Brad M.
RUN!!!!
In July of 2019, I found Ideapros while looking for a possible strategic partner for my business. I had been successful in a similar project but wanted to modernize my platform to the most current capabilities. I needed a company that had the knowledge and the backing to take my idea to the next level. When I contacted Ideapros, they made me go through a "selection process". That is all part of the game, to make you feel special. Once they find out that you have the MONEY, your idea becomes VERY good to them. They told me I would need $50K for them to start, but that quickly changed to $75K when they found out I had the money. I debated for several days, but they made the proposal sound very attractive. They explained that they had a very talented staff that could really make this happen. They said they would create a name and do a MARKET STUDY. They said they would get the copywrite and do the marketing...including a LAUNCH. They would do all of this for 30% of my company, and have it done in 9 months. Here's what happened. They did a Survey Monkey poll (About $100) that didn't really show anything. They came up with a name that I thought was idiotic but would not hear of changing it. (I still hate the name). Not only did they go past the 9 months, but it's now been 3 1/2 YEARS, and I still don't have a product!! Come to find out, they have no STAFF at all that build apps. They have contracted my project out to three different companies, with 8 different "Project managers", ALL that have failed in completing anything of value. The owner quickly blames the companies he contracts for not performing or tries to get me to LIKE the garbage they are putting out. He says they have 300 projects (do the math... 300x $75K … approximately $22.5 MILLION in income). How much has been spent on projects?? They cannot come up with a very long list of apps that have launched!! I've asked! I've been more than patient. The latest is that he offered to buy me out for $50K but he wants to KEEP my idea and have me sign a NON-COMPETE! He gets $25K of my money, 3 years of my life, and my whole IDEA? What a deal! In short, RUN!!! I was totally misrepresented. The company tries to protect themselves by being a "Partner" instead of a contractor. Pretty dirty if you ask me. I know they've been sued before, but in my opinion, the company needs to be investigated. I'm sure I will never see my money back, so all I can do is try to warn others. Call it sour grapes, but think how you would feel if you lose $75K and an idea that you've had for 15 years. Brad M Response to IdeaPros response. Let me start by saying, I never called anyone out by name. Obviously IdeaPros could care less about calling me out by FULL name, so FRED CARY here is my response. I'm a 61 year old Financial Advisor and AVP of a Bank. I've had Sole-Proprietorships, Partnerships, LLC's and Corporations. I've had a Realtor's license and have been landlord for 16 rental houses. I've owned family fun centers, a collectible shop, and an entertainment company for 24 years. I also built the largest, locally run City Guide business in 2003 with over 500 people leasing my website software. I exited that business in 2007 with a VERY good profit. In 40 years of business I have never had to sue ANYONE and I'm very good friends with every business partner I've ever had. I say all of this to show that I'm NOT a young Entrepreneur wannna be. I know when there is a Pole cat in the hen house! Now lets talk about what FRED CARY has said. He said I've been trying to launch this idea for 15 years. I didn't say that. I said I've had the IDEA for 15 years. Twisting? He said I have had a website to launch for a LONG TIME. YES, It's been two years because I BUILT IT!! Not IDEAPROS! I had it ready two years ago, hoping I could launch it as soon as I had a product from Ideapros. It never happened. I couldn't have people signing up for something I didn't have. He says I have a great app "Ready to go in the APP store". What I have is an app that I'm embarrassed to have my name on. I didn't ask them to push it live, because it looks like something from 2005. A VERY basic directory, with no features and no way for my clients to make any income. When I did the walkthrough, the developer was very proud that you could click a button and retrieve your password! WOW! What a breakthrough. He was also proud that you can sell tickets on the app, even though I never said ANYTHING about selling tickets on this app?? Now, lets talk about the anonymous "Developer" that had many things to say about me. First, I have no idea who this is. It's not the guy I've been working with, because I've received too many emails from him and he types in broken English. The person was correct. I was VERY unhappy with it. Remember they didn't get involved until 2 yrs down the road. Now they've had it 16 months! Unfortunately I'm out of space. I have a lot more to say
Response from IdeaProsJan 28, 2023
This is unfortunate. And I've liked Brad even though I'm completely upside down in this project. And as he said, he's worked on it 15 years before even meeting us. He's in the app stores in 3, despite what's happened in the world. This is a great product. Amazing app. Ready to launch - in fact, in the app stores already, waiting to be turned on by Mr. Meador. There's also been a website up for months that Mr. Meador was supposed to support to take reservations for territories. Nothing has been done. Here's the website: https://portfoliocityguides.com/ Rather than me replying line by line, let me just paste what the 3rd party developer who has developed over 22,000 apps has to say about the experience: This product should neve been launched. "I would like to reiterate, every time I see a response from Brad or talk to him, it feels like he has not seen the PRD (product requirements document), and designs and has not listened to a single word when we walked him through the same. We have not been on the same page with him from day 1 and not sure if anything we do is going to satisfy him. I remember we had three calls with Fred and Brad on there. I walked him through each and every line of the PRD, each and every screen, one by one to make sure that he understands what we are building". We spent over $40,000 just in this build alone, ( not to mention al the other work and consulting ) "I think he has figured out a loophole that, hey, if I threaten Fred with leaving a review, they'll give me more work. And that's my understanding at this point. From my side, I'm not even going to go to my team and ask for additional scope or budget on this app unless Brad wants to pay for it." This is too much. And threatening to leave a review if he doesn't get money is at least a civil violation. Bottom line the app is done. I have offered to give up my own equity and walk away. Or, I have someone willing to buy him out and take it over. And he has to agree not to compete, just like any seller would do. The offer still stands. And this app has great potential in the hands of the right operator - reach out to ideapros if you're interested in partnering on it. Of course I'm unhappy if a partnership doesn't work out. Especially when we were trying to find other ways to appease this person. In better news, our Moov app just signed up 3,500 dealerships https://youtu.be/nCH9YjFCT2c , and our Chamber app is raising $2.5 million at a $10 million valuation - all even prior to official launch! Our Exhale app has phenomenal growth joinexhale.com . And Grunt, https://trygrunt.com/ is just launching in two states. Any of those partners would be happy to speak to anyone. Airbnb launched with a couple of air mattresses in one apartment. You could be next. Brad - all you need to do is call, sell your position or take mine. Or you can just continue to reply online and try disparage rather then resolve. We continue to be ready for any reasonable resolution. Fred Adding to the reviewers reply - entrepreneurship is fraught with unknowns, delays, obstacles, and Neverending challenges. If you saw the first Airbnb app you would be shocked. The reality is this app is ready to launch, built by a company who uses the latest best practices, a company who just raised 10s of millions of dollars from very sophisticated venture capital groups who love their work. Not everyone can be happy. And, when that happens, we try to resolve any issues. But sometimes it's impossible - we've found an alternate buyer, offered a substantial discount, even offered to just give up our equity and hand over all materials. Sometimes we just can fix things for everybody. There are plenty of success stories. Here are a few partners who have worked hard and are seeing the fruits of our joint efforts: https://fb.me/e/3X3KVj0xk https://fb.me/e/2kQ2bvNuQ We remain willing to resolve any issue with any unhappy partner. Fred