7/28/2019 A Letter to Beachmint Employees and Partners

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ToBeachMintEmployees,Partners&Friends

Inmy32yearsasaprofessionalinthetechnologyarenaIhavebeenbothaFounderandInvestor(General

Partner,AnthemVentures).Ivedealtwithsomeinterestingsituationsintheseroles,butImhavingtrouble

thinkingofanythingthatmatchesuptotheexperienceIvehadthesepasttwoweeks,duetooneofthemost

untruepiecesofjournalismIvehadthedispleasureofreadingaboutacompanyinwhichIhaveinvested.Iam,

ofcourse,referringtotheJuly3rd

storyonBeachMintpublishedbyPandoDaily.

Tohopefullybringadefinitiveendtothisridiculousstory,theBeachMintBoardofDirectorsandIwouldliketo

emphasizehowpositiveweareaboutthehealthandtrajectoryoftheBeachMintbusiness.Thecompanyhas

deliveredstrongyear-over-yearrevenueandsubscribergrowth,hasasolidbalancesheetandwitha

phenomenalteaminplaceispoisedforcontinuedsuccess.Itisforthesereasonsthatwefullysupportits

executiveleadershipteam.

Youcannotimaginehowshockedandappalledweallweretoreadtheheadlinesclaiming,BeachMintBoard

oustsfounders;Companyreturns$20milliontoinvestors.Theseclaimsareutterlyfalse.Infact,neverinour

aggregatecareersasentrepreneurs,executivesandinvestorshaveweseensuchabaselessstorypublishedin

theguiseofnews.AstheBoardandinvestorsreferredtointheheadline,wecansaywithgreatcertaintythat

bothclaimsareuntrue.Specifically:

NeitherJoshBermannorDiegoBerdakinhasbeenoustedorremovedfromthecompany.Indeed,atnotimehastheBoardofDirectorsdiscussedremovingJoshBerman(CEO)andDiegoBerdakin

(President)fromthecompanyeitherinformallyorformally.

$20millionhasnotbeenreturnedorsentbacktoinvestors.Infact,returnofcapitaltoinvestorshasneverbeendiscussedbytheBoard.

Toouremployees-theentireboardistrulyangeredonyourbehalf.Weareequalpartssympatheticforany

unduestressthishascausedyouandoutragedatthelackofregardforyouoryourfamilies.Thereisnodoubt

thatthecarelesslypublishedwordsimpactedyouall.

Ivemetmanygreatjournalistsandeachoneofthemwouldtellyouthatinformation,regardlessofwhereit

comesfrom,mustbefact-checked.

AtnotimedidanyonefromPandoDailycontactanyoneofusinformally,orformallytoaskforcorroboration

orcommentpriortothepublicationthisarticle.NordidtheycontactanyoneonBeachMintsleadershipteam.

Apparentlybeingfactuallyaccuratewaslessimportantthanprintingasalaciousheadlinethatcouldgenerate

traffic.

Asprofessionalswithtoomanyyearsofexperiencebetweenustomention,weresolvedtogivePandoDailyand

itsEditortimetoadmitthatthisstorywassimplybuiltonmisinformation;thatitwasegregiousandfactuallyinaccuratereporting.

Evenafterboardmemberswentonrecordtostatethisarticlehadnotruthtoit,PandoDailydecidedtowritean

update,notaretraction,suggestingthattimewillprovethemright.Todigintoapositionthatis100%untrue

issimplyludicrous.LetmestateasclearlyasIpossiblycan:Timewillnotprovethemright.Manyfactsofthis

articlewereinaccurateincludingthetwoassertionsintheheadlineandnoamountoftimewillchangethat.

Subsequenttotheir'update'PandoDailyhassimplymovedon,seeminglywithoutcaringaboutthe

consequencesoftheiractions.MeanwhileBeachMintsleadershipteamandemployeeshavehadtodivert

7/28/2019 A Letter to Beachmint Employees and Partners

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energybycommunicatingtopartners,potentialinvestors,futureemployeesandthebroadercommunitythat

therereallycanbesmokewithoutfireandthatamediareportcanbe,andasinthiscasewas,builtupon

mistruthsandunfoundedgossip.

Wearenotaskingforaneasyride,andIwanttobeclearthatwevaluetheserviceandthepurposenewssites

haveinourcommunity.Wearejustaskingforthemtogettheirfactsright.Particularlyhavingmadeclaimsas

damagingasfoundersbeingoustedandCompanyreturns$20milliontoinvestors.

Inpublishingthisletteritisourintenttosettherecordstraight.Isincerelyhopethisdoesnthappentoother

companiesinourindustry.

Sincerely,

BillWoodward,BeachMintBoardofDirectorsandObservers: