January 28, 2007

Wellsphere Launches Wellness 2.0

Nick Gonzalez

52 comments »

Wellshpere is launching an alpha version of their wellness community site tomorrow. It joins a host of other health related search, training, and Q&A sites we’ve covered. Wellsphere is concerned with day-to-day sorts of health choices that make up “wellness”, the kind you don’t ask your doctor, but consult your peers about. Wellsphere is meant to help people with these choices and motivation by providing users with access to similar people and to health-related resources in their area. These resources are split between personal profiles and databases of health-related locations they’ve put together.

Their personal profiles are much like any social networking site with the addition of a blog like feature called a “Wellsphere”. Wellspheres are comment threads attached to your profile dealing with a goal you want to accomplish or some specific knowledge you have about being healthy. Any registered user can subscribe to updates on the sphere or add to the conversation by posting their own input. You can imagine there being a lot of duplicate discussions, which Wellsphere deals with by allowing members to vote for other users by “endorsing” them.

Instead of purely making friends, like on social networking sites, Wellsphere has “activity partners”. The hope is that people are more likely to keep up their fitness goals if they schedule activities as part of a group of people who depend on them to show up, and I agree. However, while the search function lets you find people in your area with similar interests, activity planning is left up to members. It seems like a MatchActivity-like solution, matching up people training for a marathon, or weight training once a week would be an ideal addition. EmilyR seems like a perfect candidate for this, considering she’s already looking for a running partner.

The final part of the site is the databases for health related places like gyms and therapists, as well as healthy restaurant suggestions. You can search the databases by location, to look for gyms or maybe a chiropractor in your area. It even looks like you can filter your search by what kind of music the gym plays. The databases link up with the rest of the site by including what listing what members go there, making it easier to find workout buddies in your area.

Sphere It

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 28th, 2007 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

Diet Television Trims Name, Takes $2 Million

August 13th, 2007 at 6:54 pm

Just a random blog !

August 13th, 2007 at 7:41 pm

NexGen Technology Blog » Diet Television Trims Name, Takes $2 Million

August 15th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

Comments

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Say No to Crack

January 28th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

This sounds like a GREAT idea, but what I’d love to see is a site that also offers basic health advice from a professional. I’d pay $10 a month (or more) to get online, tell somebody what is wrong, and very quickly get a decent response.

Sure, they’d have to put tons of caveats in there, but it’s much better than spending 1 minute with a doctor to learn she can’t do anything for me, then forking over $40.

Anita =)
Jeff

January 28th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

Don’t tell my wife about this. I will get the criticisms of my diet from the world wide web if she can ask them….
Drama 2.0

January 28th, 2007 at 11:00 pm

Any affiliation with this site Nick? No offense, but it seems a little premature for a review given that it’s in “early alpha” and there are already quite a few similar services.
Jake

January 28th, 2007 at 11:06 pm

Looks kinda bland and this has been done to death and a lot better on other websites.
Anthony

January 28th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

I agree with Jake. It does look bland. And its not as if a website like this is anything new
Seth

January 28th, 2007 at 11:37 pm

I think you guys are missing the point. This site seems to be more about the community to start. When you get people from the active/athletic/wellness/nutrition/medical/etc. worlds sharing their knowledge (like Anita is requesting) you’ll have a very different site from what is available now. If you read a few of the postings you can already see that people are asking for advice and getting insights from others on specific topics related to wellness. Snazzy functionality can be added later with engineering effort - but get the knowledge out there now. Besides, part of the beauty of launching an “early alpha” in this unique style is that the community can help design the features they want.
Brian

January 28th, 2007 at 11:42 pm

I really like the social networking / health combo. The local resources with reviews by like-minded health enthusiasts is a big plus. Most importantly, what’s finally going to get me to buy a bike and start to cycle this year (one of my new year’s resolutions) is the public commitment of stating that as a goal and being able to find a few other first-time bike buyers. Go Wellspere.
Sean

January 28th, 2007 at 11:43 pm

I’m excited about the launch of Wellsphere. I’m a member of other sites such as Match, Friendster, and MySpace, but have difficulty finding health and wellness enthusiasts like myself. I’m training for a triathlon and am looking forward to using Wellsphere to find training partners as well as get advice on my training regimen and diet.
Peter

January 29th, 2007 at 1:44 am

i think it’d be interesting to know, for this site and all sites reviewed on TC for the first time, if there was funding for it - if a site was self-funded vs. angel vs. whatever. or where in the funding cycle they are, in general - at least.

