Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

# Did my old job only exist because of fraud? – It's not about code Source: [https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud](https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud) Early in my software engineering career, the UK\-based startup I worked at, GenieDB, was taken over by a US Venture Capital fund, Frost VP, owned by Stuart Frost\. I was functionally the only piece that came to the US\. The code was rebuilt, the rest of the team eventually rotated out, even the core strategy was replaced\. But I was early in my career and excited to be working in the VC tech\-startup world\. I ended up making my life in the US, so this was a pretty pivotal phase in my life\. For a while I lived the start\-up life: building rapidly and playing Foosball[1](https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud#dfa88e12-236c-4432-b5d2-9d9be0cddea8)\. GenieDB actively rejected revenue opportunities \([a la Silicon Valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzAdXyPYKQo)\) with the aim of getting acquired for pioneering technology\. We limped along for years with never more than 3 customers, even when big\-tech and eventually open\-source did what we tried to do better than us\. I left with mixed feelings and eventually came to realize we never had the serious footing it would have taken to actually develop significant technology\. A decade later I heard from a former colleague that Frost was being[sued by the SEC for fraud](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16052717/securities-and-exchange-commission-v-stuart-frost)\. Still not sure what to make of my time at GenieDB, I was curious enough to skim the complaint, where I saw this line: [](https://david.newgas.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-4.png)Was GenieDB involved in this fraud somehow? I chewed on this question and it evolved to a form that began to haunt me: > Did my old job – the one that brought me to the USA and changed the course of my entire life –*only exist because of fraud?* With this burning question I dove into the record of the case\. The alleged fraud was simple: Frost VP operated as an incubator, providing services to the portfolio companies, and the investors say these fees charged were excessive\. The case went to binding arbitration[2](https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud#c1d30fcd-a867-434d-9135-6b021b037a3d)and the investors won, after which the SEC sued to bar Frost from managing funds in the future\. There’s some great elements like claiming a personal chef and cleaner as expenses, telling investors no salary would be paid by the fees \(it was\) and starting a marketing company just to sponsor someone’s visa\. But what about GenieDB? Both the arbitration and SEC suit elaborate on this idea of creating companies just to charge them fees: [](https://david.newgas.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-1.png)This allegation was never litigated though, neither court nor arbitrator were kind enough to rule on why GenieDB was in the portfolio\. I had to dive into the evidence and decide for myself\. First of all, my old CEO testified that GenieDB was paying excessive fees: [](https://david.newgas.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-7.png)I was only really shaken when I saw what the insiders at the VC fund saying to each other: [](https://david.newgas.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-6.png)To me, this email shows that the investments were motivated by the fees[3](https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud#2f4b0830-3016-4565-8c50-5327713b6b7d)and GenieDB*was*being used to siphon investor money away\. I felt like an ant\. My career, my family, my citizenship all would be completely different except for this fraud\. This story plays out between investors, multi\-millionaire VCs, judges, and my entire life isn’t even a footnote\. I took a deep breath\. GenieDB did have a concept at the core, which pre\-dated Frost turning his eyes on us\. A concept which turned out to be quite useful when more serious players took it on\. My colleagues and I were really trying to build it, even if the fund manager was eating up our runway with spurious fees for his personal gain\. I wasn’t just some instrument of fraud working on nothing\. Besides, turbulence from chance events, lighthearted decisions and even crime alters the course of every life\. Stories of chance meetings of a spouse are dime\-a\-dozen\. I just looked in my wake and was surprised by a dark current\. --- 1. Amusingly Foosball ability reflected the corporate hierarchy\. Stuart Frost was hands down the best\. His second in command a close second, and GenieDB’s CEO could beat any of us programmers\.[↩︎](https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud#dfa88e12-236c-4432-b5d2-9d9be0cddea8-link) 2. In fact Frost actually initiated the arbitration because he alleged the investors were conspiring against him\. The counterclaim laid out the fraud\.[↩︎](https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud#c1d30fcd-a867-434d-9135-6b021b037a3d-link) 3. “With Genie coming out” here is referring to GenieDB dissolving and not paying fees to the incubator any more\. GenieDB isn’t one of the companies they are proposing here\.[↩︎](https://david.newgas.net/did-my-old-job-only-exist-because-of-fraud#2f4b0830-3016-4565-8c50-5327713b6b7d-link)