Microsoft-backed Builder.ai enters insolvency proceedings

Microsoft-backed Builder.ai enters insolvency proceedings(techcrunch.com)

26 points by upupupandaway 362 days ago | 4 comments

stephen_hn 362 days ago |

They've raised 450m according to this article. Their site mentions 250m raised in 2023. Even if your plan is growth or bust, how do you burn through 250m in two years without thinking 'Maybe we should plan to keep 50 or 100m for more than 2 years as an emergency fund'?

I'm just wondering if these guys have no financial literacy or just are really optimistic and want to burn through the cash to give them the best chance?

I kind of doubt of spending money at that rate does give them the best chance, but maybe they do.

idontwantthis 362 days ago | |

> Builder.ai hired auditors to study its financials, indicating that something may have been off behind the scenes. According to Bloomberg, former employees alleged that the company had inflated sales figures by more than 20% on multiple occasions.

Sounds like fraud from top to bottom.

> Before Engineer.ai largely rebranded to Builder.ai, it attracted a minor scandal. Engineer.ai claimed to have built a largely automated app development platform, but the platform in truth relied heavily on human engineers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

AI: Actually, Indians.

rsynnott 362 days ago | |

> I kind of doubt of spending money at that rate does give them the best chance, but maybe they do.

The AI bubble really seems to run more on dot-com logic than _anything_ we've seen since the dot-com bubble (I'm curious how much of this is just generational turnover, with the lessons learned in the dot-com bubble beginning to fade). More spending equals more better, the revenue streams will just appear if you spend enough money and believe hard enough.

azemetre 362 days ago | |

It wasn’t their money, why would they care? I mean that’s how the system is designed and the outcomes it generates.

What VC backed companies take bootstrapping seriously? It’s mostly growth achieved via money not sustainable business plans.