ideally, that information would be in some type of structured format - like a microformat - so it can be easily searched later, etc.
Katie

January 29th, 2007 at 2:01 am

Wellsphere is a great idea that I’m excited about. I’ve also looked into sites like Orkut, Friendster and Match which I thought were kindof contrived. Where Wellsphere lets you connect with people who also have an active lifestyle to share information which is a lot more meaningful. Wellsphere also has a fun brand that I think people will gravitate towards.
kmac

January 29th, 2007 at 5:57 am

I just signed up just to check the site out. There are a number of database errors displayed when you click on different links. I was actually going to offer my services for free if they needed help fixing the errors, but the link to the job posting displayed a database error as well. It would also be nice if they let you select your own username as opposed to using your real first name and last initial. I wish them luck, but for the most part (and I could be wrong) it seems like the blind leading the blind.
Heather

January 29th, 2007 at 7:32 am

I love that Wellsphere is targetted and focussed. I’ve been wanting to find running partners and am interested in meeting like-minded people. I think this is going to be a huge success! As for the bugs, the site’s in alpha…there are supposed to be a few kinks. Congrats Wellsphere! Can’t wait to share it with my friends.
doug

January 29th, 2007 at 7:39 am

i heard about these guys a few months back, and was excited to see another entrant in our space (i run http://www.dailystrength.org). honestly, so far i’m underhwhelmed - seems to be a bit short on features. i’m hoping it’ll improve soon.
daffy

January 29th, 2007 at 7:40 am

Kind of sounds like traineo (http://www.traineo.com/), but with more features. Yet to check on whether the additional functionality is actually useful though.
Michelle

January 29th, 2007 at 8:00 am

It’s in Alpha and is getting a lot of buzz…the launch party must have been really good…too bad the site doesn’t quite do it for me. And in terms of the community aspect of finding activity partners…I believe there’s another site that is in Beta on the forums that does the same thing as wellsphere.
Jay

January 29th, 2007 at 8:13 am

I’m thinking there’s going to be a lawsuit, from IBM, over the name. Too close to WEBSPHERE? http://www-306.ibm.com/software/websphere/
They get points for being clever, but not smart.
Matt

January 29th, 2007 at 8:21 am

As someone who works in the health/wellness space in San Francisco, I think Wellsphere could become tremendously valuable to active residents as well as active individuals who are new to the area.

For active residents(or those who aspire to be active) in the SF/Bay Area, there’s no real central portal or repository for information about running clubs, triathlon programs, yoga studios, etc. There are a myriad of different resources that you can use to research-Craigslist, Competitor magazine, Active.com, but there’s there’s no one source per se. Wellsphere has the potential to become this.

Additionally, I think Wellsphere is the kind of website that could be tremendously useful to active individuals who are new to the area. I frequently encounter individuals who are new to the area and are looking for running programs, triathlon clubs, etc. Many of these folks simply don’t know where to go to find what they need/want. Aside from checking out ‘Activity Partners’ in Craigslist, there aren’t a lot of great options for someone new to the area.

It’s also the case that many residents and folks who are new to the area are looking to connect with others socially or romantically. I’ve seen many friendships and relationships blossom via training clubs, programs, etc.

Rather than focusing on what Wellsphere might be ‘lacking’ at this juncture (bear in mind, we’re looking at an ‘Alpha’ launch), I’d encourage folks to have an open mind and think about what this could become.
Jules

January 29th, 2007 at 9:01 am

I am excited about utilizing Wellsphere — it sounds like an amazing site — especially for cities with active residents like SF.

I have been hesistant to use other social networking sites, but Wellshere has such a clean cut, healthy mission that I would be much more likely to use this type of site. I just took a twirl around the site & already feel motivated…
heri

January 29th, 2007 at 9:27 am

i think wellsphere is a great idea, but with poor execution. unless they do an overhaul for beta and live phase
Patricia

January 29th, 2007 at 9:31 am

There are already some good players in this space, but I think there’s something to the concept for fitness buffs. I used to be one before launching a start up and kept training diaries or whatever. I don’t know that Wellsphere’s nailing it, but if I owned a site, I’d definitely make before/after photos or progress photos a huge part of it since that’s the kind of stuff people like to see and it’s working well for magazines, tv shows, etc.
whoopee

January 29th, 2007 at 9:43 am

more social garbage. some people will visit the site once, others will visit it twice, anyone who visits it three times is a company employee or someone trying to game their social network to get laid. “connect with people” BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH, why does techrunch even write about this garbage? TRASH TRASH TRASH the only predicate for this unending stream of trash is the now debunked premise that would-be acquirers are so stupid that they can’t parse the TRASH from the TRASH.

