Well - that escalated quickly!

It seems we've generated some disappointment with some of our valued customers due to the event at LKS yesterday. The gist is they feel that LKS are not an honest operator and that we are a dying company that is in a last ditch attempt to make some cash before we disappear completely. Some are calling for a boycott and say they will destroy us. You know - typical Friday.

So basically - tempers flared. The court convened without us and we have been judged guilty. 

Consider this our belated moment in court.

I actually agree with the sentiment 100% - we should never intentionally lead you to bad people. We'd deserve everything we got if we did. But I try not to make assumptions about people's intent, especially with people I know. Partly because I'm usually wrong and partly because I tend towards giving people the benefit of the doubt. 

So let me be 100% clear. I am not going to throw LKS or Angela under the bus to save our asses. At this point, we plan to find out the facts before passing judgement. 

In the email we sent out yesterday (https://mailchi.mp/jigsawtrading/live-qa-with-peter-lks-discord-group-today-10pm-est?), we attempted to explain that this was a new relationship, how it started and the sum total of what has happened so far. Not because we are trying to avoid issues but because you are all informed.

What I can also say about LKS is that I had zero interest when Mervyn told me they'd been in touch. I am going to sound like a cave man here but my first presumption (see, I do make them), was that Angela was a very pretty face and a possibly a front to the company. I can't say I'm proud of that. The wife has me doing the next 3 weekends volunteering at the temple for being a "sexist pig". But she still loves me. 

I found Angela interesting and intelligent. She obviously has skills in creating a community but the funny thing is I felt she was still a bit too soft on the money side. 

• She wanted to be a Jigsaw affiliate and said that she'd be happy with a discount for the group instead of a percentage. Do enough of that and your workload grows but the business doesn't. It's common.
• She talked about the partners having their own rooms on the discord. That's OK - but again - I see that as giving yourself another task without reward. For the same reason, we couldn't run the room because we have so much else to do.
• She has given me the elevator pitch on discord communities but I don't quite get it. She has given me full access to see what they do - but again, we don't have the bandwidth and there's no clear value proposition for either of us at this point. It's good to keep a network of contacts in the industry, so that when an opportunity arises, you have the people for it.

We Googled LKS looking for issues and found none. We spoke a number of times - and I came away with the impression that she wasn't considering money enough. 

We noted the number of people in the room and they are still there. Generally speaking, you'd expect it to fold, if people weren't getting value. Then I took note that Benzinga and TradingView were partners and so I felt comfortable doing the event.

And of course, I could be completely wrong. 

When we partner with somebody, we do vet the products and we explain how we did it. It is a tiresome process and that's why we don't have hundreds of partners. We do this when there is clear value to both partners and the customers. 

A few final thoughts:

We had our best year ever last year and we are still growing. The assumption that we are desperate for cash is not correct. We've plunged on a new development office, where we have 6 Developers and we have got them to the point where they can be productive while we hire 7 more. It's a lot of work and focus to build a new team and takes your eye off other things - but it had to be done.

For those getting angry and saying they will destroy us. We bear no animosity and you are still valued customers. The way I see it - if someone thinks you are dishonest, it's unlikely they will believe your explanation. 

A few years ago, we stopped doing webinars that helped Jigsaw grow. We listened, took the hit and now we only do W365; where we have a special arrangement with them. So we do make mistakes and we do try to rectify them. Not because someone has made threats but because it's better to admit stuff than bury it. That email is here: https://mailchi.mp/jigsawtrading/r26-momentumtails-2151203

Thanks

Peter Davies