E128: The Rise and Fall of Ozy Media

Venture In The South

E128: The story of Ozy Media is one of greed, betrayal, grift and astonishing hubris. But not the first nor the last such occurrence.
While not on the scale of Theranos or FTX, it was not for lack of trying. David details the 10 year saga of Ozy Media's rise and spectacular fall, culminating with criminal convictions on federal charges of fraud, conspiracy and identity theft. Ozy raised a total of $83M over 5 investment rounds and 2 venture debt rounds. At it valuation peak, Ozy was valued at about $160M.
David provides 4 takeaways that summarize the issues and how they might have been avoided or confronted at a much earlier point in the timeline.
Listeners may take solace in a Wall Street Journal article published on July 19, 2024 (The Man in Silicon Valley Who’s Completely Obsessed With Failure) about startup failures memorialized. It’s a disturbingly long list yet quite informative. It reminds us that individual investors and big VCs alike are all vulnerable to the ‘Fake It ‘Till You Make It’ ethos and as the stewards of capital, we must do better. (recorded 7.19.24)

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