dear young budding capitalist, here is a piece of advice. companies in clean tech are more likely to be acquired by GE than your trash social network is by yahoo.
heisenberg

January 29th, 2007 at 10:19 am

@9 Peter: a datasource i checked said they were founded January 2006 and received $3mm in funding in September 2006. valuation was not listed
Solomon

January 29th, 2007 at 10:54 am

Wow, isn’t it obvious that a lot of the initial comments were from Wellspehre? Katie and Brian are clearly PR fluff. I’d encourage anyone who posts an comment here to go check out the site. There are tons of bugs, obvious missing functionality, and a pretty poor design without any cool Web 2.0 features. What is a Wellsphere anyway?

This article sounds like a flashback to Web 1.0. A great idea does not make a great company. And, furthermore, a big launch party doesn’t make a great company.
Knows too miuch...

January 29th, 2007 at 11:21 am

A lot of right on comments so far — on the negative side. It’s definitely a been there and done that idea. The notion that “it’s difficult to find activity partners anywhere else” is specious at best. The only thing this site has on Craig’s List is a notion of “experience level” which was born out of a NYT article. The fact that TechCrunch wrote about this company emphasizes just how susceptible the whole process is to PR-hype.
Not Impressed

January 29th, 2007 at 12:08 pm

Yuck, yuck and more yuck! Poor execution. How long did it take them to build such a crummy site? Bugs and bugs. The posts and the party are obviously pure PR hype. This is not original. Throwing an expensive booze party and getting everyone drunk is not my idea of wellness. Minipulation maybe. So many others have already nailed this space. Next.
Ha

January 29th, 2007 at 12:29 pm

I just checked out the traineo site, the revolution site, and daily strength, they should all feel good that there is not a new entrant. Wellsphere is a terrible site and the concept is not original. These people got seeded? What have they been doing? I think they used the money on the launch party and forgot to finish their site.
wellnot

January 29th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

kmac,

to say these guys represent the blind leading the blind is an understatement.

they are lucky if they get an employee to last two weeks so it is no surprise that the site is full of bad code.

dave k, you aren’t dealing with what/who you think. cut your losses now like you should have done a long long time ago.
Amanda

January 29th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

I went to the Wellsphere launch on Saturday night. It was a fun party and seemed to be well organized. Loved the wheatgrass martinis!

I posted a profile on Wellsphere. Not sure what I’ll use it for yet, but will be interested to see what comes of it.
Bart Gregstow

January 29th, 2007 at 3:35 pm

Jesus, have any of you looked at the site? There’s nothing there. This all PR junk. I know for a fact they engaged a PR firm. Some friends of mine use to work there… apparently the CEO (Ron Gutman) is a raving lunatic and the CFO (Dave Kashen) is his laptog. They’ve had like 30 people through the doors since January 2006. People just won’t keep working for them. Apparently the whole engineering team quit at once in protest… and Gutman decided to lie about it (his MO) and say he fired them. Seriously folks, go check it out before you put your name on a positive comment. Your creditbility is vanishing quickly!
Lara

January 29th, 2007 at 6:06 pm

Not a great site. Too much room for hackers. They need to fix so much. I would not post on it. Is it just me or is everyone jumping on the social network space? Stop the madness. It has been done. So, they had a launch party? I admit that sounds fun BUT Wellsphere stop partying and look at the details on your site. Hey, must know the vc that funded this crap - I have a lot of ideas better than this one.
Grayson

January 29th, 2007 at 7:58 pm

The site is boring and not engaging. Way too many bugs and fake content. So much better already out there, traineo, dailystrength, webmd…. I would hope for something different. I hope they work harder than this for the beta.
Anna Banana

January 29th, 2007 at 10:33 pm

I find the fake content sprinkled throughout particularly irritating and quite a turn-off. Please, you’re trying too hard and it’s somewhat embarrassing to witness. Cringe-worthy, really. Though in other ways (like the creation of the site in the first place), I guess one could point out that perhaps they’re not trying hard enough. Better luck next time!
Monica Price

January 29th, 2007 at 10:39 pm

Funny, I use http://www.dhealth.net and it is absolutely free setup by a non-profit. It’s pretty cool. There are apparently pros giving advice on the site. Worth checking it out.
Anna Banana

