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Simulacra, Contrepreneurship, and Art of Faking it til’ the Investment Dries up
“Hey Eric, I’ve got this fantastic project. It’s futuristic, almost black mirror-esque. The founder raised 1 million dollars and are eager to see it through. We’re tasked with developing the prototype, and possibly more if things progress smoothly.”
Yeah, sounds fun!
What followed were two years of intense work — crafting prototypes, conducting feasibility studies, and creating both look-alike, then work-alike models. Eventually, we began liaising with a factory to discuss production possibilities.
The founder kept raising more money! $1million, $2million, $3million+ over the course of the 2 years.
But then, abruptly, the project ground to a halt. The client failed to pay the final invoice and stopped responding altogether.
Upon inquiring the other contractors I worked with, I found out: they ran out of money. Naturally, we were baffled. “How could this happen? He raised over 3 million dollars, and our product development efforts only accounted for 15% of that budget. Did the rest get funneled into other departments?”
But there were no other departments…
It turned out, the funds were squandered on lavish expenditures: first-class flights, five-star hotels, luxury dining, and upscale nightlife with investors and…
