

Why I won’t be closing down BetaPunch: A formal apology - rnochumo
http://betapunch.tumblr.com/post/40293076534/why-i-wont-be-closing-down-betapunch-even-though-you

======
jetti
"I won’t make any excuses for my actions even though it’s very challenging
doing a startup and all I can say is I am still learning and it makes me
hungry to try and do better."

Couldn't even make it a full sentence without contradicting himself. This is
definitely not how to do an apology either.

~~~
fourstar
Exactly what I was thinking. This is a classic foot-in-mouth case where he
didn't understand the implications of his actions. Isn't pretty obvious that
acting like a brat was going to blow up in his face? To a fairly regular YC
member at that? Additionally, didn't this same guy say he wasn't going to
apologize? Contradictions everywhere...

------
wahsd
Ouch, Ross, you're getting a well deserved flogging. In case your apology was
just a step in the direction of understanding that you are probably kind of an
ass, I think you owe it to yourself to make more steps in that direction and
then changing. I can only imagine what it must feel like to deal with such a
public flogging among your peers, so I am even somewhat sympathetic, but I
hope you take this experience as a humbling experience that makes you accept
and internalize that it might just be that so many people might just not be
wrong.

I look forward to you emerging as only having an asshole, and not you being
it.

------
zdgman
It is interesting to note how even the apology is more directed at discussing
BetaPunch and learning rather than apologizing.

How does "Why I won't be closing down BetaPunch" have anything to do with the
apology? Seems out of place and still shows a lack of understanding.

Leave off all discussion of why you won't be closing BetaPunch and just focus
on admitting you screwed up (which was done) and detailing how you will make
it right.

~~~
notatoad
It's clearly a reference to Danielle's original blog post. He wanted to format
his title "Why i won't be..." and "closing down betapunch" must have been the
first thing that came to mind. I'm sure such an overwhelmingly negative (and
popular) blog post calling out your company as kind of shitty makes you
consider shutting down when you're a small operation.

~~~
joshdotsmith
It's possible there's some SEO strategery going on here, too. </conspiracy>

~~~
minimaxir
It's worth noting that this article is now #4 when Googling "betapunch".
Danielle's article is now #5.

It's progress!

------
orangethirty
I don't get why do small startups screw up small apologies. Here is a simple
guide.

1\. Understand the problem. What/why/how/who/when did you do wrong ?

2.Contact said person and try to make things right by fixing the issue. Key
word is try, but do it genuinely.

3\. Write a good press release in the form of a blog post. Title it: Our
apology for $problem.

4\. In the press release include:

\- We are sorry this happened.

\- This is how we are fixing/going to fix it.

\- If you have been wronged by this get in touch at $email.

\- Thank everyone for their feedback.

5\. Publish a second press release as a blog post stating what you are doing
to prevent $problem.

6\. With the gained attention, market a new product/service/special to show
people you are focused on doing good busines. Call it the "We are sorry
special pack" or whatever.

Make sure to post it on every social media site out there so that people know
you are taking care of your customers.

~~~
noibl
You were doing well up until:

> With the gained attention, market a new product

~~~
orangethirty
What's wrong with that? This is a _business_ we are talking about, not a
charity. Anytime a business finds itself in a good position to profit it
should. A blunder is a great way to get new customers if you handle it well.
For one, people will have seen your customer service in action. Nothing says
trust me like _showing_ people that you can make up for stupid mistakes. After
all, customers just want to be done right. Two, you will get a ton of
attention, mostly being free! Its like a second launch for crying out loud.
Now its the time to show people what you offer. But dont just show them a
catalog. Do it in a manner that is parallel to the issue at hand. Did you send
a Darth Vader figure to someone who ordered a Luke Skywalker one? Apologize
and make a special sale on _both_ figures. Three, I believe you think that all
of this should happen in a short time-frame. Not at all. You should let some
bit of time pass by (but not too much) in order to let anger calm down. On
week #1 you fuck up and apologize. On week #2 you make the sale. Rinse and
repeat. That's how a _lot_ of PR strategies work (ahem, _AirBnB_ ). They make
shit up, stir it, calm people down, and then grow like stink.

