What a shame. A lot of guys will have worked hard on this, perhaps going on a journey from initial enthusiasm at the novel gimmick to anxiety over real-world usability.

Sadly they’re going to lose all their money or, even worse, find a way to pay back the VC.

If it’s all in writing you can’t just force another company to do what you want. What you can do is wriggle, twist and delay until it becomes too expensive for the smaller company to continue to pursue.

However judges are more than well aware of this technique and will allow the plaintiff to accrue costs against Legal Aid (paid for by government).

So what usually happens:

1. Small co files against large co for using same name
2. Large co produces huge response document which is all piss and wind
3. Small co says they can’t afford the costs to answer each point
4. Judge permits Small Co to use Legal Aid.
5. Large co offers to settle. (E.g. you’re a 3 person sandwich shop. They offer you £10m. No more work, no more hassle)

If Small Co is energetic, young and courageous, they may choose to fight to the death. But Legal Aid has a limit…

Does no-one check the damn IDs, ffs? It’s a simple matter of typing some numbers into a computer.

I don’t know about the U.S. but in the UK where I’m from, “illegally hiring a non-UK citizen” would be a criminal offence for the hiring company. How are they going to tax them?

He’s going down for a long time, and personally I think he’s an over-confident, misguided fool.

But I don’t think he’s a crook, in the sense that he originally set out to be dishonest from day one.

I think his well-intentioned, cocky plans turned to shit when he found himself playing a game of cryptopoly with other people’s real money and landed on the "Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass ‘Go’. Do not collect £200“ square.

I feel ever so slightly sorry for him. His entire life is now fucked.

I just sent you one.