January 29th, 2007 at 11:10 pm

Monica, thanks for the dhealth link; from the screenshots in the tour, it looks interesting. That site actually appears to have something intriguing to offer, useful tools and such — unlike the Wellsphere pile o’. Might just sign up to give dhealth a whirl.
Ann Rad

January 30th, 2007 at 8:58 am

I’ve been visiting a site called mdjunction (the name isn’t great!) lately. its also a social health thing but i couldn’t find any blog posts on them…
its not as PRed as this one is, and looks likes its early stage, but it doesn’t have half the bugs this has….
(i had a terrible experience exploring this site)
drunken filosofer

January 30th, 2007 at 3:06 pm

It amazes me that with every other new startup coming out having the slickest UIs and design, that Wellsphere’s website is so poorly designed. It has not the slightest visual appeal.

Why is this different from Yahoo Groups? I can’t see any functionality that is peculiar to health, apart from a bunch of drop-downs with lists of activities, which I could come up with by looking at Yahoo Directory or wikipedia.

I tried to create a goal and had to battle the UI to do it. I stopped bothering and now I am not going to go back, because it pissed me off. In a crowded space like health, it’s absolute lunacy to go out with anything even slightly defective.

Nearly everything can be explained away with the “early alpha” defense, and the idea that if you throw a party, “they” will come. I don’t see how this site helps catalyze that chain reaction. They need to have focused on a niche within fitness that requires this, and then expanded to all the various activities and wellness topics. This is a classic case of early over-extension on ideas that is probably hurting all their other resources and preventing them from creating a quality product.
brett sui

January 31st, 2007 at 12:31 am

Terrible site. CEO Ron Gutman doesn’t have a clue - I am friends with people in the company and they are miserable. Ron Gutman also apparently smokes and drinks like a sailor-how’s that for wellness?

People -please don’t be fooled by utter incompetence. By the way -Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft are all working on consumer health care solutions and it’s obvious that these people know what they are doing unlike Ron Gutman and Dave Kashen.
guy

January 31st, 2007 at 11:14 am

brett,

terrible site, yes. ron gutman no clue, yes. dave kashen ron’s little bitch, yes. utter incompetence, yes.

obviously i’m no fan of ron and think he’s a total ass but to say he ‘apparently’ smokes and drinks like a fish isn’t cool. i worked there and agree with your conculsions except for the drinking and smoking. i can’t say that i’m 100% certain but i am 99% sure you’re off the mark on that assertion. everything else, dead on!
brett sui

January 31st, 2007 at 12:51 pm

Apologies to Guy -

I’m just reiterating what I heard from a friend in the company. I have no way of confirming anything on Ron’s personal life, but I think it’s obvious to everyone that his professional life is bit of a joke considering Wellsphere is one of the most horribly designed sites I have ever seen.
Jon Herman

January 31st, 2007 at 1:27 pm

To all of those that are posting the personal attacks on the founders of this company, I encourage you to take your issues up with them directly, rather than using this forum to sling mud at them. This blog is used to support the startup community, not slander and childish rumors. Let’s keep it’s credibility by being constructive and supportive, so we can improve that state of things.

I quit Wellsphere today after working there for a month. It was the hardest I’ve worked in my entire life and I am totally crushed that the site was released so early. In my opinion, it was too early to release and we pushed the product out the door.

Sure, this is Ron and Dave’s first web startup, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely incompetent. They made some mistakes. It happens. Startups are hard work, as most of us acknowledge, and part the reason many of us love being in startups is the learning experience involved.

Wellsphere’s plan is to get user feedback on the site from users and improve. They have a long way to go, but they are definitely motivated to do it.

In my opinion, I saw these things from the inside:

1) There was not a core group of in-house engineers working full-time on the product from beginning to end. There was a lot of turn over, which made it hard to keep consistent progress and polish the features.

2) There was a very unrealistic expectation about when the site would be ready. Rather than determining how long engineering would need to produce the product, it seemed that a date was picked and we went forward with it, regardless of the state of progress.

3) Part of the reason a bad deadline was picked, was because the requirements were not flushed out for engineering to determine how long it would take. So, during development, core concepts about about the site’s functionality changed several times.

4) A UI person was not hired to help ensure the site was usable.

The team of people that worked on this site gave it all they had. We came a long way in a very short time. It just wasn’t enough time, and the requirements were not defined.

It seems that there are a lot of disgruntled ex-employees commenting here. Now that I am an ex-employee, I can say that Ron and Dave were good to me. Yes, they expected a lot from me, and yes, there were times when I felt like I was being pushed too far, but they were good to me. I’m not sure what happened with the other employees, but I know how I was treated and I know it was good.

