Overheard a startup founder bragging about lying to investors at last week's DBC meetup

I was getting coffee at the side table and caught this guy saying he padded his user numbers by 30% because 'everyone does it'. Made me wonder who else in that room is faking their growth stats. Has anyone else run into people like that at these networking events?

2 comments

2 Comments

sean_walker451mo ago

Haha, that "scaling caffeine consumption at 200%" line from @willow_garcia is honestly the most honest lie I've heard in a while. I totally get the pressure to make numbers look good, but faking user growth by 30% is just setting yourself up for a massive face plant later. I've sat through pitches where the founder's phone kept buzzing with "new signup" notifications that clearly sounded like a prerecorded sound effect. It's wild how many people think investors won't do basic math, like checking if your user growth matches your website traffic or something. Honestly, I'd rather pitch my real numbers and look small than get caught in a lie and look like a total joke.

willow_garcia1mo ago

Wait, are we sure we weren't at the same meetup? Because I think I saw that guy dramatically drop his phone into his coffee as a distraction after his investor buddy walked away. Honestly, I once padded my revenue projection by inflating my coffee intake during a pitch - told them I was 'scaling caffeine consumption at 200% month over month'. Landed the meeting, then immediately had to chug three espressos to keep the lie going. Makes you wonder how many people are just running on anxiety and fake numbers.