Vince Samios - Internet Entrepreneur

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Mark Attwood - My Horror Story

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This isn’t a blog post I write happily – I’d intended to respectfully stay quiet and avoid bringing attention to my stressed relationship with Mark Attwood however since false information is being disseminated, I do need to tell my side of the story. I’ve been sitting on this post for quite a few weeks, I’ve given Mark many chances to make things right.

It goes to show all is not as it seems – we in the marketing game are very good at creating an image. It also goes to show how fickle personal relationships can be, and that for some people greed is a great evil driving force.

I’ve learnt a lot from what I’m about to write about – and a few of my biggest learning lessons are:

1. Promises and agreements mean nothing unless they are written down.
2. It’s all bullshit until the cheque hits the bank.
3. Beware of bullshitters, charisma isn’t integrity.

Some of the details in what I write are contested (as you can imagine) and I am writing from the best of my knowledge, however considering Mark Attwood’s legal prodigality, this writing is based on my perspective. I have good documentation for what I’ve written, but for the sake of covering my arse, this is based only on the best of my knowledge.

In an agreement with Mark Attwood and Kenny Goodman – then joint directors of Venturebase Ltd, it was agreed that I would receive 15% share of Venturebase Ltd in exchange for a £xx,xxx investment. I was young, optimistic and naive – also overly trusting apparently, and this investment was never formalised on paper because we were “too busy making money.” Rather I relied on trust, integrity, handshakes and gentleman’s agreements.

Having parted with that investment, and under this pretence of shares in Venturebase Ltd, I continued working with Mark Attwood. Following the demise of Top Triangle Ltd, I worked for a period of four months for both Venturebase Ltd and Perfect Associates Ltd (which bought Top Triangle Ltd out of pre-pack administration) without a wage. I’ve always focused on long-term value rather than short-term cash and I had visions of fantastic growth of the companies, so working for nothing and living off savings was a way to show my commitment.

Venturebase Ltd is the company under which Mark Attwood sells Internet Marketing services including seminars and consulting services. I’ve spoken at many of those seminars, and the Off-page SEO Services that Mark was offering, are my brainchild.

To date, I don’t believe I’ve received a single penny from Venturebase Ltd, be it in the form of a wage, or profit share.

All profits seemed to be swallowed by the Attwood’s lifestyle and debts. I supported them by not questioning this because I felt it was important that they were financially stable and I knew they had a lot of debts following TT Ltd’s collapse. Of course I’ve never been included in the finances of the business, so I’m unaware of exactly how much we made or where it went, but as a business without many expenses I can’t begin to imagine where more than £10,000/month could go. I’d been lead to believe that at the time I left, Venturebase Ltd was grossing £20,000/month.

Mark has told people that I’m crazy – that I wanted 50% of his business – that he fired me – etc… I’m a very level headed and reasonable person. I suspect he’s also been bullshitting the current managing director of Top Triangle Ltd regarding the promises and agreements he made with me.

I simply asked for my investment and shareholding to be formalised at which point Mark and Katy Attwood denied any knowledge of that investment, those agreements, and stated that our working relationship had become “untenable.” – go figure…

I found this exceedingly upsetting and left the office on November 12th in tears.

I’d thought I had a very close relationship with Mark Attwood and Katy Attwood – we’d spent many nights over more than a few bottles of wine. Mark had declared his brotherly love for me, and vice-versa. I’d supported Mark and Katy through the administration of TT Ltd and the subsequent fallout (financial problems, threats, etc) and I’d been very generous to them. I only took a wage when my own savings had run out, and that wage was absolutely minimal.

When I left the office on November 12th, I had less than £300 left in my bank account.

While my skills aren’t really employable, and while no employee works the 120 hours/week that I found myself working, my “wage” at £15k/year still falls short of the £45k+ positions I’ve been offered (and declined) since. That’s about £1.90/hour, before taking into consideration that I’d contributed more cash to that business than I’ve ever received in wage.

When it became apparent that the agreements of shares wouldn’t be honoured I presented endless alternatives of arrangements in which the working relationship could continue – including commissions and back pay. However generous those proposals were, not a single one was given any consideration.

Mark Attwood’s ego doesn’t leave any room for anybody else’s. In his mind I think he truly believes he is an “SEO Expert” – in truth the vast majority of SEO work done for both clients and in house projects (Top Skips, Top Toilets, Top Asbestos, Top Fence etc etc etc – full list on this page) over the past 18 months was devised and implemented by myself. I’d actually asked to be solely responsible for the SEO of those businesses in 2008, and that suggestion was agreed to by (then) directors Mark Attwood and Kenny Goodman.

Since November 12th I’ve had over half a dozen people approach me independently and without prompting say to me “but weren’t you the brains behind the operation?” – It was really nice to hear this from so many people at a time when I was feeling quite down about the whole thing. I always used to joke that I was the brains and Mark was the personality, but I’d never really given myself quite so much credit. I never had a problem with him claiming to be an SEO expert because somebody who is an SEO expert had always backed him up.

The image of the “Mark Attwood” brand was always Mark’s topskips story, backed up with a team of experts. This was the image I created and promoted, but following “The System” seminar in London, Mark’s ego (supported by Katy’s ignorance) had swollen to a point where it had become, and I quote, “The Mark Attwood Show”. Katy declared she owned “100% of (her) husband” and made it very clear she didn’t consider me to have any discernible expertise.
I wish the story remained this simple – unfortunately it gets worse.