I know this will make people here angry, because some of you think the
business world is all pink unicorns. Nope. Its a make it or die environment.
Thats why most startup people never want to go out and make a sale. Its so
much easier to just talk about _traction_ than to hit the pavement to get some
money in your pocket. Send all insults and hate to my inbox (address on
profile).

~~~
noibl
Thank you for your post, which again starts off sounding reasonable and only
later loses the plot completely.

> On week #1 you fuck up and apologize. On week #2 you make the sale.

Have you considered developing this into an ebook?

> Send all insults and hate to my inbox (address on profile).

What?

\---

[Edit before seeing reply:] With apologies in business, you want the reader to
believe what happened was a mistake, an error, and that it doesn't reflect on
your internal ethical code (corporate or personal). In order for that to
happen, people need to know that you recognise that you did the wrong thing,
but that's only half of it. They also need to figure out whether you're likely
to do more bad shit in the future. And your ability to transmit that
information to them by talking about it is extremely limited. So: don't fuck
up! Because it's really not a marketing opportunity.

~~~
orangethirty
Yes, you are right. My tone is off. Sorry about that.

May you explain where I lose the plot? I'd like to clear it up in a manner
that is beneficial to all.

I'm constantly getting hate mail for being a marketing/sales/copywriting
consultant. Every post here usually gathers me some nice hate mail from other
members. Not meant to you personally. I apologize if that came out wrong.

\---

Thank you for the edited response. That is actually my point. Though you write
it in a better manner. Sorry for the miscommunication. I'm tired from coding
all day (its almost 1AM and Im not done), and do get stupidly cranky.
Apologies.

\---

The stir it part refers to how _some_ marketers hack growth. I personally
don't use such techniques because it can easily backfire. My personal opinion
is that some big startups that have enjoyed quick growth have used such
manner. But I think that is another thread altogether.

Experience has taught me that even when we make business mistakes we can still
profit. In fact, a lot of growth can come out of such situation if it is
handled correctly. My example above is not so good. Let me usea better another
one.

Startup A manages to get into some hot water by wronging a customer. The issue
is that a credit card charge was improperly handled, and they did not take
care of the customer as they should have. The customer writes a blog post
venting about how frustrated he/she is. The blog post goes viral. Startup A
contacts the customer, fixes the issue by calming the person with gifts and
apologies. Then they go and make the press release explaining what happened.
They scold their stupidty publicly, and show how they fixed it. Then they have
the customer give faith that all is now good. Some days pass, and Startup A
makes a new blog post explaining the new measures they are using against
improperly handled credit card charges. In the blog post, they include a
comprehensive tutorial on how to properly handle credit card charges for other
startups. It goes viral, because it is showing the human side of the company.
After that, the startup creates a special offer and markets it to its new
audience. People make notice of how "well" all was handled and say "let's give
them a chance" and order.

Startup A managed to turn a blunder into a marketing opportunity. I have
personally seen businesses go from broke to gold mine by using such tactic.

~~~
noibl
> May you explain where I lose the plot?

I guess, if I were to pinpoint, it would be with the words 'stir it'.

BTW, I neither deserve nor need an apology from you. Don't be sorry! We're
just disagreeing. And I really do think we have a fundamental disagreement
about priorities here. Apologising doesn't resolve that (though I acknowledge
I haven't articulated my side of it very well).

I don't know why someone would send you hatemail over you expressing an
opinion. That doesn't sound right at all.

\---

> People make notice of how "well" all was handled and say "let's give them a
> chance" and order.

I think that's fine in cases where the 'mistake' clearly (or with reasonable
doubt) was an actual mistake. This applies to outages, billing issues, product
quality issues... Hounding on Twitter, not so much.

> I personally don't use such techniques because it can easily backfire.

I think if the reasons why they backfire were more important to businesses
than the fact that they backfire, everyone would be a lot happier.

