SpinVox offers stock options as form of salary

I recently read Daniel Doulton state that SpinVox were increasing their headcount in the UK. That is news to me and others who have been made redundant since January 2009.

As an investor and former manager of a speech technology company I would advise the employees to take a note with preference over the options, as for $500 million valuation in a market that is $2 Billion total on a good day, not likely to hold up.

This is a flameout. They're trying to get bought and don't have enough money to keep the lights on. They haven't paid insurance or expenses to their employees since April. And their entire finance organization has quit.

Employee expenses unpaid for months (some owed thousands)...health insurance premiums unpaid by company without notifying the employees...vendors unpaid...unfortunately for these hard working employees their company is definitely spinning headlong into the ground. All of this whilst the founders makes grandiose statements of market dominance. Spinvox is in dire need for an experienced executive who can lead a controlled wind down.

What a waste, CD regularly wasted money on nonesense. She used company money to send her lawyer and his wife to the Carribean for her wedding. In fact she paid for their wedding! He even appeared in court during work hours to handle her traffic tickets. And how about her personal car and driver? The boat she was branding to sail across the Atlantic? You can go on and on. Hopefully Goldman will realize the fraud she perpetrated against them and her employees and have her put in jail just like her father, Michael Domecq.

Haah...the employees can encash stock options only if they were there in the market! What good are these stock options at this point of time.
The truth is that this company is hollow inside and paints a hunky dory picture to the outside world.
The external data centres have discontinued service with SpinVox due to non-payment. The company also relies on BPOs for some of the message conversions, and it has failed to make payments to them at various times.
The CEO used the company money to send a company employee to Spain for delivering her "very important personal" courier.

The company seems to be heading down south.

Christina Domecq is a thief and a fraud. She scammed investors and employees in America and had to flee the country. Now she's in the process of doing more of the same in England. With her money you think she'd have some level of class or decency - but she doesn't. A lying, swindling leopard doesn't change her spots, and Ms. Domecq is certainly covered from head to toe in ugly spots. Where do you think she'll perpetrate her next fraud? She can't start a business in America and would be laughed off by any future investors in the EU...so where's a charlatan to go? Canada, Australia, Dubai? Wherever this criminal sociopath lands you can be sure that employee and shareholder misery will soon follow...STAY TUNED FOR DOMECQ'S NEXT SCAM!!?!

please help us here in the Philippines. Our agents are working hard and they're doing their very best. They're the front liners of the company. the employees never failed to give their best effort just to boost the morale of our agents.

To Christian in the Philippines:

We are all very sorry to hear that you are having trouble with the Domecq/Dalton Dynamic Dunce Duo.

Have they paid your company? Other call centers like the one in Pakistan have not been paid, and employees who worked hard had their money stolen from them by the Domecq/Dalton Dynamic Dunce Duo.

We hope this cabal of international thieves don't wreak their havoc on you and your country like they have on hard working, unsuspecting employees in England, America, and Pakistan.

We will make sure to keep you in mind as we begin filing formal complaints. They will not get away with stealing from hard working employees - no matter where in the world we are!

Can you help to inform us the update of this big scam or this fraud as we employees from the Philippines are greatly affected by this big Domecq's scam.

Can you help to inform us the update of this big scam or this fraud as we employees from the Philippines are greatly affected by this big Domecq's scam.

Can you help to inform us the update of this big scam or this fraud as we employees from the Philippines are greatly affected by this big Domecq's scam.

Can you help to inform us the update of this big scam or this fraud as we employees from the Philippines are greatly affected by this big Domecq's scam.

The little foxes destroy the vineyard.

The little foxes destroy the vineyard.

If someone from SpinVox is reading this comment, can you please answer our questions. When are you going to pay us? or are you still going to pay us? Do you know that we're still working hard as of this time just to support your campaign. C'mon you even have your staff here from UK and still no news of when you're going to pay us.

