from Hacker News

A messaging app startup that raised $200M shuts down afters users were 95% fake

by zanek on 6/26/23, 3:21 AM with 140 comments

  • by valianteffort on 6/26/23, 4:37 AM

    Are softbank actually the biggest idiots in VC? It almost seems like everything they invest in is a handshake deal built on "just trust me bro" numbers.

  • by jarym on 6/26/23, 6:05 PM

    > “Oh, man, the number of times I’ve been asked why my company isn’t growing as fast as X and then found out X was a fraud all along.”

    This, in sports, finance, startups - everywhere. Dirty players skew the dynamics of any system leading to worse outcomes for those that choose to remain honest.

    We need the supposed ‘smartest guys in the room’ to be less dumb and do due diligence and we need strong consequences for founders that misstate their company’s position.

  • by mejutoco on 6/26/23, 6:10 PM

    Reddit famously started with a lot of fake users. I think the founders mentioned it in an interview. Even the Swedish guy from the show Succession was inflating his numbers. And those attributed clicks from Facebook (especially fb) and Google, better not to look too close.

  • by sharadov on 6/26/23, 5:11 PM

    I interviewed there a couple years back and a lot of things seemed really fishy. They did not give answers to a lot of my questions. So my spidey sense was right!

  • by costanzaDynasty on 6/26/23, 4:40 PM

    Everyone on and around social media wants new and better forms of social media.

    I think the average person thinks social media is the drizzling shits but if they have to use it, they'll just stick to the large platforms.

  • by WheelsAtLarge on 6/26/23, 3:25 AM

    I guess this is the way to get rich quick now. Imagine a company with millions of fake users all created by a LLM app.

  • by hotpotamus on 6/26/23, 3:23 AM

    I remember this being a significant plot point in "Silicon Valley". I suppose life imitates art imitating life.

  • by pratchett on 6/26/23, 3:50 AM

    How are messaging apps still getting these valuations when Telegram, signal, Whatsapp and lime chat exist?

  • by sam1r on 6/26/23, 3:19 PM

  • by falloutx on 6/26/23, 2:43 PM

    Why is it always Softbank getting scammed?

  • by lizknope on 6/26/23, 7:06 PM

    > Two years ago, a messaging app startup called IRL reached a $1.2 billion valuation

    > Earlier this year, a former employee alleged that IRL—the name stands for “in real life”— had fired him after he voiced concerns that many users were bots

    It's hilarious that "In Real Life" was 95% bots.

  • by vincengomes on 6/26/23, 10:16 AM

    The name of the App is IRL.

    It boasts of 10M+ downloads in Google Play

  • by Havoc on 6/26/23, 6:52 PM

    >funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2

    Oh dear. I wonder if there will be a Fund 3

  • by re-thc on 6/26/23, 11:51 AM

    What was the remaining 5% real users?

    The employees, investors and friends and family off?

  • by jasonlotito on 6/26/23, 5:31 PM

    Fake it till you make it, right?