Hostile Takeover of a Crowdfunding Campaign Threatens Israeli Start Up’s Credibility

Aug. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Today’s anonymous update for Skills and Knowledge (S&K)’s crowdfunding campaign page has been significantly shorter than previous updates posted by the Israeli startup. It reads: “CHUCK HAS BEEN UNLEASHED”.
A closer look reveals that the main promotional video made by S&K had been replaced overnight by a profane video promoting a self proclaimed “best logo in the world”, starring a person identifying only as “Chuck”, who is shouting obscenities throughout the video.

Shocked by the profanity expressed in the newly posted video, the two founders of S&K, Alex Dayan and Shachar Tal, are desperately trying to find out the true identity of “Chuck”, as well as a “George H. Pomodoro”, appearing briefly as an expert abused by Chuck.

Though the video might be hilarious to some, it might harm S&K’s efforts to gain credibility. After recently sponsoring Jeff Pulver and Chris Lehmann’s #140edu conference in New York City, and receiving a great deal of critical acclaim from educators, being associated with such a profane video might not be a good thing for S&K in the education community.

Still, the hunt for Chuck and George continues: “We have been getting leads on some Facebook accounts”, says Shachar Tal, S&K co-founder, but none of them match.
Shachar says S&K would not involve the police or other officials, but rather seeking assistance from the online community.

Chuck’s video can be watched at this link: http://www.indiegogo.com/sCoolWork . S&K would appreciate any assistance, and any knowledge as to Chuck or George’s identities. To help, please contact Shachar Tal shachar@skills-and-knowledge.com . Twitter: @ShRorschach