Everyone at SpinVox is reading this and knows the same thing - Christina Domecq will NEVER pay you! She refuses to pay the people that she sees every day, and laughs at those in other countries who can't even contact her. You should all stop working immediately, go to the local authorities to report her crimes, and sell anything of value from the office. You should also contact your embassy in London to see how they can help lobby on your behalf. Perhaps your emabassy can work with the authorities here to bring you justice. You deserve to be paid the money you worked hard to earn so don't stop until you get it!

http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-spinvox-paying-staff-in-stock-to-save-on-costs/

difficult thing is if leave now, will be harder to chase up expenses, salary, and health insurance (which has still been coming out of salaries)

SpinVox has always been a company for which I have had grave reservations and one that I have been watching for quite sometime (since I have a background in telephony-based speech recognition applications, even if that isn’t my gig these days).

Now my grave reservations are not due to the colourful history of its execs (of which I wasn’t aware until reading here) but really due to the fact that I have always felt that the company - right from when it launched, till date - has always tried to conceal the fact that its transcription is powered by humans; the core SpinVox patent is a workflow patent and while I’m sure they are trying (and likely failing) to automate some of the process with speech recognition, they will never be able to achieve a material percentage of automation which will allow them to scale the business.

Quoting the core SpinVox patent (see http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2006/0223502.html):

Voicemail is received at a voicemail server and converted to an audio file format; it is then sent or streamed over a wide area network to a voice to text transcription system comprising a network of computers. One of the networked computers plays back the voice message to an operator and the operator intelligently transcribes the actual message from the original voice message by entering the corresponding text message (actually a succinct version of the original voice message, not a verbose word-for-word conversion) into the computer to generate a transcribed text message. The transcribed text message is then sent to the wireless information device from the computer. Because human operators are used instead of machine transcription, voicemails are converted accurately, intelligently, appropriately and succinctly into text messages (SMS/MMS).

Using call centres full of humans to transcribe people’s voicemail - setting aside any privacy concerns that may follow from that degree of human intervention - is doomed to fail. And it is this very fact which, I suspect, causes SpinVox to cloak that fact as much as they can.

The fact they are called SpinVox is both very Freudian and very true.

Spin. Crash. Burn. Fail. Tick tock tick tock...

I can't believe SpinVox has actually lasted this long. SpinVox had already duped call centers in South Africa in January of last year by shutting us out without rhyme or reason, leaving over 400 staff from three different call centers without a month's salary. At least I can thank them for starting me off in my new career of transcribing. In my opinion they grew too big too fast, and greed will prove to be a deadly sin even for the mighty SpinVox.

I feel like a real sucker. I was sucked in by Christina's self promotion. As recently as June 2009, she claimed:

I started my first business in technology-based services in New York at the age of 20. This company, NHWC, provided IT services and training to some of the world's largest corporations, including Kraft, Nabisco, Pepsi, Pfizer and Kodak. As CEO and owner I employed over 120 staff with a turnover in excess of $14 million and sold the business in August 2002. http://www.divamaverickmavens.com/main/2009/06/christina-domecq-million-dollar-midas-touch-at-20-and-bicycle-racer-.html

Now, from blog posts and the google, I learn that she did not START a company, but rather, she bought a franchise of the New Horizons techmology training company, with $1.4M from her family. The company did not turnover 14 million as she claimed, but grossed less than 5 percent of that number, and it went BANKRUPT:

According to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New Horizons of Westchester grossed $184,206 between January and August of this year [2002], less than the $230,340 recorded last year and $373,458 generated in 2000.
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-law-courts-tribunals/10602370-1.html

I am moving information from another blog that was shutdown by the webmaster - guess Domecq bought him off, huh?

Jul 14, 2009 12:18 AM
Tip of the iceberg, dig deeper.

Months of unpaid travel expenses, unpaid insurance premiums, employees slow paid, unpaid vendors including outsourced (Pakistan) transcription provider.

