The Tech Comeback Machine: Now With More Scandal.
Hey, here’s a joke for ya: What do you get when you cross a founder who lies with a market that forgives everything?
Another term sheet—and maybe a Netflix deal.
In just the last week, we’ve seen the tech world serve up a familiar cocktail: fraud, spin, and forgiveness.
- Charlie Javice, founder of Frank, was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan by lying about her user base.
- Trevor Milton of Nikola—who staged a fake truck demo and misled investors—was pardoned by Donald Trump, dodging prison and $680 million in restitution.
- And then came more “comeback kings”: Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road), Carlos Watson (Ozy Media), and a crew of crypto founders.
Pardoned. Commuted. Reinvented.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Fraud Is a Feature, Not a Bug
These aren’t just one-off scandals. They’re a feature of a broken system.
Because the real issue isn’t just individual misconduct—it’s the culture that keeps welcoming these people back.
Think of it as a forest that regrows more densely after a fire. Our tech ecosystem doesn’t just survive fraudulent founders, it seems to thrive on their ashes. This creates fertile ground for the next generation of ethical compromise.
Before I keep going, let me be very clear:
Your Team Sees the Lie Before the Street Does
Shareholders might overlook the spin, the shortcuts, even the lies—especially if the numbers look good. But here’s what founders often forget: your employees are watching. They notice when values are compromised, when accountability is performative, and when trust is optional. How they show up, speak up, and stick around is influenced by the slippery slope of this behavior.
A 2023 Ethics & Compliance Initiative report, 82% of employees who observed misconduct in their organization reported it, but only 64% believed their organization responded appropriately to the reported misconduct. Additionally, 79% of employees who experienced retaliation after reporting misconduct said they were less likely to report future concerns.
In startup land, failure seems to not just becoming more tolerated—it’s fetishized. And when failure comes wrapped in a charismatic pitch deck, founders are often given the benefit of the doubt—even when they lie, mislead, or cheat. We’re dangerously building a mythology where fraud can be rephrased as “fighting the system,” and punishment becomes a plot twist in a hero’s comeback story.
Are we glamorizing failure so much that we’ve stopped asking whether decisions and actions were ever honest in the first place? Are we headed in a direction where more boards will prize scale over substance? Investors that reward bluster over balance? Cultures that conflate charisma with competence?
Accountability Scales. Charisma Doesn’t.
A culture of accountability isn’t just a moral stance—it’s a strategic one. Because once your team loses faith in your integrity, no amount of vision can rebuild it.
So if you’re a founder:
- Ask yourself: Are you building a company or just performing as a “founder”?
- Who’s holding you accountable—not just for your numbers, but for your values?
- Have you created a culture that rewards honesty—or one that only recognizes hype?
If you’re a VC:
- Are your diligence practices built to catch character risk—or just chasing the next hot deal?
- Are you mentoring founders through the hard stuff—or just hoping they don’t implode before the next round?
- Are you helping build companies that last—or ones that just look good on paper?
This is where Ekipo can come in.
Our firm helps founders and investors go beyond the surface—creating cultures where accountability, clarity, and long-term trust are built into the operating rhythm from day one. It’s designed for leaders who want to build enduring companies, not just compelling narratives.
By working with our firm, VCs can actually see how their portfolio companies are doing—beneath the glossy updates. Founders get the structure and feedback loops needed to scale with integrity, not just speed.
The market will always chase the next shiny object. But it’s up to us to decide whether our culture keeps enabling fraud—or finally starts designing against it.
Because the real comeback story we need isn’t about pardoned fraudsters. It’s about founders who build trust before traction—and investors who reward that.
Article was written by John-Miguel Mitchell who is the Founder and Lead Consultant at Ekipo LLC. If you’d like to learn more about how to design and build out the ideal workplace culture for your business, email him at jmitchell@joinekipo.com.
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