A Lot Of People Have Already Left Clinkle, A Buzzy Payment App That Still Hasn't Launched
In June, 20-something Lucas Duplan announced a $25 million fundraise. It was the largest seed round raised in Silicon Valley history and firms like Andreessen Horowitz rushed to back it. The launched raised eyebrows, not only because of the large amount raised, but also because Duplan wouldn't discuss how his app worked.
Since then, Duplan's team has soft launched Clinkle on a number of college campuses while keeping the general public in the dark. While Duplan and his investors have said the app will be worth the wait, it seems some early employees didn't agree. A number of them have already left the company.
Here are 19 people who are no longer working for Clinkle:
- John Albietz was Director of Technical Operations at Clinkle.
- Ted Lin was a QA/Software Engineer at Clinkle
- Brock Stearn was a Creative Consultant at Clinkle
- Kiyoshi Shikuma was a Front-End Engineer at Clinkle
- Adam Klein handled marketing at Clinkle
- Keun Sup Lee was a consultant at Clinkle
- Brendan Weinstein was the Android Lead at Clinkle
- Andrew Myers was a Growth Associate at Clinkle
- Federico De la Balze was VP Marketing & Compliance and a Business Manager at Clinkle
- Alberto Aroeste was a Growth Strategist at Clinkle
- Oliver Castaneda was a Graphics Engineering Lead at Clinkle
- Justin Heermann was an Operations Lead at Clinkle
- Brennon Chen was a Growth Associate at Clinkle
- Didi Medina was a UI/UK Designer at Clinkle
- Natalie Rothfels was in charge of talent acquisition at Clinkle
- Miles DeLong was Growth Sales/Account Executive at Clinkle (now he's at Snapchat)
- Cory Weinstein was a QA Engineer at Clinkle
- Brian Biggs was a Growth Associate at Clinkle
- Erica Castello was the Communications Lead at Clinkle
It's important to note that not all of those people were hired full-time at Clinkle. Some, like certain growth associates or consultants, were students helping out during the summer who had to return to school. Many of the employees curiously left in June, around the same time the $25 million round was announced.
Ana Braskamp is Clinkle's Communications Manager. She acknowledged the departures but says the company has grown from 30 people to 70 people since June.
"Turnover is a normal part of any business, especially in the start-up world where things are moving quickly and needs are constantly shifting," Braskamp told Business Insider. "We certainly expect to be adding many more employees in the future as we prepare for launch next year."
When asked for further clarification about the departures, Braskamp replied, "As we invent our future, there are likely to be changes in business strategy or fit issues that result in some people seeking opportunities elsewhere, even as we grow our total headcount."