The 10,000 hour rule and Calum Brannan's RSI

Oh how we laughed today when one of the team brought our attention to an article on the Sky Blog, entitled "Will Calum Become UK's Mark Zuckerberg?"

For a start we couldn't believe what a total mug Christer Holloman must be to have swallowed Calum's bulls**t.

Amongst the cherry-ripe quotes that we loved were:

"Last week I got a chance to catch up with one of UK’s most promising young entrepreneurs to see what he was up to these days."

"promising" yes, he's great at promising, it's just the delivery he has trouble with!

"........runs three businesses and employs a small army of assistants."

Like hell he does!!  What a load of cobblers!  In his head maybe, but in reality he's run away from Coventry and come down to London to live in a renovated piano factory in Camberwell to try and make some money, leaving all his work colleagues in the shit back home to such a degree that they're closing down CBJL's plush serviced offices and James Leavesley, the "JL" of CBJL seems to have been unceremoniously dumped.   Could CBJL be just the latest in a very long string of company failures for the skinny boy from Coventry?

"...........Social Helium, where he already has racked up an impressive list of clients"

Another lie!!  Social Helium doesn't even have a proper website and, in all probability, any clients it has were nicked from a previous company where he's still the subject of an investigation for a number of breaches both civil and criminal!

"His company has developed proprietary social media management tools and is regularly involved as a facilitator at roundtable discussions with C-level executives from a range of government bodies, charities and companies including Yahoo, eBay and Vodafone to name a few."

Does he seriously think people believe this stuff?  Firstly, any tools are based on PHP, which is open source, so how can his tools be proprietary?  Secondly, according to what we've seen they don't work, are full of bugs and the code is so badly written as to be almost useless!  As for this youth being taken seriously at a roundtable discussion with Yahoo, eBay and Vodafone - not a hope!!

This one we loved:

"......the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours."

There are only two things Calum Brannan is likely to have practised for this long.  The first is lying and he's incredibly good at that!  The second is auto-erotic stimulation.

"........combined with his successful track record......."

That's a bit of a classic - how many businesses has this boy had collapse around his ears?  3?  4? more?

The liquidation of a couple of them, Youmeo still isn't complete a year after the process started!

Well done Christer Holloman, you had us wetting ourselves with laughter at your article!!  Thank you for the best laugh we've had in ages, you muppet! 

That's your credibility dented for a while.

2009 - Long Year, Tall Tales, Downright Lies, Hairdressers and Social Helium

In Calum Brannan's own words:

• The long year – 2009
  Some 12 months after we launched Youmeo, American startup Friendfeed launched and was achieving massive growth doing what we were doing. The worlds a big place and we knew that we wern’t the only ones predicting this is how social networking would become. Friendfeed was setup by ex-Google employees, with it’s growth doing so well we had our innovation validated but we and we failed to raise next round investment we needed and failed to secure a robust revenue model. Our team and investors all walked away with our heads held high, we had pushed for inovation and many ways succeeded – but what an experience it had been.
• Present day - 2009 to now.
  Aged 20, I’m working on some very exciting ventures collaborating with some of the greatest minds in British business, some are already trading and generating healthy returns:
  
  • Appointment-Toolkit; this service provides text message reminders and marketing to doctors, hairdressers and dentists.
  • Social Helium: a social media consultancy business where current and previous clients include house-hold names, ‘AAA’ PLCs, charities and government organisations. We are social networking experts.
  • Spendego – a new type of advertising agency for todays social media world.
  My teams are regularly involved in roundtable discussions and consultancy with leading CTO’s, marketing directors, CLO’s and CEO’s from a range of companies including Simon & Schuster, Vodafone, Bebo, AGA, Lighterlife, Christian Vision, Yahoo and Glam Media to name but a few.

 What a load of garbage, Calum - The only time you're "regularly involved in roundtable discussions...." with AAA clients, CxOs, etc is between the time you fall asleep and the time you wake up.  You're dealing with a charity that look like they are about to get hauled hard for their (alleged) unethical conduct in conspiracy with you and James Leavesley, i.e. Christian Vision

Aga aren't a client of yours, don't seem to have any formal business arrangements with you and probably wouldn't be too impressed to find that you're naming them as such.

