Tech Wildcatters Reviews 4

I interviewed with this company in the Spring of 2022 for a marketing position- after two interviews, I declined to meet their managing partner, Ricky Tejapaibul at a bar on a Saturday night for a third interview, feeling uncomfortable about the situation and the company's reputation.

When I declined the third interview, he personally blew me up through email and voicemail, and I repeatedly told him I had accepted another offer and would not be able to meet with him.

Despite my declining to meet with him for that third interview and rejecting whatever offer he was hinting at, he took the liberty to reach out to my current employer the next day and pass along the information that I had taken another job, costing me my current job.

I had no prior contact with TW or Ricky, yet after two interviews they felt that I owed it to them to accept their offer, or else. Extremely unprofessional and not the actions of a managing partner or firm with integrity.

Securities fraudsters are what they are. This Texas company was in Europe trying to hustle investors. Their web site is pseudo professional, but there are flags. I found out that not all of the mentors shown on the web site are actually mentors. The ceo lied to me about how large his fund is (one day told me $2m the next day said it was $5m). Come to find out, its actually $0. He said returns were over $3m (30% IRR). Found out it was $0 as well. He claimed he worked as an investment banker. That's on his web site as well. But he refused to tell me where he worked as an investment banker and for how long. In the EU, such claims are illegal and will land you in prison.

I do not recommend Tech Wildcatters to anyone for anything at all. I used to be a mentor there, but grew tired of the management. Management did not seem to care about mentors (or startups). They constantly made scheduling mistakes, would exaggerate their accomplishments, and give out really bad advice that conflicted with mentors and lawyers. Some of their classes taught the exact opposite of what startups should be doing.

The CEO would ask me every several months to be a sponsor or investor. Why would I do that? Most of the legacy sponsors left, and all of the investors stopped investing the year he became CEO. He has not raised a single investment fund since he started other than a few bucks he got from his parents and some shady overseas investors.

Even tho certain mentors and sponsors were no longer involved with Tech Wildcatters, he would keep their pictures and logos on the website. I thought that was very misleading to the startups. Apparently the startups felt the same way as many would complain about their "marketing" tactics. The same can be said of their newsletter. Misleading fake news.

Only a few startups show up in a given month. I think he's down to just 5-6 startups a year in the accelerator, and they are low caliber startups. There is no longer a pitch day or awards event. The last one he tried to host was embarrassing. No one other than the contestants showed up.

I cannot recommend Tech Wildcatters at all. I have had the worst possible experience there, and trust me, I've tried to make it work for over a year. I was accepted and completed their Gauntlet program. Besides not meeting the number or quality of mentors and investors they promised, the classes and resource materials were not helpful. It was clear things were thrown together at the last minute. Only a few people attend the events and there are only 2 employees. As I met more investors and lawyers, I learned the truth about Tech Wildcatters. The CEO is a criminal just like 2 of the most active investor mentors. Their criminal records and scams are all over the Dallas, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh news. By criminals I mean the kind that went to jail for convictions like bribery, extortion, assault, witness tampering, fraud, falsifying government documents.

The CEO recommended a lead mentor to me. Guess what, he is a convicted criminal too. How do I know for sure? Because he told me and I googled it. He went to prison for over a year. I think he was trying to warn me about himself in some kind of demented way.

Basically, I was lied to about the program, the company, and the people that work there. Investors and advisors have turned me down just because I am associated with Tech Wildcatters.

And guess what, I just got letters from the Texas Comptroller and Securities Board for screwups that Tech Wildcatters made.