Poorly run company whose management team is well represented by the “block head” dolls. This one is going down, yard sale forthcoming.

I guess it could be OK if you have faith in the company and you can get a deal worth considering. The problem is obviously the underlying reason for the offer. very interesting idea though have some of the voice text linked to advertising. It is far fetched but in this day and age anything is possible. Lets hope the employees involved can make the right educated move that benefits them most. Everyone would find themselves in different situations, its difficult to say waht I would do, but cash is cash at the end of the day!

Scott from the wind powered generators hub.

Jack & Jill have climbed the hill to pour some truth in the SpinVox “wishing well”.

Fellow “voxers” near and far tell your stories on this blog.

Detail the extent of this management fraud and expose the founders for who they are!

Ever notice how Christina spun the story of her first bankrupcy using multiples of 14.

14 million in sales
140 employees
1.4 million in start up money from dad and other family
14 voice mail messages gave her new idea

Spinvox is Domecq's third company... Domecq had 140 employees and sales of $14 million. Everything was going well until 9/11 happened.

Emotionally and commercially – revenue tailed off by 75 per cent – Domecq needed a change of scene. When the opportunity came to return to Spain as a consultant in the yacht brokering business, it was too good to refuse. It was while working there that the idea of voicemail to text struck her.

'I had 14 voicemails on my phone and....'

Of course, she didn't mention that the whole 14 story seems to have oddly emerged after her father was indicted for stealing $14 million.

Now, spin forward to the SpinVox story. No longer fixated on 14, Christina seems have grown up to the big times, with everything in multiples of 100 million.

100 million in venture capital
100 million Telefonica deal ("The agreement cover’s Telefonica’s operations in Europe and Latin America, which total some 100 million subscribers, and is reportedly worth $100 million.")
100 million message conversions announced at MWC

Very consistent spin. Credible, I dunno. But certainly very consistent, making a great story.

UK Spinvox employee. I called up to get preapproved dentist claim, and was denied. They told me the premium had not been paid.

As people with some big grudges appear to be reposting from paidcontent which has been closed by its editor after warnings on the sort of content that was being posted, I thought I'd join the re-posting party.

I pointed out there that the one thing that seems to have been forgotten in all of this vitriol about Christina Domecq is that whatever the truth about her, SpinVox is a company that is currently operating voice to text services with carriers in the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Spain - and they recently started with 13 carriers in South America. No one else is. To get that far wouldn’t have happened without years of hard work by the team at SpinVox - so I wouldn’t write them off yet. Anyone who works in the telecoms business knows Carriers take a long, long time to make decisions about service suppliers and go through their technologies in detail. To think they are able to pull off some` mechanical turk` con - which was suggested on the paidcontent blog - on the likes of Vodafone, Telefonica, Telus, Telstra et al is just nonsense.

As the result of the deals that they have closed they have operators offering their service right around the world which millions of people are actually using. I just think that should be given a bit of credit particularly as folks aren’t used to that much that’s innovative coming out of England these days and anyone who has spent time in the Valley knows hard it can be to actually run a tech business and it must be particularly hard right now in the middle of a global credit crunch.

Londonbasedusvcsays `is this some crazy example of the spreading of the British disease where as soon as any company or individual achieves anything significant at the first signs of a mis-step everyone tries to knock them down. Domecq’s an entrepreneur who’s had the drive to create 100s of jobs that some of you malcontents were happy to take the paycheck and the benefits from for years. Perhaps you should think twice before biting the hand that fed you when something happens that doesn’t suit you. Go actually run a business rather then spending your time in this self indulgent blamestorming and see what the real world is like.

As a current Spinvox'er can we please be left alone to get on with our jobs? Christina may not be perfect but at least she and Daniel Doulton have created a company that's given loads of us great opportunities to experience real life in a startup - and my salary has always arrived on time and my expenses get paid eventually. I've also got loads of friends who have gone into bigger and better jobs on the back of what they did while working here. The company has helped us along so when we're given an offer to help back it looks like most of us have taken the opportunity. And if we don't make it through I for one won't have any regrets.

