rapists looking for submissive victims.
But the ridiculous idea persists, and Indian of cials are hardly alone in trotting it out: judges, of cials,
and prosecutors have blamed rapes from Canada to Egypt to Italy to US college campuses on the victims
clothing, rather than on the men that attacked them.
One stark way to bust this myth would be to compare the safety of women in Hong Kong with that of
women in New Delhi.
I lived in Delhi for over six years before landing in Hong Kong in 2013. The move was a big change for
many reasons, including how freely women dress herefrom being surrounded by other women swathed
(usually beautifully) in fabric that often went from neck to ankle in Delhi, I was suddenly in the midst of a
sea of teeny shorts, mid-thigh skirts, and sleeveless shirts. Momentarily, I turned into a tutting auntie
(Good Lord, is she really wearing that to the of ce?!)and then, like nearly everyone else in Hong Kong,
except for maybe the fashion bloggers, I just shrugged and went on with my day.
Women in Hong Kong wear whatever they damn well pleasefrom tap shorts and three inch heels to
of ce to strappy tank tops and mini-jogging shorts to go sightseeing to cutoff jean shorts paired with
Wellington boots when it rains. They travel on public transportation, slog away at corporate jobs, and go
out at night in whatever they damn well pleaseand Ive never seen a women being catcalled by a Hong
Kong guy.
12/13
More importantly, women dont get sexually attacked here at anywhere near the same rate as they do in
Delhi, despite what they wear becausemen from Hong Kong dont attack them at the same rate. Hong
Kongs overall number of reported sexual attacks on women is remarkably lower than Delhis:
Total attacks on women, 2015
Rape
Delhi
2,199
Hong Kong
Sexual assault
5,367
107
713
Data: Delhi Police, Hong Kong Census and Statistics Dept.
Share
Theres no way to explain away these numbers. Yes, Delhis population of 18.6 million is more than twice
Hong Kongs 7.2 million. But that still means the rate at which women in Delhi are being assaulted is
much higher.
Rate of attacks on women, per 100,000 population
Rape
Delhi
11.8
Hong Kong
Sexual assault
1.5
28.6
9.9
Data: Delhi Police, Hong Kong Census and Statistics Dept.
Share
And yes, rape and sexual assault are probably severely under-reported in Hong Kong, but theyre probably
severely under-reported in Delhi too.
Hong Kong certainly has plenty of instances of gender discrimination and unfair blame being apportioned
to women, but at least no one is suggesting that putting on a skirt means it is their fault if some guy
attacks them.
Ask young men in Hong Kong why they think women are safer in public here than in Delhi, no matter
what theyre wearing, and you get a lot of puzzled replies. Some say that in Hong Kong sexual criminals
are viewed as an even lower form of life than other criminals, and theres a widespread belief that even in
jail they are looked down upon and bullied by the other inmates.
Tai Chan, a 19-year-old Hong Konger who is now a university student in Australia, said he could never
imagine cat-calling a woman on the street. People will think youre nuts, alright?, he said. If he was ever
caught surreptitiously checking a woman out, hed be embarrassed. After all, he said, it makes the girls
uncomfortable.
Tom Tsui contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
13/13

I Got Scammed - A Startup Worker Tells A Cautionary Tale of Working For WrkRiot, Including Forged Wire Transfers, A Company Mole, and Being Fired From The Company Wrkriot, JobSonic - Quartz

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8/31/2016 "Igotscammed":AstartupworkertellsacautionarytaleofworkingforWrkRiot,includingforgedwiretransfers,acompanymole,andbeingfiredfromth

I got scammed: A tech workers

August 30, 2016

The dream doesnt always match the reality. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Archived screenshot of WrkRiots website.

Penny Kim (LinkedIn)

Mark Zuckerberg is on a surprise

August 30, 2016

"Hi!" (Reuters/Stephen Lam)

SPONSOR CONTENT BULLETIN BY

How can cities with 18th century

For more proof that men, not

No connection. (Reuters/Aly Song)

Data: Delhi Police, Hong Kong Census and Statistics Dept.

Data: Delhi Police, Hong Kong Census and Statistics Dept.

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