Kickstarter is a crowd-funding service
wherein a project creator asks the site's users to give money so that they can
create something. This seems a
great way to promote innovation and as the Kickstarter homepage suggests “Bring
creativity to life.” Had I known of Kickstarter previously, I may’ve used it to
fund some of our unique creations, like our free-to-download workout app, or to
have helped bring our Globe Gripz innovation to fruition, which now serves to
fund our free resources. There are many people/ companies that do not operate according
to the same code of ethics as GymProfessor.com. Unfortunately, Kickstarter is also susceptible to abuse and deception of its users by said creators. This is how I came
to know Kickstarter.
On the 23rd of October 2013, a Kickstarter project was created called EvoGrips - The Evolution of Ergonomics. Get Fit, Not Hurt. Within 24 hours of the project’s creation, I was contacted directly by several Kickstarter users disgruntled that Ramon Sodano and Mark Pederson were miss-selling a copy of Globe Gripz (called EvoGrips) as a new innovation. Remember, at this stage, they haven’t even made it – just text (copied), pictures (from the same angles as ours), and a disingenuous video (albeit much better than my own first attempt) - and users then offer monetary backing. They complained to Kickstarter also. Having checked out the provided link, I swiftly added my complaint to Kickstarter (privately, so as not to publicly embarrass RamonSodano / Mark Pederson) and highlighted the breach of patent and copy. After much delay, Kickstarter simply referred me to contact Ramon Sodano / Mark Pederson via a “Contact me” button on their site. The breach of copy is quite evident, however, people deal with people and I try to see the best in people and so politely contacted the creators of EvoGrips in the hope they would do the right thing. With delayed responses from Ramon Sodano / Mark Pederson deliberately evasive and unwilling to provide a postal address for legal documentation, it became abundantly clear to me that they knew exactly what they were doing from the outset and I had no choice but to refer the matter to our legal team. This grates on me, as thousands of pounds spent on legal fees and time allocated on the matter could be put to far better use to bring on new Gym Professor projects and add to our free resources, but I wholeheartedly disagree with their deception to Kickstarter users/ backers, let alone our lost revenue. All the while, Ramon Sodano / Mark Pederson continued to promote EvoGrips to Kickstarter members and even further afield off the back of the Kickstarter promotion.
To-date, Ramon Sodano / Mark Pederson (EvoGrips) have
chosen to ignore correspondence from our legal representative (D Young & Co LLP) and have
successfully screwed $11,068 from unwitting Kickstarter users. With the failure
of Kickstarter to exercise their rights (which appears the norm according to
online reports) and Ramon Sodano / Mark Pederson / EvoGrips failing to provide
a response to our formal complaint, I write this article in the hope that it
shows up online when searching “EvoGrips” so you know who you’re really dealing
with. Well, now you know the truth, be sure to check out our worldwide
acclaimed multi-grip ergonomic training aid – the original and best Globe Gripz
workout tool.
You may also find our free-online-resource and free-to-download workout app to be of great help with your training goals too. All the best,
GP
P.S. Pictures tell a thousand words...
