A Quick Rant on Sleazy Sales Tactics in Old Media

I just wasted 15 minutes of my day talking to Craig (Greg?) Malloy, who represented himself as an Associate Producer at Going Green Television. His appointment setter had called one of our portfolio companies – Cooler Planet – asking for me, claiming he wanted to talk about doing a feature on the company’s work in alternative energy education. I took the call, answered a long list of questions about what Cooler Planet is up to, and asked a few questions about the audience and distribution for the program. So far, so good.

What came next made me want to throw up in my mouth. Craig launched into an explanation of the production costs for the show, as a lead up to his ask: that Cooler Planet be prepared to pick up the tab for “a small portion” of the costs, which he said would total $250,000 for a 5 minute segment.

Listen. If you want to sell me marketing services, sell me fucking marketing services. Don’t waste my time telling me you’re a media outlet looking for content, pitching me on your show and then pulling a bait-and-switch sales job built around outright lies about what it costs to produce your content.

I hate sleaze, I hate waste, and I especially hate people who prey on the hopes and fears of entrepreneurs who are busting their ass to build a real business.

OK, rant over. Thanks for listening.