Many have heard of Avecho (
http://www.avecho.com), with its complete cure for all malware, and its notorious ex-CEO Nick Scales. However, few are aware of the amazing tale of the company’s rise and fall, in a fantasy demonstrating that reality can be far stranger than fiction.
For over three years this company managed to sell the dream that they had invented the permanent cure to malware. In truth, their idea does work, but in a way that will require a change in the way people transmit files. Even though the idea that users will need to alter their behaviour seems impractical, once their technology becomes publicly known, it will be clear to most people that, despite this, it will become widely adopted.
Three years ago a few developers in a barn in Essex managed to create an email service with this anti/malware technology embedded in it. Since then they have managed to raise over £8 million in funding from various wealthy individuals, and run up debts of close to £2 million.
So why are we not seeing this company in the headlines, and its technology on our computers?
Well, anyone who spent any time with the company would come to realise that it was not like any other company with its lavish lunches accompanied by flowing champagne, the amazing turnover of staff, the continually changing strategies, the utterly obedient management and the amazing tales of the ex-CEO’s adventures as an officer in the SAS.
Many may have doubted this secret background, were it not for his James Bond life style. With champagne as his preferred choice of beverage, renting Ferraris and Aston Martins, carrying thousands of dollars of cash on trips where everything was already paid for, nothing but first class travel, 5 star hotels – who had been sent his endless list of personal requirements, frequent use of hotel prostitutes, and his use of company accommodation for entertaining his mistress.
One company that found Avecho’s behaviour most unusual was KPMG, who was commissioned to audit the company’s last set of accounts. They found that large amounts of petty cash were unaccounted for, relatives of the ex-CEO were employed at above market rates, directors’ expenses and credit card bills were not accompanied by appropriate receipts, and countless other irregularities. Not surprisingly, they refused to sign off on their audit.
There was a climate of fear amongst the staff, with those finding themselves out of favour with the ex-CEO or his employed relatives being quickly sacked. This resulted in extreme levels of attrition amongst staff at all levels, leaving behind the non-confrontational and obedient. With a current staff of around twenty, and ex-staff in excess of one hundred, one can begin to understand the hundreds of thousands of pounds currently owed to recruitment firms and ex-staff.
It may not surprise readers to know that Avecho has recently gone into administration, but is this the end of the fairy tale?
Well actually, no. The business has been sold to a new company set up by existing investors, and despite the loss of millions of pounds of investment, millions of pounds of debt remaining unpaid and over a hundred staff made redundant, Nick Scales is still carrying on – probably not related to the fact that he moved all the development servers to his own house before the administrator was appointed.
