If you have heard of me you have probably heard that I am a scammer and a fraud. If you haven't heard of me this is a post to set the record straight once and for all.
In August 2014 I decided I was going to launch an ambitious start-up called Banx. After starting with BTC mining this new company was going to be a powerhouse in the Bitcoin world.
Fast forward to December 2015 it was a massive failure. Why?
I screwed up. How did I screw up?
- I relied too heavily on technical people who let the company down
- I put too much trust in my abilities to fight a decreasing Bitcoin price at the time
- The project was way too ambitious for the money we were able to raise
- I put too much time into trying to get one £250,000 investment option signed
- I fucked up
- I tried to grow things way too quick for the money invested.
I set out to raise $1 mill. I soon realised that wasn't going to be enough so doubled the Banx available, increased the holding of everyone by 100% so no one was effected.
I concentrated on raising investment more than I should have. I should have taken it slower and got one project up at a time.
Despite what people say I have NOT scammed anyone. I fucked up but have NEVER scammed anyone.
Intention is everything. It was never my intention for this to fail and it certainly was NEVER set up to scam or hurt anyone.
How many reading this have experienced failed businesses?
I have two major failures in my business life. This is one of them .
You will read a lot from a lot of haters I have online. Many of them continue to re distribute as much as they can about me. I have had threats of physical violence, constant abuse and trolling on social media.
I understand that people are pissed off. I understand that people are disappointed but I do not understand the levels some have stooped to.
The bottom line is that despite the ambitious plans Banx only managed to raise just short of $500,000. Despite what people think $500,000 is bootstrapping a business like I planned over an 18 month period. Chasing the investment to keep going was a major downfall of mine. Like i said I am the first to admit my mistakes.
I have a few people making claims I have received way more than this. This is simply not the case.
I'm an entrepreneur and an optimist. maybe my optimism got the better of me that things would turn around.
Categorically I thought everything was going well up until end of September 2015. I 100% believed this was going to be a success. I never took investment money in knowing things were going to fail.
It's easy to call people a scammer when you don't know the full facts.
So what can I be accused of? Fucking up a tech startup in a very difficult time when the main element of the company was a declining Bitcoin price.
I overreached and took my eye off the ball of growing what we had to work with at the time. I hired to many people too fast and I took the word of people who said they knew what they were doing in the early days of the startup when in fact they didn't.
I hold my hands up to screwing up. But I will NEVER accept people calling me a scammer.
If you google my name you will see a lot more about me. So much so I felt the need to write a book about my life to set some of the other untruths about me straight.
Google me. You will see I did run a massive network of adult sites, I was very successful until I overreached and tried to go to the next level and lost everything. You will also see that I decided to try and pay my debts off from that failure by growing weed. You will then see I got caught and spent two years in prison.
I have no moral issue in either of things, some people may have. I do however ever have a high moral code that I still too and that included being honest, open and never intentionally screwing anyone over.
You will also see posts about how I have suffered with major mental health issues, something I have been very open about. I have however had my haters questioning the validity of that.
I even felt compelled to ask my doctor to write a letter confirming this as one particular Banx investor and hater questioned if I had in fact ever had a suicidal thought.
I don't write this for sympathy I write this to be open and honest.
If you would care to read about my life prior to Banx feel free to download my book here
Addressing the scammer accusations.
Scammers don't publish their home addresses
Scammers don't invite people to join them in their offices
Scammers don't use their names when trying to continue to turn things around
Scammers do take the money and run.
I have not, I am still here turning things around.
I could have just closed Banx and said 'sorry folks, it didn't work out' I didn't. Instead I personally offered to convert everyones Banx to another Bitshares asset that eventually the companies running my new and future businesses will buy back using the buy back model.
Again, I felt a moral issue with just closing it down so I decided the only thing I could do is close Banx down and start again. I am doing that.
90% of the people who held Banx converted. The others who didn't are mainly the ones you will read stuff about me from.
That is their choice. I cant do any more than I have done.
Despite all of this I have my supporters. Some of those supporters are heavily invested into me and fully back me in my future plans.
I am launching my new business as soon as possible. In the meantime I am launching products and marketing them to build my customer lists back up. I am a marketers, love or hate it but I am an entrepreneur and marketer.
One of those products launched last week and is called Steem Cash. This product gives people all the training they need to start posting on the Steem platform. This have even been called a scam. We charge $9 for the product (which we give to affiliates for bringing us the sales) and to date we have had 1117 people buy this product. That is 1117 people now introduced to the steem platform. We mentor, make videos and train people every day - people that chose to find a value in that.
Sort of how others choose to find a value in a digital token - everyones choice - right?
I have had a load of abuse here on this platform and have been censored. People chose to believed everything that is written about me and lies told.
I have been lucky to work with Michael Taggart on this product. Michael and I have known each other for just over two years and I view him as a friend. He is a great guy who has helped me market things I have been trying to do with Banx in the past.
To confirm Michael Taggart has never been a part of Banx other than helping me to market it when it was going well.
What you will see from me is that I will continue to bring value to people I sell products to. I will launch more products and those people will be introduced to my new business once it launches.
I will work my ass off to turn things around and I will do my very best to turn business around for everyone involved.
Despite anything that happened to me I will NEVER GIVE UP. Never...
So that is the real story. There you have it. I have posted many times on this before, shot many videos about it and answered many questions in the past.
I only wish to look forward and carry on working hard and focusing on turning things around for me, my family and all the investors that still believe in me and my abilities. I am looking to show and prove that I can provide a value and make up for my mistakes and screw ups by learning from them and helping others learn from them as well.
Best Regards
Mark Lyford