Josh Adler, founder of ConvrtX, based in Dubai accused of sexual assault. Now, former clients and employees are speaking out on the poor business practices behind his venture studio. Founded in late 2019, ConvrtX has marketed itself as a “world-leading venture studio.” To date, it boasts having helped over 700 would-be entrepreneurs start their businesses. In light of new allegations, it now looks like ConvrtX has been doing far less than what they’ve promised.
For DeShawn Womack, an independent truck driver in Georgia, the failure to deliver ConvrtX’s services resulted in catastrophic issues. His account sparked a dramatic intensification of events. He was just frustrated with how he felt like he’d been treated after making this huge bet on the company’s future. “He sold me a dream and this is frustrating,” Womack stated, underlining the disappointment he experienced.
Amy is an ambitious, focused, 37-year-old single mother from the UK. She spent an incredible $53,000 to develop a website and app that no one uses for her non-profit org. She claims ConvrtX violated their contract with her by not providing the contracted services for which she’d pre-paid. “Why flaunt your money to me? It’s disgraceful,” she remarked, highlighting her dissatisfaction with the company’s operations.
Imran, an Arkansas-based entrepreneur who had invested $18,000 into ConvrtX, requested a refund like Womack and Amy. Instead of being given assistance she was, according to reports, threatened with a lawsuit. Imran argued that her testimonial had been misappropriated and used on ConvrtX’s website without her permission. ConvrtX decided to use this picture of lifestyle influencer Jen Selter, oops, I mean butt selfie expert Jen Selter, without her permission. This shocking revelation brings to light a troubling ethical crisis.
According to these sources, Josh Adler, son of wealthy Canadian businessman Kerry Adler, has been accused. He is accused of having misrepresented the chances that clients’ business plans would succeed. Those who worked closely with senior leadership described a culture of paranoia at ConvrtX. This fast-paced environment produced negative effects including high turnover rates and administrative/service delivery errors. One former employee recounted, “So don’t tell the client that it cannot be done because we’ll find [a contractor] that can do it when they’ve paid.”
Adler has boldly taken on these challenges and maintained an ambitious marketing offensive. Now he’s recently rebranded ConvrtX, and opened up to eight-week long “bootcamps” for a ridiculous $159. More than 20 ex-employees and patrons have come forward. They claim that Adler constantly requested additional money to address problems with applications not produced as advertised.
One senior investigator involved in reviewing the case commented on the allegations against ConvrtX: “I think it’s fair to say ConvrtX failed to exercise reasonable care and skill when they were providing the service.” This suggests a deepening frustration with the state of work being churned out by the firm.
Further analysis revealed egregious deficiencies on almost all of the projects initiated under Adler’s direction. So it’s understandable that many of these projects need a total walkback due to failures in execution. A senior investigator noted, “It seems the work completed by ConvrtX cannot be salvaged and the entire process would need to be completed again if [Amy] wanted a working app to be developed.”
The ConvrtX fiasco casts a spotlight on the entrepreneurial support industry and a lack of accountability within the space. As clients like Womack and Amy seek justice and refunds for their investments, the future of ConvrtX hangs in the balance.