~~~
orangethirty
I hate to bring this point out like that but:

Everytime you face a disagreement apologizing humanizes you in the mind of the
other person. Their approach will usually soften and will show sympathy. It
allows your point to be driven further into the exchange, make the other side
friendly, and reduce the amount of potential loss.

Though I did do it in a genuine manner. Its that I have been in marketing for
so lonf that things just become second nature. I hope to one day meet you and
buy you a cup of coffee (water for me, due to past heart issues).

It is like the roboticist who one day wakes up and realizes that his body is
now made out of metal. :)

------
joshwayne
No part of this addresses what he did wrong or what he will do differently in
the future. The title alone tells me he's just trying to get the last word in,
even if it's that he's sorry.

------
Cushman
I'm not sure what I would need to see to believe that someone who was such an
asshole isn't anymore, but this ain't it.

~~~
joshdotsmith
Hear, hear, Justice Stewart. [0]

[0] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it>

------
DenisM
Now might be a good time to recall the School of Apology by Joel Spolsky. It's
rather succinct:

 _Apologize unreservedly, or not at all._

<http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/customerservice.html> from chapter 4
and further on.

------
jessaustin
It would be better if he had specifically promised not to share user tests
with the general public in future. This almost feels like, "now I know I have
to apologize when I share my users' private data, and in future I will
apologize when I do that".

------
shawn-butler
This whole thing seems pretty fishy. Like scripted melodrama to be honest.
Whatever works, I guess.

~~~
rhizome
If it's scripted, the blogger who originally publicized this should have
something to say for themselves.

~~~
dmor
I would not do that. I know you've all seen that I will do a lot of things for
growth, but I won't be dishonest.

~~~
rhizome
It's nothing personal, the sheer thinness of this apology calls the whole
incident into question.

------
mingpan
I can't imagine what he was originally thinking.

~~~
ralphos
Perhaps "any publicity is good publicity" - at the end of the day, he's had
two posts about Betapunch on the front page of HN as a result of all this, and
I doubt people will remember this whole episode in a few weeks.

------
ezl
Today I learned: "publically" is apparently a valid spelling of "publicly".

<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/publically>

------
michaelhoffman
This is a really odd post. Has anyone called for BetaPunch to be closed down?
This seems like a straw man.

If you want to apologize, just apologize. It's not the time for more self-
marketing.

~~~
rhizome
Not if he doesn't think he has anything to apologize for.

------
zopticity
I'm not sure whether this was a marketing stunt or the betapunch guys didn't
know how to act professionally. Honestly, someone at betapunch should have
stepped in and indicated the problem. I'm not even sure why it took two days
for a formal apology, it should have been done much sooner than that.

Betapunch guys need to hire the right employees to handle PR and interact with
people because this post shows those interactive skills are not his strengths.

~~~
MJR
There's no betapunch "guys" - It's just him. There's no one to step in and
there's no one to hire - this an app run by a single person. He doesn't have
income to be able to hire people to take care of this for him. He got himself
into this mess and he's trying to get himself out of it.

------
maskedinvader
can some one be kind enough to give TL DR version of what this guy did ? i
read the post nut wasnt clear what exactly happened with the customer !

~~~
matznerd
He publicly posted private info from "customers" who used his software and
berated those who complained or used competitors.

~~~
maskedinvader
thanks for that.

------
eduardordm
Danielle accepted his apologies and commented on his blog. Hopefully that
gesture made him learn something - because by reading his apologies I feel he
didn't fully understand what happened.

"I completely understand and respect your reasoning."

There are many things that I respect and understand but don't agree. I just
hope this is not the case.

------
thoughtcriminal
Give it up people. Put down your rocks and go home. You are a mob. A bunch of
bullies.

