The ad seemed genuine enough. Posted on LinkedIn, it offered a portal for paid board of director seats. Intrigued, I scheduled a 20-minute interview.
LinkedIn, for those unfamiliar with it, is THE place to have a professional profile. It’s inhabited by professionals of every stripe, discipline, and industry, and is for business networking only.
So here was this ad from Boardsi, a firm I’d never heard of. But I got busy and had to cancel the meeting…plus something just didn’t “feel” right.
So I did a bit of research, only to uncover hundreds of posts about what a scam this company is supposed to be.
Well, you know the old saying about where there’s smoke…
Apparently, this firm (some argue it’s the same company as ExecRanks and AdvisoryCloud, though Boardsi’s CEO says this is untrue) posts ads like the one I’d seen, offering $30,000 per year or equity to sit on a board. To gain access to their database, you’re charged $200 per month…and many of the jobs probably don’t even exist.
One review after another talked about Boardsi’s lack of communication and an unceasing drive by their sales team to separate you from your credit card number.
When I learned this, two old sayings suddenly jumped to mind: John Bridges’ “A fool and his money are soon parted” and W.C. Fields’ “Never give a sucker an even break.”
So I extricated myself from a situation that appears to be unethical, illegal, and unquestionably intolerable.
And though the temptation was to just move on with my life, it struck me that a column like this carries with it a responsibility to alert the public to what seems to be fraudulent behavior.
With an eye towards full disclosure, I will say here that I have heard (three times so far) from Boardsi CEO Martin Rowinski, who insists Boardsi is legitimate. Whether that is true I leave to the individual to do their own research and make up their own mind.
However, in the interests of doing my daily good deed, I’d like to also encourage you to be increasingly vigilant about the shysters, scam artists, and other nefarious efforts to separate you from your hard-earned money.
Because whatever business you’re in, odds are good there’s someone targeting you at this moment with a questionable offer. It may be a “Who’s who in your industry?” book, or an award as the best (fill in the blank) in town.
Perhaps not coincidentally, they all seem to have a price point of around $200 in common…too little to sue over, but enough (in volume) to net them a tidy sum.
And remember…if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.
—
Meet a straight-talking communications professional at www.marketbuilding.com.
If you liked this article, check out the entire
Scamming Collection
Clickbait Fake Author Representation
Fake Board Seats Fake Endorsements
Phishing Expeditions Useless Corporate Registrations
Phony Corporate Awards
About the Author: Rob Weinberg
Thank you for the warning about Boardsi.
Just got the email….first instinct was to check for reviews….thanks for posting yours…..confirms my suspicions….
Thank you for taking the time to write your article, you’ve saved many time/money/headaches. Best!
Thanks for posting this. It allowed me to dodge their scam!
Thanks for this community service! They keep reaching out.
Thank you for letting me know it seemed like it
Agree. Was curious so just spoke with someone who might have had a career in telemarketing. They are pay to play without substance. Their success metrics are void of real economic outcomes.
My guess was also that Boardsi is a scam. Take one look at their leadership and ask yourself if these guys are credible.
Much appreciated, you saved me some time.
Literally just got an email. I was skeptical. Started research and found this. Thx.
Now i’ll go respond and tell them to "Fuck Off!"
just got off the phone with them….had not looked for comments such as these..thanks…saved me $395….guy was reading from a script and had a hard time stopping to answer any questions….sad that some folks will get scammed by deals like this…
Greatly appreciate you taking the time to post this. I was actually on the board of directors for two charities and then moved states, so I have held legitimate positions like this before. NEVER pay to join one though, I was compensated (though not $30k a year!) lightly for my time but mostly for the charity aspect. Also the lady who contacted me on LinkedIn when I clicked on her name—no linked profile to see who she was. Could be a bot for all I know. With it being so easy to list your profile on LinkedIn, not having this available is a giant red flag!!
Thanks for saving my time and money. I shakily have known better but Al least I found your article first!
Yep, I looked at their website and nowhere does it mention that you’ll be paying for the "privilege" of being considered for board seats.
Thanks for the insight. It did not feel right to me either so I am thankful for the confirmation.
Eye opening – thank you! I just got a cold email from them, did a Google search and your column came up. Sending them right to junk mail.
It bothers me that we lack adequate policing of online scams by either the big platforms like LinkedIn or the government.
A total scam. First a woman from a call center calls and asks if I am interested in a specific board assignment and if so, to schedule a call with her manager (Sean Irons in my case) to learn more about this specific opportunity. Then Sean "cannot" share any specific details about the opportunity but instead tries to sell a paid membership for boardsi that might or might not lead to a board seat. This is spam and a complete waste of time. Shame on people like these.
Thank you. I found this doing my due diligence in preparation for the first appointment, and just canceled it.
Good info, thank you, I received an email from them with a vague statement of positions matching my background. You go to the website, and there is no mention of how they get their taste. If it were so promising, and they were acting as an agent, one would expect them to take a cut out of pass-through payment. To have $300/mo for the privilege to access is ridiculous.
Thanks for sharing your insights and research on BoardSi! 10 seconds of a google search turned up your post, and 3 minutes of reading your article and the comments saved me 20 minutes of suffering through their scam-pitch. So all told, I owe you at least 17 minutes, back! Much appreciated!! –Geoffrey
Never heard of them until I’ve found an unsolicited email in my inbox. Thanks for posting this, saved me time (not money, as I don’t think I’d fallen for this scam anyway)!
Thank You, You’re a big time saver! You are doing a good deed with this post!
Thanks for sharing – I had not heard of them & had less than good results with Advisory Cloud earlier this year (was able to get my money back). The clients I was matched with were stricktly looking for investors – every "board call" was a pitch for investment. I just this morning received a solicitation through LinkedIn about paid advisory & board seats that they are actively recruiting for – the problem is I could not fine this woman who sent the message on LinkedIn (professional looking head shot in front company logo). A qucik google search turned up WAY more negative comments & articles like this even on BBB.
Thanks Again.
Thank you for this post!
Thank you, saved me so much time, I got a message from their marketing director on LinkedIn and thought it was weird they would send a message at 9:50 pm on a Friday! so did a quick google search and article came up. Thank you!
"I’d never belong to a club that had me as one of its members" -Groucho Marx
Thanks for the cautionary column. Saved me some time.
I just received an Inbox with an invitation to schedule a meeting.
The “Marketing Director “ wrote to me and said that they have several positions available for me.
But I decide to do my research first.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for the warning, I was just researching the company over a similar message I just got on Linkedin- I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough!
I just completed my initial call with a Board’s representative, who responded to my question regarding their fee structure with clients that he was not an employee of Boardsi and was not able to provide me with details. When he informed me of the financial commitment to become a member of Board’s I immediately recalled a commitment I made long ago to never purchase anything during an initial phone call without taking 24 hours to consider the purchase and investigate the offer. I remember sharing this with a marketing person for a timeshare, who responded, "You will never purchase a timeshare with us. Those who don’t purchase during the presentation never return."
Thanks for your insight and willingness to share. Alan Carter