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:
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