Sircles and RAD Radio

Almost everyone here loved Rob at one time. You've stayed here because you feel let down, betrayed and foolish for ever believing in him. You're among others who feel the same way and validate those negative emotions. I understand everyone's frustration and pain. Our team has also suffered through incredibly difficult emotions and decisions the last couple years. I've gone from loving Rob to hating Rob to loving Rob like a seesaw.

Over the years I've lost two lifelong friends to addiction and a beloved employee as well. I've paid for multiple rehabs for guys I loved. Everyone thinks they have the simple solution (just walk away) or the conspiracy behind it all (it's all a scam). Well, what if there is no simple answer and no conspiracy, no plot, no evil plan? What if Rob struggles for reasons personal to him and, like all addicts, becomes a different person when using? And what if when you're just about to lose hope, just about to pull the plug, he snaps back stronger than ever?

That cycle has repeated many times and may continue repeating. Obviously, our team has to make a decision about where to draw the line, and we did that weeks ago with fair warning, as you can see from the attachment. I will add one thing, by saying, if Rob completes a treatment program successfully, we are open to talking but no commitments right now. I don't know what tomorrow holds for Rob, for Dawn or for anyone in Rob's orbit.

Has anyone ever seen The Truman Show (movie)? I feel like we're at the end of the movie when Jim Carrey opens the door at the edge of his world. I have limited mindshare space for this drama so I'll put a lot out here today and may not be back for a while.

We've always been very transparent—with the public and internally with each other. Our team is rooted in many long-term friendships so we're comfortable calling each other out on anyone's bullshit. I think that's made our team and our culture very strong. Rob's team is in a hard spot because he lashes back when called out. I do give Rob credit for allowing me to call him out on air and taking a lot of things to heart.

Rob is not a monster. He's a flawed man, who has evolved quite a lot but perhaps not fast enough to keep up with changing forces around him. Someone commented here, (I'm paraphrasing) but something about how Rob knew how high the stakes were and he was warned explicitly and still chose to fuck it up. Yeah, that's extremely difficult to wrap my mind around.

I'm not an expert on this subject and I'm sure people will say addiction is a disease and this and that.. but he's not shooting heroin every day trapped in some kind of physical addiction. He's been sober (totally "dry") multiple times and chose to pour the drink.. then the next one and the next one. I understand that people have demons and they seek an escape, and that leads to the downslide.

Yes, sure.. but when you're a successful person, you operate differently—that's how you got successful in the first place. A guy like Rob who can operate at that level of performance for decades is wired differently than the rest of us. Therefore, I toss out the "disease" theory and place blame squarely on the person making the "choice" in this case. That extremely selfish "choice" could only lead to one outcome—not a surprise—no shock at all—a conscious decision to torpedo your career and untold fallout. I will never understand that decision.

I'm speaking to the 80% of you who are rational about this. I'm here giving oxygen to a competing platform for only one reason—the only reason I exist anymore—and that's for the wellbeing of Sircles. The mods here have been rational and reasonable toward some of our concerns. We've had very limited engagement but it's always been polite and respectful.

I've never threatened them or anything close to that. You guys (Josh/Diligent) can post anything I've ever said to you here anytime. I ask those reading this to please put yourself in my shoes for a minute. I hadn't taken a day off since last year. I worked all day Thanksgiving, Christmas and finally took a breather over the 4th. I do this for the investors who believe in us and the community who supports us.

We're all trying our hardest to create something amazing and up against the biggest, most ruthless companies in the world. We're in an all-out sprint each day and truthfully thinking very little about what people say online. We just ask, respectfully, to not be harassed or targets of false allegations. There are lines and boundaries that need to be respected, and I appreciate the community and the mods doing your best to find that balance.

Btw.. has everyone stopped paying attention? I think it would be really great if you guys kept up with everything we're doing. Sircles is gaining more traction every day. We have multiple chats with thousands of people in them (having nothing to do with Rob or RAD). We have local businesses promoting events in Sircles with over 1000 RSVPs. We have zero bots. We have zero trolls.

You don't have to take my word for all of this. We post our daily work sessions online for anyone to see (http://Sircles.com/sesh). What "shady" startup would expose themselves like that? We welcome everyone to take part in our journey. Our struggles, our small victories, our failures—it's all on display.

One thing is undeniable, however, and that is a thriving community has found its way into Sircles, and that community grows every day. This time next year some of you could be extremely happy you invested. This is by far the most difficult and possibly the stupidest thing I've ever tried to do.

I had to learn our full tech stack.. starting at zero. We got misled (at best) and conned (at worst) by numerous engineers in the early years. It's really hard to know who to trust when you don't speak the language or know how anything works. Those days are over now (please watch our work sessions).

Our team is incredible and united and pushing to the finish line. There's not much that can stop our success now so I'm not going to engage here again for a long time or ever. I hope some of you check out Sircles today and even if you're not ready to declare victory for us, please give us the space to operate safely and free from distraction.

The guys who just want to throw grenades, no matter what, aren't going to change their minds from anything I say here. I get that. But they don't have to dominate the conversation. Our progress and effort is undeniable if you just take a minute to look for yourself.

If 90% of startups fail in less than 5 years, Sircles has defied those odds, survived and now has a thriving community. We can definitely still fail, but our odds of success have gotten much better this year. I have to be careful (legally) about giving my opinion but you can probably guess how I feel about our chances.