On December 10th, my fiancée Vickie was sacked from her job doing the marketing for Sinks.co.uk, Venturebase Ltd’s biggest client. I know how good she is, and I also know Mark. I am left with very little doubt that Mark had strong influence over her sacking. While I understand this is simply speculation, I’ve made a rational assessment of the situation and it seems far too plausible. This is beyond horrendous and shows a deplorable malice.

The timing is appalling – Christmas is around the corner, then Vickie and I are having two wedding ceremonies (one in the UK, one in Australia) and we won’t be back until February. She isn’t able to find another job before we return and I’d walked away from “The Mark Attwood Show” unable to pay December’s rent, let alone fund two weddings, a four week holiday and a honeymoon.

(Since writing – We had a very lovely “white wedding” ceremony – We leave for our honeymoon tomorrow.)

Mark has been getting a lot of bad press – I had made it my business to manage Mark’s online profile/reputation and defend his integrity and knowledge.

But Mark is retorting the bad press on the one hand, and abusing a relationship and reneging on agreements on the other. It’s just asking for trouble.

Here’s a snippet from an email Mark sent to his list on December 16th:

“Katy’s going to kill me for sending this email, but…

I’ve been through shock, and then hurt in the past two months.

Now I’m pissed off…

Do you feel ripped off by me in any way?”

Mark – Yes I do!!! – and my dealings with you have been closer than pretty much anybody other than your wife. Not only do I feel ripped off – I feel used, abused and discarded. I feel you’ve taken advantage of a young optimistic entrepreneur and you’ve proven you just don’t care about anybody other than yourself.

Here’s a little list of articles critical of Mark.

• Here – the director of an Internet Marketing company calls Mark Attwood out. I defended Mark strongly – my first comment now seems oddly ironic.

• Here is an article posted on Rip Off Report about Mark Attwood

• Again, I defended him in a number of posts on the UK Business Forums First Post Second Post

Quoting myself “Also, when you get Mark, you don’t just get Mark, you get lots and lots of other peoples expertise, including my own. Mark isn’t a one man band, he’s a big personality with a big team.” – ok so when I said “Big Team” I was creating an image and exaggerating on the truth. The only person with any discernable SEO knowledge besides Mark Attwood, still involved with Venturebase Ltd, is a guy called Steve – A really top bloke, but he’s only been intensively involved with the Internet Marketing stuff for about 4 months – He’s learnt everything he knows from myself and Mark, and it’s fair to say his knowledge is, by his own admission, limited.

At a high profile Internet Marketing seminar in London run by Ken McCarthy, Mark was asked to give two presentations. In the first he told his story “I was a poet, then an actor, then a pilot, etc etc etc, topskips, etc etc etc” – Then I had prepared the second presentation, and also ended up presenting the content too. Listening back to the recording here’s how it starts – Mark: “So lets put the power point up please Vince… Take Over.” – and off I went…

Following this presentation I had suggested to Mark we buy a remote control buzzer which he could stick in his pocket, and when I could see he didn’t have an answer for a question I could “Buzz In” – I’m not joking!

I’ve had a very big part in building the “Mark Attwood” brand – I created the membership site and at the time of writing (December 17th) there has been no new content added for over a month and a half – even that last entry was written by myself on November 2nd.

I’ve since noticed Mark’s father-in-law writing about me on his blog, with a comment that I believe illustrates Mark’s general lack of respect and his false portrayal of our relationship.

“a chap called Vince Samios who is misplaced ambition personified, no doubt emanating from the fact that he is Australian. I thought that they were only good at cricket and serving penal servitude.”

In retrospect I’m amused by one of Marks “life lessons.” He’s said many times that he lives his life by a poem called “If” by Rudyard Kipling, and that humility is his greatest lesson.

Humility:
• “Someone who has humility is not proud and does not believe they are better than other people.”
• “a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride”

I’ve always struggled to see Humility in Mark Attwood, and now more than ever.

In regards to my personal effect on Top Triangle Ltd – Mark’s claim to fame – here is a quick example of solid results.
• From 1,320 pages indexed on topskips.com, to 121,000
• From 240 pages indexed on toptoilets.com, to 7,900

Since my departure these numbers have plummeted to 10,700 and 5,520 respectively, in less than two months (at the time of writing)

I could rabbit on about various rankings etc, but these are two of the most profound and obvious public results. They affected the business in a big way and I believe the results I personally produced are the only reason that company is now profitable.

Naturally I expect you to come to your own conclusions – I’m not giving you any emotional drivel, I’m simply giving you what I believe to be the facts. Considering Mark Attwood’s propensity to go after anybody who comments about him negatively with legal hounds, I’ve checked my facts very carefully. I write to the best of my knowledge, and I’ve been careful to back up what I’ve written with documentation should Mark’s legal prodigality continue.

In regards to my relationship with Mark Attwood – He’s cut his nose off despite his face. I wish him the best of luck with his career, and I wish you the best of luck in your dealings with him.

Update: I’ve received lots of support, including the amusing image below - everything is going great with my new company, my new wife, and my new stress free life.

Tags: Mark Attwood