What Would Brad Feld Say?
For the past couple of days the city’s technology community has been quite animated about the dispute between Jerry Hunter, founder and CEO of US Fleet Tracking, and the founders of the for-profit Oklahoma City Co-working Collaborative.
The collaborative, often referred to as okcCoCo, served as a hub of the downtown tech community – and now the founders say they are closing it because of a lawsuit filed against them by Hunter.
The dispute boils down to this: Hunter argues the collaborative founders broke faith with him when they did not $23,000 he contributed for sponsorship and naming rights of a location they originally hoped to lease at NW 10 and Harvey Avenue. He argues the contribution came with the understanding that he had right to approve to disapprove of replacement locations when the NW 10 site fell through.
The founders of okcCoCo, meanwhile, respond that sponsorship was not tied to site approval. They argue that the deal went south when Hunter insisted they locate to Rockwell Plaza at Northwest Expressway and Rockwell to office with his business accelerator/incubator operation Blueprint for Business, which he co-founded with Guy Madison.
If there is one thing both sides may agree with, it’s that they both regret not getting any of their agreements in writing when the check was written by Hunter. It’s a “he said, he says in court but doesn’t want to say in public” story that I’m trying my best to tell. And because I’m trying to tell this story, some folks are accusing me of being one-sided.
Ah yes. The old “one sided” bit. Here’s the deal: when I have one side talking and telling their side of the story, and the other side refusing to comment on the record, yes, OF COURSE IT’S ONE SIDED!
Folks, please believe me when I say there’s nothing more I’d like to do than to tell Jerry Hunter’s side of this story. I’ve done my best to pull out what I could from his court filings. I’ve also avoided pulling out and posting materials (copies of emails, etc.) from the court papers that could be very misleading without context provided by Hunter.
There are some questions I’m pressing with okcCoCo founder Derrick Parkhurst. Hopefully I’ll get answers to these questions, some of which have been posed by readers and members of the local tech community, fairly soon.
Here’s one out-take I can share from conversations I’ve had with both sides: this is personal for both. In visiting with both sides, they make it clear they do not believe they can sit down and find a way to best achieve their original intent and work together to keep okcCoCo open.
Ironically, all this hits as Brad Feld, the highly respected managing director at Foundry Group, is speaking at this week’s Innotech OKC conference. The Boulder, Colorado executive’s appearance is being sponsored by Hunter and Madison. Feld is a rock star in the tech community, and his investment in software and Internet companies throughout the country comes with a plea that communities do all they can to promote a fertile environment for technology start-ups.
Parkhurst, who told me he has great admiration for Feld, started the week out by saying he’d promote a boycott of Feld’s speech in protest of Hunter and Madison. That boycott fizzled when Hunter obtained a gag order seeking to stop Parkhurst from disparaging Blueprint for Business.
I asked Feld about this dispute, and he politely responded he did not know enough about it to comment.
That said, if you could ask Feld for advice on how these warring parties should proceed, what would you ask?
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Comments
Feld’s book that he is promoting in OKC is: Startup Communities – Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in your City. My guess is lawsuits, gag orders and suing the people who have done the most to help the startup community in OKC is not part of the plan. Supreme irony.
John, not saying it’s a great hub. But tell me of another “hub”…. a place where dozens of software developers, IT folks, design community members regularly congregate in one place day to day?
“promote a fertile environment for technology start-ups”
at Rockwell Plaza at Northwest Expressway and Rockwell.
Come on, give me a break!
Jerry Hunter has a long history of getting into legal battles with many people whos only mistake was getting involved with him. Do your own research on him before you get involved in ANY way.
He goes by many names but most are a variation on:
Jerry Hunter
Jerry Thomas Hunter
Jerry T. Hunter
J. Thomas Hunter
“regularly congregate” ? Go look around at any of the places next to the canal, or in the underground. The coffee shops (the hole in the wall that was behind spaghetti warehouse comes to mind). The whole downtown area is the hub. I notice my other comment got filtered out, but I don’t need a designated coffee shop to get my startup rolling. OKC has talent, but we dont have the cashflow. I can’t count the number of times I would show up at events (okc dev group i’m looking at you) and its a bunch of worthless t-shirts, pens, and coffee mugs
STEVE’S NOTE: I’ve looked for other comments by you, can’t find it. If you want to re-post it, let me know and I’ll make sure it doesn’t get lost. We have had a very heavy flow of spam this week.
