A string of client complaints made against Angel Strategies
These people are among the dissatisfied clients of Angel Strategies co-founder John Garcia.
* Jonathon Alexander, currently of Atlanta, said that in 2005 he gave Garcia a 2.5% equity stake in his company, Tap It Fame, which helps radio stations distribute content online. In return, Garcia was supposed to find investors, he said.
Garcia found none, Alexander said, and relations became so strained that Tap It Fame’s owners shut down operations in Nevada and reincorporated in Delaware under a slightly different name in an attempt to block Garcia from claiming shares.
Garcia’s response: Angel Strategies “didn’t have a high level of interest” in Tap It Fame and worked with the company for only a short time.
* Jorge Goldsmit, who now lives in Dallas, said he agreed in late 2006 to pay Garcia $15,000 to help raise money for his company, Eat Inc., which markets and distributes a fresh fruit drink. He said that Garcia didn’t find investors and that the people Garcia introduced him to were irrelevant to the beverage business or fundraising. At the time, Eat was operating in Chapel Hill, N.C., and is now in Texas.
Garcia’s response: Goldsmit resisted his advice to hire a more seasoned management team and didn’t realize that the drink had to be served chilled to become popular. Despite that, Garcia said he helped Goldsmit negotiate with a retailer and find outlets for his drinks at churches.
* Oliver Binns of Murrieta, Calif., said he wanted to build a technology school in the Coachella Valley and agreed in March 2007 to pay Garcia $25,000 to help his company, Mantas Group, raise money for the venture.
Binns said that he also paid Garcia an additional $35,000 in wages as part of the contract, but that Garcia never introduced him to the investors he said were interested in the project. Binns moved the company to Nevada but is still raising money to build the school in Southern California.
Garcia’s response: The project was initially delayed by Binns’ inability to find land to buy for the school, and when he did, investors were unwilling to put in money because of the troubled real estate market.
* Terry Dillon, who now lives in Albuquerque, said he hired Garcia in late 2005 to help him raise $5 million for his broadband company, Gridline Communications Holdings Inc., which was then based in Houston.
Garcia then “just kind of fell off the face of the Earth,” Dillon said.
Garcia’s response: Dillon’s company was held back by its own management and lack of board leadership.
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