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Mark Smith funded and funds Hashrocket. Hashrocket isn't profitable without Mark Smith. If Obie had no knowledge of this scam then I feel sorry for him and this situation. I guess "The Rails Maturity Model", the Hashrocket Way and BizConf includes taking scam money and pretending to be profitable.

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Why don't we all wait until after the holiday here, let the dust settle a bit, and see what happens before we start taking sides?

You're confusing Hashrocket, the web development company, with United Directories, the company being charged. The people being charged are essentially initial investors. Pointing a finger at Hashrocket in this scenario is not unlike blaming every startup that was invested in by an angel or VC that later ended up involved in fraudulent activity. None of this means that Hashrocket is not at all at fault, but based on the news that we all have, you're drawing unreasonable conclusions. If however you have other sources, please share them here, otherwise you're just trolling.

Aren't those people charged executives of Hashrocket as well?

On second look I have to concede that I could be under-rating their authority. To be fair major investors will often sit on boards, but there's no need for me to make further conjecture.

A fellow who comments here http://avramc.posterous.com/united-directories-federal-court... makes a similar claim from a much more advantaged position of knowledge.

The two executives charged seem to be a bit more than passive investors, considering they are right on Hashrocket's site. One is the CFO. That's not good.

Hashrocket isn't profitable? Why not? Consulting is a pretty straight-forward business model, and they're pretty well known, so they shouldn't have much trouble charging enough to cover their costs.

Pay everyone way more than they're work then buy a beach front office. It's easy to spend money that you do not respect.

How much do rocketeers make?

How is it you know anything about Hashrocket's profitability?

that's totally inappropriate

I couldn't agree more.

indeed. My only regret is not being able to downvote him

> I feel sorry for him and this situation.

I do too.

>I guess "The Rails Maturity Model", the Hashrocket Way and BizConf includes taking scam money and pretending to be profitable.

Snarky, unnecessary, and unfounded.

This has nothing to do with Rails, and probably just as little with how Obie ran the company.

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