Seedy Saturdays - the show no gardener will want to watch.

All gardeners know that if you leave weeds they will eventually take over the garden and make it into a wilderness. They are like thugs, suffocating the space so that they end up being the only plant around.

As a follow on from our piece on Intelligent TV we have discovered that this site makes some very dubious claims.

Their website states -

.............................................

Each Thursday, Nick Batsford – City stalwart and financial journalist - will talk with four management teams before handing them over to John Eade, President of Argus Research, and you, our audience, for live Q&A via Skype. Then you’re invited to register an expression of interest with us: an amount that you think you might wish to invest, subject to review of the full business plan and financials, on our nominated FCA-regulated Crowdfunding platform.

If you, our audience, collectively indicate that a company could achieve its fundraising objective, it will go live, with our audience receiving a link which provides priority access in the investment round for 48 hours. When an investment round closes successfully, Intelligent Crowd TV is paid part of the total fee charged by the Crowdfunding platform to the company.

.............................................................

It seems highly unlikely that this company has any arrangements with the main ECf platforms, or is able to give investors 48 hours priority, as they claim they will do here. In fact the platform we spoke to and one of the largest, had never heard of the site until we pointed it out. So what they claim - that you the audience can make a pitch go live, is nonsense. Surely platforms that promote nonsense shouldn't be involved anywhere near to a FCA regulated activity?

It really does the image of ECf, already struggling with credibility issues after Crowdcube's abuses and Seedrs excesses, no favours at all to be associated with sites like Intelligent TV. They have found a loophole to get around FCA regulations, but if the platforms united to remove them they would have no choice but to move on. We don't need or want them. We are supposed to be cleaning the act up not making more seedy.

Likewise people who appear on the site should be sanctioned - Julia Groves and Modwenna Rees Mogg are two. Surely they cannot be that naive? If they are then they shouldn't be taken too seriously and deserve the ridicule their appearance will no doubt bring.

It is worth reading the CEO of ITV's response to out last post - it really sums up the problem. Lots a blarney and no substance. Why have a Recent News banner running across the home page with news that is nearly a year old unless it is supposed to mislead? The people running this shambles cannot even get the basic information right - Snugs did not complete its pitch on Crowdcube  - it failed. Why claim that their members are HNWI or SI when it takes about 2 seconds to tick a box and anyone is in. 

What this does reveal is the opening for a new, non gardening site called Seedy Saturdays which broadcasts this type of excess - all backers please form an orderly queue.