It’s no wonder looking again at this list self-pitying excuse making that the US has lost its edge and the center of action in mobile has moved to Europe and the rest of the world. On this evidence maybe SpinVox’s mistake was hiring the people they did in the States and letting them hang around too long, given that the firm seems to making greater headway in the rest of the world – particularly with the neighbors north of the 49th parallel and south of the border.

marlowandproud

You should be proud of what you have achieved. As you have achieved it dispite the majority of the senior management team being incompetent or solely focused on what they can get out of it.

However you need to seriously look at the future, don't bank your house and family on a company that can't pay its bills.

Sure its a great product and a great system, but your senior management team failed to invest in its own company and technology - and instead raced to up the perceived value for a potential buyout or IPO.

muchadoabout

Yes the system works - to a point. But its easier to pull the wool over carriers eyes than you think. Especially dealing with smaller carriers desperate to gain any edge they can over competitors. Where are the UK Carriers? Where are the Tier-1 US Carriers? Where are the big enterprise deals?

londonbasedusvc

Take a look here to see Domecq's "skills"

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-law-courts-tribunals/10602370-1.html

Running a franchise into the ground doesn't strike me as being an entrepreneur.

So its not really the first sign now is it. I wonder if her personal chauffeur and trainer survived the last round of job cuts?

There are some very skilled and hard working people in that company, which is why the company is still there, indeed why its actually gotten anywhere. Whether that's enough to save them or not now is another matter.

What's the saying - he with no sin shall cast the first stone? No one on this thread has ever done anything wrong? Yes there are varying scales of right and wrong. But wouldn't time be better served putting something positive back in this world. Kharma comes back around to everyone. Wasting precious time being negative and putting out below-the-belt statements - anonymously - doesn't do anyone any good. Why not spend that time and energy doing something good - help someone, plant a tree, give back to the world that we all take from. Yes there have been missteps by the company along the way - and if you've worked at any company you know they all make missteps - can't deny the fact that it has provided hundreds of jobs over the years that many people used as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. And who on here has personally put themselves out there - put their name on a global stage to a company or idea for others to judge. Rather than sit on the virtual sidelines in anonymity why not go out in the world and do something amazing - lead by example. Isn't that what we'd want our children to do? Or, to borrow from Martin Luther King, Jr. - "that old law about an 'eye for an eye' leaves everyone blind".

Observer - you're right to point out the lack of Tier I US and the UK carriers, but if the history of innovation teaches us anything it's that the big guys usually aren't the first to innovate.

But, I guess, if I was running or working in the company right now I'd be more than happy to have my hands full with deploying the Telefonica deal which I reckon must cover half the mobile population of Latin America given Telefonica's footprint there. Telefonica is truly a Tier 1 (and owns the UK's o2) as is Telstra and Vodafone which both appear to be expanding their SpinVox-based services. Word on the street too is they are about to nail the last of the Canadian carriers.

Whatever you think about Marlowandproud's management team you've got to give them a bit of credit for making all that happen.

Spinvoxers...come on now...please do not be naive. Look at the behavior of D&D...do the math...look for the missing pieces of the puzzle. You ARE being taken for a ride by Domecq and Co.

There is no conspiracy to take Spinvox down other than that contrived by the founders for their own gain.

Be diligent...

Don't forget the other two legs of the now crippled table: Wellstead and Crowfoot.

Like I said, please could you leave us to get on with our jobs. We can take well meant advice, be interested in and consider your opinions whoever you are - we can even think for ourselves, but take your grudges, bad language and insults elsewhere or discuss them directly with those people you are naming - either put up or shut up.

marlowandproud, I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, this is not just about current SpinVox employees keeping their jobs. I hope they do. But there seem to be lots of people who have been hurt and continue to be hurt by SpinVox failure to pay what it owes.