Vodafone - can't find anyone there who's even heard of you and they weren't too pleased to find you're naming them!

Lighterlife - fair enough, they seem to know you.

But the rest is just a badly punctuated, poorly spelt figment of your fertile imagination, it seems.  Who are these government organisations?

You were getting near the truth with "failed to secure a robust revenue model."

But then it all went wrong again with "Our team and investors all walked away with our heads held high, we had pushed for inovation and many ways succeeded – but what an experience it had been."

By the way, there are 2 "n"s in "innovation".

The truth is that Youmeo is still with the Liquidators and you're now on your 4th company in less than 12 months and you'd probably be flat broke by now if you hadn't (allegedly) lied and deceived your biggest (only?) client into coming with you for the rest of the Boost.tv project when you unceremoniously dumped Inormas after they had bailed you out from Red Brick Labs and youmeo!

It's just sad and pathetic to see you trying to perpetuate the lies - do you even know when you're lying anymore?

It's a pity (as a number of people have commented during this research) that, when you're young and described in such terms as "charismatic and persuasive", you can't find ways to use this for honest, beneficial purposes, instead of looking for a quick buck and acting like (what appears to be) little more than a charlatan and a con artist in order to achieve your ends, whatever the cost to others who choose to support you or buy in to your "bulls**t".

Just out of interest, do you actually know off the top of your head exactly how many individuals you've let down, either as investors or clients through failed businesses, failed promises or failed deliveries of product?  Do you even care?

Summary of Calum Brannan's activities to date

Calum Brannan started a company at 15, called PPLparty, he then rolled that into Youmeo with some funding.

Calum wasn't making money, but he'd met James Leavesley, so they got some more money from investors known to James through IOD West Midlands and created Red Brick Labs, as a way to make money whilst trying to get Youmeo off the ground.

If Calum is to be believed, they weren't making money (again), so they sought alternative funding and received this in Spring 2009 and put Youmeo and Red Brick Labs into receivership, paid for by the new funder, which still hasn't been wrapped up! - is there a pattern emerging yet?


Now we come right up to date - Calum and James then walked out of Inormas and are now (apparently) using the names "Social Helium", although there's no website up yet and have a new Limited Company called CBJL Ltd, (Co. No. 07055592) - clever name, don't you think?  CB=Calum Brannan and JL=James Leavesley.  They also appear to be based from The Quadrant Business Centre at 3 The Quadrant, Coventry, CV1 2DY, which looks quite nice!


So they've now abandoned 3 companies, one way or another, leaving many tens of thousands of £'s of debt behind them in the process and achieved all this in about a year and the 2nd company (Youmeo/Red Brick Labs) wasn't even fully wound up before they'd already moved on to the 4th company!


Where's the money coming from to fund this company?  Well, that's a story for another day, and there's much, much more besides!!

CBJL start a new business to stop themselves

We found it interesting that CBJL seem to have created another new business.

This one, called dot com Guardian claims to assist businesses by moderation of content.  

To quote the site:

People powered moderation, for your brand.

We protect your brand and keep your community safe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our solutions are tailored to your exact needs.

How do we work?
dotcomGuardian plugs straight into your Facebook fan page or group. Within 10 minutes your brand can be protected from: 
- Obscene, abusive or intimidating content 
- Breach of copyright 
- Defamation or libellous material 
- Annoying spam wall posts

What makes us different?
We already work with some of the biggest brands to provide them with around the clock human moderation services. We don’t just use automatic bots, we manually review all content to ensure nothing slips through the net!  
We actively moderate wall posts, photos, videos and links. We ensure that all users, including children are protected from unwanted content.  
We can provide 24/7 moderation, or out-of-hours to support your existing team.

How to get started?
Prices are dependant on the amount of fans and the volume of the posts created by them. Contact us today and we can calculate your quote instantly, you could beup and running within the hour!

