{"id":337368,"date":"2021-09-09T21:06:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T18:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/too-many-strings-attached-in-citizen-app-investment-offer-sources\/"},"modified":"2021-09-09T21:06:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T18:06:28","slug":"too-many-strings-attached-in-citizen-app-investment-offer-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/too-many-strings-attached-in-citizen-app-investment-offer-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Too many strings attached&#8217; in Citizen app investment offer: sources"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#&#8217;Too many strings attached&#8217; in Citizen <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> investment offer: sources<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>Controversial neighborhood watch app Citizen rejected an investment offer from Andreessen Horowitz \u2014 and it may have been because the venture capital giant wanted too much control over the company, The Post has learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Andreessen Horowitz \u2014 a legendary VC firm known for lucrative investments in companies like Airbnb, Lyft, Coinbase and Slack \u2014 was in discussions with Citizen during the summer of 2017 to invest in the company\u2019s $12 million <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Series<\/a> A funding round, two people close to Citizen told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Citizen \u2014 which gives more than 7 million users across 30 cities real-time alerts about reported emergencies \u2014 turned down Andreessen Horowitz and eventually replaced its spot in the round with an investment from rival venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, the sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Citizen bucked Andreessen Horowitz\u2019s offer in part because it would\u2019ve given the venture capital firm too much say in the company\u2019s operations, according to an ex-employee who worked at Citizen at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe conversation around the office was they didn\u2019t want to get tied in,\u201d said the former employee. \u201cThere were too many strings attached.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Citizen\u2019s leadership believed that other potential investors including Sequoia would give more flexibility to operate however they saw fit, the ex-employee added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-03.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Screenshots of the Citizen app\" class=\"wp-image-19303946\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-03.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-03.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-03.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Citizen gives more than 7 million users across 30 cities real-time alerts about reported emergencies.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">via REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In an emailed statement to The Post, Citizen Andrew Frame CEO called the ex-employee\u2019s description of the Andreessen Horowitz negotiation \u201ca patently false rumor.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Andreessen Horowitz, which rarely talks to journalists, did not reply to multiple requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Outside oversight at Citizen may have been able to help the company better avoid missteps as it has grown \u2014 and help manage Frame, who has made moves this year that have alarmed both ex-Citizen employees and activists.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-nypost-medium-post is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=322\" alt=\"Citizen founder and CEO Andrew Frame\" class=\"wp-image-19303971\" width=\"322\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=644 644w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=483 483w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=322 322w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=161 161w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\"\/><figcaption>Citizen founder and CEO Andrew Frame has made moves this year that have alarmed both ex-Citizen employees and activists.\u00a0<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>In one such example, Citizen put out a $30,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest of a man that Frame believed had committed arson in Los Angeles this May.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFIND THIS F\u2014K,\u201d Frame urged Citizen employees in internal messages <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/y3dpyw\/inside-crime-app-citizen-vigilante\">obtained<\/a> by Vice. \u201cfirst name? What is it?! publish ALL info.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBREAKING <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NEWS<\/a>. this guy is the devil. get him.\u201d Frame added. \u201dby midnight!@#! we hate this guy. GET HIM.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Frame\u2019s urging, Citizen employees spent hours sending out alerts that included the man\u2019s name and photograph to nearly 850,000 users in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>But later that night, police arrested a different person \u2014 and Frame found out that he had put the bounty on the head of an innocent man.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>An ex-employee who worked at Citizen in 2019 told The Post that they had been trained to not identify people by skin color or name when sending out alerts through the app in order to avoid racial profiling or ruining the reputations of innocent people. <\/p>\n<p>The former employee said Frame\u2019s decision to share such information about the supposed arsonist was \u201ccrazy\u201d \u2014 and added the company\u2019s ethical standards have \u201cdefinitely dropped\u201d in recent years. <\/p>\n<p>In a statement to The Post, a Citizen spokesperson argued that the app has \u201chelped countless people escape burning buildings, rescue missing children, and evacuate disaster areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring this incident in May, there was an active arsonist on the loose and multiple fires were being ignited all over Los Angeles,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cIn the case of fires, seconds save lives, so we decided to share what information was available to hundreds of thousands of local Citizen users. Unfortunately, everybody had the facts wrong at that moment, and it\u2019s something we\u2019ve learned from and worked on to update our policies on how we verify information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Citizen also has taken flak from some activists for driving a Citizen-branded private security vehicle around Los Angeles as part a plan for a \u201cprivatized secondary emergency response network,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/v7evbx\/citizen-app-private-security-leaked-emails\">according<\/a> to Vice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The former employee who had worked at Citizen in 2019 said they found the company\u2019s moves toward a \u201cprivatized security situation\u201d to be a disturbing deviation from what they saw as the company\u2019s original mission of providing public safety information.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/09\/too-many-strings-attached-in-citizen-app-investment-offer-sources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#&#8217;Too many strings attached&#8217; in Citizen app investment offer: sources&#8221; Controversial neighborhood watch app Citizen rejected an investment offer from Andreessen Horowitz \u2014 and it may have been because the venture capital giant wanted too much control over the company, The Post has learned.\u00a0 Andreessen Horowitz \u2014 a legendary VC firm known for lucrative investments&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":337369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/citizen-app-sale-hp.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[115671,5055,106544],"class_list":["post-337368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-9-9-21","tag-apps","tag-on-the-money"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}