Finally, I want to make it clear that I chose to make this post, and no one else asked me to do it. I just felt compelled to share my view since there was so much negativity here.
Knows too miuch...

January 31st, 2007 at 1:42 pm

There’s enough crap to say about this site without getting personal. It will rise or fall on its own merits. If the people involved are jerks, then they are jerks. There are lots of successful jerks. This is about incompetence manifested in the idea and its execution.

Having said that, what the hell is with this site? Who the hell funded another social networking site? Again, someone please explain to me how this is a major improvement on Craig’s List for Activity Partners aggregating feeds from an online directory and an existing/thriving social networking site? Hey, you know what, maybe someone should put that page together right now….
Former Employee

January 31st, 2007 at 2:15 pm

Jon, I know who you are. I know what you’ve been through. Sadly, you don’t. Not trying to sound arrogant here, but you were used by Rave. You were underpaid. You were lied to about deadlines. You were given unreasonable expectations. How do I know this? I went through the same thing. I was there for many many many months.

These founders are deserving of personal attacks. You wouldn’t _believe_ the shit they pulled on people. Lying about them being fired. Forging documents to Administaff about firing/resignation. Putting the wrong dates on forms (always in their favor… I know of at least 3 instances of this). Changing contracts on file (I have first-hand knowledge of at least 2 instances of this). They are completely unscrupulous. Check the date on your forms. Trust me.

As for taking this up with them directly, believe me, I tried. I tried for many months. I tried until I was blue in the face. Ron and Dave are in complete denial. Ask them about the input they solicited from the employees. It covered this with them honestly and directly. They chose to ignore it. They have their heads in the sand. Ron Gutman is a sociopath. Don’t believe it? Read this and tell me if it isn’t him 100%. ( http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/artcls/socio.htm ). We can’t figure Dave out. Seems like he was once his own man, but his free will has been subsumed by Ron.

We tried. It was hopeless. Their MO is to get new faces in the door and try the same old shit again, make another 2 months of progess, every one quits, then they try again. Ron will tell you people are too negative. The fact is he drives people insane.

It was definitely to early to release that product. It was ridiculous from the beginning. Do you even know what they were doing 3 months ago? Something completely different. Not even a consumer based app. They chase whatever idea fancies them today.

Ron’s first startup? Come on. Surely he’s regaled you with tales of how he’s started 7 or 8 companies, all but one successfully. Where are they? What are their names? Where are the hordes of good people who helped him and still want to work with and for him? He’s a liar. He has no clue how to manage people. If he did, they wouldn’t have had 30 people (REALLY, ITS TRUE) in and out of the door in calendar year 2006. He’s just batty.

I’ve worked for countless startups. Wellsphere is the most bumbling brew of incompetence and disaster I’ve ever seen. They are rookies among rookies. Their only saving grace is that they do somehow manage to attract fabulous employees, which pulls them along for some time. But they inevitably leave when they realize how moronic the people steering the ship are. I know at least 8 of these people. We still talk. We will probably be friends and colleagues for years to come. We spend most of our time laughing about our experiences at Hellsphere.

There was a core group of engineers. Really good ones. Stanford. MIT, etc. They got fed up and quit. Found work the next day. Why waste your time? There were no features to polish. Ron couldn’t keep the ship pointed in the same direction for more than four weeks at a time. How can you be successful in that environment?

Unrealistic expectations? Hello! Hi there! I’m Ron. This is my friend Dave. We want you to build this in four weeks. You agreed to this deadline. It has to be done by then because that’s when we have to launch. Bugger if it’s not possible. We can do it if we believe. Have some of this magical fairy dust!

The requirements weren’t flushed out because they never point at the same goal long enough to develop a sense of what they are building.

They’ve had several good UI people. They quit too. Some in tears at how awful Ron and Dave are. They were truly heartless. Who makes their employees cry? Seriously now? Who? More people throw shoes!

I commend the team that stuck it out. I met them once. They seemed like solid guys. If only we could have warned them what they were getting into. We tried. There was no way they could know. We are just disgruntled employees. Maybe now through this shared experience we can come to understand one another.

Jon, I’ve heard you’re good at what you do. We’re going to look you up. Sorry you got dragged across the country for this, but don’t worry. There are tons of brilliant, smart people to work with in this town… you just got drafted by the wrong team.
Little Yaron Gutman

February 2nd, 2007 at 9:00 pm

Good People, unite!
I truly believe that all people in this world are fundamentally good.
Thankfully, many people choose to take their good energy and direct it
to ward helping other people live a better life. They devote their
time, energy and resources to improve other peoples’ lives in some
way.