We find this especially intriguing as the CB of CBJL Ltd is Calum Brannan and the JL is James Leavesley, registered at James' home address.  Their main office is at  The Quadrant Business Centre in Coventry, although they seem to list this business as being based at an address which appears to be Calum's flat (43 Boiler House, Electric Wharf, Coventry, CV1 4JU), which must be quite a busy place!

Coincidentally, a post on another blog, by someone named "Anus McFlangyfart" with the text being repetitive use of the word "Anus" was apparently traced back to the Quadrant Business Centre's IP address 82.108.65.77....

inetnum:         82.108.65.72 - 82.108.65.79
netname:         QUADRANT
descr:           Quadrant Business Centre
descr:           Office
descr:           COVENTRY
country:         GB
admin-c:         NC1595-RIPE
tech-c:          EH92-RIPE
status:          ASSIGNED PA
mnt-by:          EASYNET-UK-MNT
source:          RIPE # Filtered

role:            Easynet Hostmaster
address:         Easynet Network Operations Centre
address:         Easynet Group PLC
address:         44-46 Whitfield Street
address:         London W1T 2RJ
address:         England
address:         GB
phone:           +44 20 7900 4444
fax-no:          +44 20 7900 4445
admin-c:         SMK-RIPE
admin-c:         CVK6-RIPE
tech-c:          SMK-RIPE
tech-c:          CL60-RIPE
tech-c:          PPD-RIPE
nic-hdl:         EH92-RIPE
abuse-mailbox:   abuse@easynet.net
mnt-by:          EASYNET-UK-MNT
source:          RIPE # Filtered

person:          Nick Campbell
address:         3 THE QUADRANT
address:         COVENTRY
address:         CV1 2DY
address:         GB
phone:           +44 2476227373
abuse-mailbox:   abuse@uk.easynet.net
nic-hdl:         NC1595-RIPE
mnt-by:          EASYNET-UK-MNT
source:          RIPE # Filtered

So, in the context of:

- Obscene, abusive or intimidating content 

- Defamation or libellous material 
- Annoying spam wall posts

........ it would appear that it is actually everyone else who needs protecting from THEM!!

We're unsure exactly which one of the duo it was who posted this, although one of them is apparently quite mature and sensible and the other one is neither mature, nor sensible, which narrows it down.  However, we are certain that one of the two has a closer affinity than most, perhaps even an obsession with this particular part of the body, due to his sexual preferences (which he makes no big secret about! - Young entrepreneur invites other teens to join network)  although it looks like his proposed venture, described in the article,  (guysconnected.com) was just a bit of hot air, or perhaps it was just another attempt to get publicity!

Mindful of the fact that Calum (apparently) struggles to string a decent sentence together in English, we're also left wondering where he's gathered a talented bunch of individuals capable of speaking over 30 languages and, more to the point, how he's going to pay them, because we understand he's not exactly flush for cash at the moment.  

We're also wondering if Marc Resnick knows that they are using his URL in their screenshots on the website.

Maybe someone should give him a call on 02476 234 737 and ask him, after all they're a 24/7/365 service..... allegedly! 

Trustees and the duties within a Charity

Thinking back over previous posts, it suddenly became clear that there are some serious questions to be asked and answered in respect of Christian Vision and the actions of people representing the charity in respect of the Boost.tv project and the wider engagement with Calum Brannan et al.

According to this Charity Commission document :

Compliance – Trustees must:

(2) Ensure that the charity complies with charity law, and with the requirements of the Charity Commission as regulator; in particular ensure that the charity prepares reports on what it has achieved and Annual Returns and accounts as required by law.

(3) Ensure that the charity does not breach any of the requirements or rules set out in its governing document and that it remains true to the charitable purpose and objects set out there.

(4) Comply with the requirements of other legislation and other regulators (if any) which govern the activities of the charity.

(5) Act with integrity, and avoid any personal conflicts of interest or misuse of charity funds or assets.

Duty of prudence – Trustees must:

(6) Ensure that the charity is and will remain solvent.

(7) Use charitable funds and assets reasonably, and only in furtherance of the charity’s objects.

(8) Avoid undertaking activities that might place the charity’s endowment, funds, assets or reputation at undue risk.

