I got an email from Plaxo yesterday at midnight (so about 14 hours ago) telling me that Mr. X (not his real name though that would be cool) had added me as a business connection. Now I didn’t know Mr. X but I’ve been told by someone wiser than I that it’s a good idea to accept all online connection requests because why not? It’s not like the guy has my bank account numbers it just means he can see my status updates and read my resume.
OK. I accepted.
Nearly 12 hours later, I get another email from Mr. X (via Plaxo) with a subject line that says “co-operation” and text that says “We are looking for an investor to finance our phase 1 studies in Canada on a compound for pain neuropathy stemming from complicated diabetes – the same compound has also shown promise for Prostate Cancer.”
Now the first thing that crosses my mind is that this is another example of bad net behavior. A guy reaches out to make a connection and the next thing I know he’s asking for money. But after a few seconds it occurred to me that the pharma/biotech industry does not tend to raise capital via spam to random contacts in Plaxo. (Yeah, I know. It was frickin’ obvious but I was really tired.)
So I head over to his Plaxo page. Turns out he’s the CEO of a biopharma company in Canada. Or so his profile says. The profile itself is actually hysterical and you definitely need to read it. Don’t worry, I’m pasting it below. I am removing any identifying markers but will comment on this noteworthy profile.
“In 1998 he became XXXX’s principal founding partner and is now its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. X was, and is, the moving force behind acquiring the initial patents for XXXX™XXXX/XXXX™18 and the subsequent refinement of the product, extension of the product line and the respective patents, and implementation of XXXX’s sales and distribution efforts.
Mr. X has set up the acquisition and financing of strategic companies, the Infectious disease program and a pipeline of patents and products through Joint Ventures and licensing with pharmaceuticals companies and Universities in North America.
Mr. X guides the Company with his strategic vision and administrative skills and brings his leadership and inspirational abilities to the dynamic venture that is XXXX.”
Let’s dig into this for a bit.
1) He was AND is the moving force. Well good. In case you thought he fell asleep at the wheel after sending out the Plaxo invite!
2) The subsequent refinement of the product, extension… Wow. That’s a lot. I’m no expert at Canadian syntax but I’d have to say that’s one complicated sentence. Not sure I’ve ever seen anything like that in corporate America and I’ve seen some bad writing!
3) He guides the company with his strategic vision and administrative skills?! This one is just priceless! So you mean he sets out a vision for a really forward-thinking alliance and then types up the contract himself? And I’ll bet he makes his own coffee!
And the final cute little bit: His Plaxo updates are a stream of spam requests for you to donate to some charity by calling a 900 number which he tells you costs $45/call. Is that how Canadian charities do it?
OK. I’m convinced. This is a scam. I know I’ve read about some complicated swindles. And it’s not that I want to be swindled but I will tell you that if this ploy works, then I’m in the wrong bidness!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Hmmm…maybe you shouldn’t accept all requests? 😉