Directing our and others’ energy toward doing good (rather than
channeling it in negative, destructive or unpleasant ways) is
something that the Wellsphere team is highly committed to. We
encourage anyone who feels frustrated, sad, disenchanted, confused,
gloomy or depressed to try this: help someone else be healthier and
happier. Though it sounds counterintuitive to help others just at the
time when you want to focus on yourself, when you help others, it
actually makes YOU feel better. Plus, all the warm, positive regard
your receive from the people you help (like all the wonderful e-mails
we’ve been getting from community members, thanking us and encouraging
us to continue doing what we’re doing), will help to convert any bad
energy you may have accumulated to good energy that will make YOU a
happier individual.
Big Yaron Gutman

February 2nd, 2007 at 11:07 pm

Wow Ron -that’s amazing insight. I’m moved to tears with your words. You are a serious genius. I’m so glad you are so warm, positive, and HONEST. That must be why everyone loves you and all the people who have worked with you praise you so highly. Keep up the good work!!
Laughing

February 2nd, 2007 at 11:12 pm

Ron,

If you really followed your own advice, you would not be the subject of so many personal attacks. Think about it. You’re all about saying the right thing but your actions prove that you do not help others or care about others. You treat your employees like children who have to be watched over every minute. You don’t trust them.

Your own needs are so important that you’re not above calling someone on Christmas or during a funeral. You don’t respect boundaries. You don’t respect laws.

When 30 people leave a company during a 12 month time frame, the explanation must go beyond bad hiring decisions.
Another former employee

February 3rd, 2007 at 12:24 am

You know, if you keep saying something it makes it true. Even if your actions are completely orthogonal to your statements.

For those of you reading this to whom Mr. Gutman has spoken, proclaiming his innocence, I suspect he has told you that he’s “sick about it” and quoted “spirals of negativity” and other dribble. He’ll pretend that he has personal insight by proclaiming that he made bad hiring decisions. You’ll listen to him and empathize. His friend Dave will do the same and talk about how personally hurt they are. Once they have done all of that, please know that you’re being played. All of the employees they have upset are upset because of personal actions: they lied and manipulated talented, trusting, and knowledgable people.

Incompetence is forgivable. This is not about poor business acumen or a lack of understanding about tech start ups. This is about pathologic behavior that has negative and lasting effects on the lives of well-intentioned people.

Employees and people who have inside knowledge who have posted here are doing so to warn others. Prior to now, if you would search Ron/Yaron Gutman your search would derive little to nothing (even though he has started 4/6/8 companies — which number you hear depends on which version of the truth he is on). Now when he drops the credible names of luminaries like Mark Leslie, Eric Benhammoud, Woodrow Myers, etc. you won’t be walking in the dark like we were.

Enough said, and consider yourself warned.
yet another ex-employee

February 7th, 2007 at 6:29 pm

I left the company that was the previous incarnation of Wellsphere. Sadly, the accusations here about Ron and Dave are true. The details described here tell me the accusers are not random pedestrians out with an axe to grind. Rather, they have seen and been through it all like the rest of us has.

Ron - Initially you will find this guy pursuasive (even charismatic); in time, you’ll come to know his deceiving and manipulative self.

Dave - Moronic but innocent. Dude is too deep in the water to admit having partnered up with the wrong guy. Ron plays this guy like a Stradivarius.

Ron fudged documents and told lies. However not sure if Dave ever had a part in this. So I left. Too bad.
Dave's Role

February 8th, 2007 at 6:01 pm

Sadly, Dave isn’t as innocent as he appears. He took part in forging documents. He sat there as Ron made his ridiculous accusations and insulted employees. He buys the story that everyone is negative and Ron is the only positive person on the planet. Of course he has invested a great deal in this company, so it is difficult to admit that he chose the wrong partner.

Ron probably makes Dave feel lucky that he chose him when he could have chosen people with more experience…just as he reminds employees that they’re lucky he chose them. The reality is that anyone Ron chooses for anything is unlucky. He will want to pester you day and night, ask you to swear that you are loyal and fully committed, monitor your every move, and expect you to work night and day.

He certainly uses Dave in this fashion and he will continue to use other people in this manner. Dave, I know you will read this. Wake up. You can do better. When all the evidence is on one side, you cannot continue to believe in Ron’s version of the truth.
StumbleBum

February 20th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

Ron, I retract every good thing I ever said about you.