(9) Take special care when investing the funds of the charity, or borrowing funds for the charity to use.

Duty of care – Trustees must:

(10) Use reasonable care and skill in their work as trustees, using their personal skills and experience as needed to ensure that the charity is well-run and efficient.

(11) Consider getting external professional advice on all matters where there may be material risk to the charity, or where the trustees may be in breach of their duties.

In this context you'll remember from previous posts that one of the Objects of Christian Vision is:

4. OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES BENEFICIAL TO THE COMMUNITY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE PROMOTION OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP AND MORAL VALUES WITH THE EMPHASIS ON HONESTY AND INTEGRITY IN EVERY DAY LIFE AND IN BUSINESS.

According to the Charity Commission Website, the Trustees of Christian Vision are:

Contact  !

MR TIM BOXALL
COLESHILL MANOR OFFICE CAMPUS
THE PAVILION
COLESHILL MANOR OFFICE CAMPUS
SOUTH DRIVE
COLESHILL BIRMINGHAM
B46 1DL

Tel: 01675 435500
Email: admin@christianvision.com
Website: www.christianvision.com

Trustees 

!

• MR IAN PAUL BAKER
• NICK CUTHBERT 
• MR ROBERT NORMAN EDMISTON
• MRS TRACIE JACQUELINE EDMISTON

So, in summary, it is the duty of the people named above to act in accordance with their obligations and duties as Trustees of Christian Vision.  

With me so far?

This leaves us wondering how the emails we have seen which appear to show Robert Norman Edmiston "conspiring" with Calum Brannan and James Leavesley to take not just the Boost.tv project but also a healthy pipeline of business (or words to that effect) away from Inormas and bring them into a new company set up by Brannan and Leavesley can sit comfortably with an Object which states:

4. OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES BENEFICIAL TO THE COMMUNITY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE PROMOTION OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP AND MORAL VALUES WITH THE EMPHASIS ON HONESTY AND INTEGRITY IN EVERY DAY LIFE AND IN BUSINESS.

One of the emails we have seen is a discussion between Mr Edmiston and Brannan/Leavesley where they are discussing the possibility of Mr Edmiston actually funding, or part-funding this Newco (now known as "Social Helium").

Surely it cannot be right, moral, honest, ethical or anything else that Christian Vision stands for, according to its own Objects, for one of its Trustees (and major benefactors) to act in this way in connection with the purchase of products and services for the charity.......

Obviously, we may have missed something - we can't claim to know the whole story and don't pretend to, but from the evidence we have available to us, it certainly looks extremely dubious and casts some level of doubt on both the charity and individuals acting on behalf of the charity.  

It also leaves us wondering whether the other Trustees are aware that this issue exists.  However, even if Mr Edmiston hasn't actually put a penny of his own money into this new company, there's no escaping the fact that he knew precisely what was going on and specifically asked for Brannan and Leavesley to indemnify him against any possible come back from their previous associates, which speaks volumes doesn't it?


Should new evidence come to light, or we receive the "other side of the story", we'll gladly update this article to reflect the fuller picture, as we have no desire to be accused of bias or, God forbid, libel.

We do feel slightly sorry for Mr Edmiston in one respect:- If he wasn't working with such incompetent fools, then these emails would never have come to light and his judgement and actions would not be in question or, at least no more questionable (that we're aware of), than since the whole "Cash for Peerages" fiasco was forgotten about.

However, we're told that there's "absolutely stacks" more to come when the time is right and we have to say that we're quite excited about the prospect! 

Whispers of irregularities in the personal finances of Social Helium Directors

We are getting some pretty plausible whispers that the directors of Social Helium - Calum Brannan and James Leavesley may not have played with a straight bat in terms of their financial affairs in the first part of 2009, when it was still Youmeo.

We've heard many examples where Calum seems untroubled by what others might consider "dodgy dealings" and we know that straight is not his thing either, but playing games with HMRC is never a good idea! 

We'll dig further and let you know - watch this space!

John talks a lot of sense!

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

What d'ya reckon Christian Vision?