Sean I don’t know what your experience was, I can only tell you what my experience has been.
Ive known Jerry Hunter for six years and I can tell you he has always done every single thing he has ever told me he was going to do. He’s a man of his word and isn’t wht your saying.
Just look at his businesses. He didnt make his money by cheating people. He made his money by developing awesome products and selling them to the public for a fair price. He was exactly like the startups he tried to help. He started his business in his house, he didn’t have any investers because investers didnt believe in his product, and he did well in spite of them.
If I gave money to someone to help them get into a new building, and they shut the doors and were still closed after 2 months, I would have asked for my money back too.
With or without a contract, when you give someone money for something (sponsership) and they close, you have the right to ask for your money back. If you give someone money to mow your lawn and they don’t do it, you have the right to ask for your money back. This is no different.
I totally agree that if you give money, where there’s an expectation of receiving something in turn, and you don’t receive it, then you’re entitled to a refund.
But COCO didn’t close – they re-located (they might have been temporarily closed during the move). But a sponsorship deal was still pursue-able at the new location.
Because there is no contract, how do any of us know what was agreed to at the time of money changing hands?
Was the condition of location-selection agreed to in the beginning, or did that condition emerge later?
The exception to right of refund (in my view), is in the case of a charitable gift, and no contract is necessary.
Jason if you look at the timeline they released CoCo had been closed for almost 60 days when USFT asked for the money back, and they still didnt have a new location signed for a future move-in date even then. At the time USFT gave the money, it was to keep them from closing the doors. CoCo closed the doors anyway and was closed for a longer period than any reasonable sponsor would expect.
After they asked for the money back, its my understanding that USFT told CoCo they would be happy to consider sponsoring them in a new location if or when they ever found one. After Dirk apparently mishandled and upset his biggest sponsor, they decided they werent interested in sponsoring him anywhere in any building.
Your question “how do any of us know what was agreed”, it really isnt up to you to know or pass judgement. If a sponsor decides to pull out because theyve lost faith and have doubt they will ever reopen, then the sponsor pulls out. CoCo still hadnt provided any consideration for the funds and would naturally be expected to return the money as if it had never been given in the first place.
You’re faulting USFT for pulling out, when USFT was the one who came forward to bail them out in the first place, and I bet this has been the problem for them from the beginning. Instead of appreciating them for what they gave, they get vilified in the media (and CoCo still has their money). Thats not how you treat a sponsor who cared enough to come forward and try to save you, and its not a good way to convince other would-be sponsors to support you in the future.
Dirk shot himself in the foot on this one.
My guess on what Brad Feld MIGHT say: it would be NICE if both sides could bury the hatchet, and salvage a sponsorship deal in the existing location.
I absolutely am not faulting USFT for pulling out and requesting a refund. I think they’re entitled to change their minds and request refund (again, a contract would’ve been useful here in spelling out terms like cancellation & refunds).
I also agree refusing refund not only looks bad for COCO, but is likely groundless (UNLESS it was a charitable gift).
Yes, there was a period of uncertainty about COCO’s future, but they’ve clearly re-opened, so a sponsorship deal is still possible.
That doesn’t mean USFT is obligated to continue sponsorship, but it would probably be more beneficial for all sides, than pursuing litigation.
If not, it’s hard to envision a scenario where USFT doesn’t get a decision in their favor.
The issue of what was agreed to will be decided by the court – I’m not passing judgment on either side (other than the lack of a contract).
But like many, I am curious, as to what the terms of the original deal actually were and what the final outcome will be.
I’ve never heard of OKCCoCo – and I work downtown in IT…but apparently its the “hub of the downtown tech community” – They don’t seem good at self promotion.