People get hurt when they don't get money that is owed them. That's the root of any "grudges" as you call them. It's the kind of thing that makes people angry. People tend to get even angrier when money that is owed them seems to have been spent instead by Christina in selfish, irresponsible, decadent, and wasteful ways. If the company runs out of money, and lots of families around the world are left unpaid, people will feel a bit of a grudge or two.

You can put your head back in the sand and ignore these "grudges". That's your choice.

I hope that someone or some company takes over SpinVox and takes its true assets and builds a sustainable company that treats employees, customers, and vendors right. And I hope that Christina goes on to live whatever lifestyle she desires, but that she pays for it with her own money, and not with investors assets and not by risking/squandering the company finances upon which employees depend.

http://moconews.net/article/419-interview-christina-domecq-ceo-spinvox-pt-1-managing-through-the-crunch/

when are they going to pay us here in the Philippines?

Too busy to listen to all those voicemails? Let Spinvox transcribe them using unpaid labor in the developing world!
What a great investment opportunity! I want to capitolize sychophants who will melt the coprorate credit card out of a need to self medicate their insecurity.
Must be a wonderful place to work! The parties sound fabulous, and the culture rotten to the core.
SpinVox, a comedy now and a tradgedy in the near futre. Steel yourselves, the last charge on that corporate card will be a ticket out of the EU.

Too busy to listen to all those voicemails? Let Spinvox transcribe them using unpaid labor in the developing world!
What a great investment opportunity! I want to capitolize sychophants who will melt the coprorate credit card out of a need to self medicate their insecurity.
Must be a wonderful place to work! The parties sound fabulous, and the culture rotten to the core.
SpinVox, a comedy now and a tradgedy in the near futre. Steel yourselves, the last charge on that corporate card will be a ticket out of the EU.

I hear CD makes a mean Coolaide, Jonestown special recipe.

I don't get why anyone would really need Spinvox.

Everytime I ring someone with Spinvox I get so bored listening the divert message and then the spinvox message I hang up. What's the point if no one leaves a message.

I'm no entrepenuer but I just don't see a viable market for this product.

pls help us all... they are not paying us here in the Philippines... but we're still working. we are hoping they will pay us before they will set us ..

I worked for SpinVox until 15 months ago. I left a well paid job, with good prospects. Saw the light and got out!
Feel sorry for those who have been stuffed by them, but get out whilst you can!

they were saying that they have many customers but in fact all the messages in the US ENGLISH ques is almost training messages here in the phils.

Hi there,

I'm a newspaper journalist looking at doing a story on SpinVox and would be interested in hearing more from the people writing here, especially former/current staffers and suppliers. If you'd like to chat, then do drop me a line at sarah.bridge@mailonsunday.co.uk (I write for the business section) and it would be great to have a chat.

All the best,

Sarah Bridge

Hi there,

I'm a newspaper journalist looking at doing a story on SpinVox and would be interested in hearing more from the people writing here, especially former/current staffers and suppliers. If you'd like to chat, then do drop me a line at sarah.bridge@mailonsunday.co.uk (I write for the business section) and it would be great to have a chat.

All the best,

Sarah Bridge

Give this a read...http://blog.spinvox.com/2009/07/23/spinvoxs-response/

http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-spinvox-in-links-how-the-story-played-out

Is it worth it to join this company(SpinVox) if they offer us some good package? I nee your advice.

Regards,

Many thanks to all those who contacted me regarding Spinvox - here's the story that resulted:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1202185/Pay-cut-SpinVox-phone-text-tycoons-told.html

And do keep your messages coming!

All the best,

Sarah
sarah.bridge@mailonsunday.co.uk

If you want to track - or participate in - all of the discussions around this breaking story, see:

http://delicious.com/spinvox