The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect those of any business, its directors, or employees.
In my last post, I shared that after 21 years, my old company, Venntro Media Group, had been closed down. If you haven't read the story, please take a look at this post on LinkedIn.
The response I received was overwhelming and truly humbling.
Messages poured in from people I hadn’t seen or spoken to in over 30 years—connections from my school and university days who had followed my journey and that of my business through Facebook or LinkedIn.
This post is my personal perspective on what happened next—what occurred after Venntro and why, in my view, how a small group of people appeared to cause as much harm as possible to me and my new business.
This in turn has harmed my ability to make amends to some of the people impacted by the closure of Venntro.
Why Am I Sharing This Story?
First, I need to acknowledge that when Venntro went into administration, it had a huge impact on many people:
- Companies that supplied services to us were left unpaid for their services.
- Advertisers who paid for advertising did not receive the value they expected.
- Some of our white-label dating partners were owed up to six months of revenue—a devastating amount for many.
These are indisputable facts, and there’s no way around them.
I tried my best to keep the business afloat, but I failed, losing all my life's savings and the company I dedicated 21 years to building.
In what I perceive to be a largely American entrepreneurial culture, failure is often seen as a learning experience and a natural part of life as an entrepreneur. However, I feel that in a predominantly British culture, failure is more likely to be used to shame and criticise.
Some individuals, as I see it, have taken particular delight in criticising me, which I will detail further later.
I want to be transparent about my experience, while emphasising that this series of posts reflects my personal views and understanding of events.
I personally lost all my savings in the administration and I had stopped taking any income from Venntro when we had to terminate partnerships in April of this year.
Despite my efforts, I feel there has been a coordinated and relentless campaign against me, my new business and my team—one that I have never experienced in my 25 years as an entrepreneur.
I am sharing this now because I believe these actions have had far-reaching consequences and have affected many others as a result.
Those behind it have not only threatened my ability to compensate those affected by Venntro's closure but have also impacted my new business and the livelihoods of those I work with.