Vox Rises Again
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Vox Pop, Debi Ryan emails, is back:
Vox Pop will officially be open for business again tomorrow night for our New Year’s Eve Bash at 9 pm. How apropos to experience our new beginning right on the New Year!!
They’re still struggling to survive, however, and Debi hopes neighbors will be able to make it to a January 12 benefit show at the Jalopy Theater: “For one night only, some of the greatest blues musicians on this planet are coming together on the same stage to share one voice with a single purpose. To save one of the pillars in the foundation of a community. Calling themselves the Vox Pop Ultimate All Star Blues Extravaganza, Michael Powers, Bill Sims, Jr., Fred Scribner and Little Sammy Davis to name just a few (the line up just keeps growing) will be headlining. More bands to follow. Hosted by our very own Mike Fiorito, this promises to be one of the greatest blues shows ever. Tickets are being sold for a suggested donation of $25.”
WHEN: January 12th at 8 pm
WHERE: Jalopy’s
315 Columbia St.,
Brooklyn, NY 11231
And in one final bit of Vox Pop news, Ryan forwards an email from Vox’s founder, Sander Hicks, affirming that he has given up all his shares in the place. You can read it after the jump.
This is the Official (but also friendly and informal) notice to the world that I, Sander Hicks, have sold all my shares in Vox Pop Inc. back to the company. The reasons for this are complicated, but let's just say that this is the best way forward for Vox Pop, as a company, and as a community center. Manager Debi Ryan, my successor, has run the company for about a year now, and has done a good job. There's been a nasty bit of trouble lately with the New York State Department of Revenue, who shut down Vox Pop before Christmas. This was due to tax problems that I am primarily responsible for. Back in my day, we were managing our tax debt with a payment plan, (more often than not). I understand that having several debts is hard to manage, and the many debts I left behind at Vox Pop have been burdensome for current management. So, a shareholder in Vox Pop came forward who wanted to re-invest. But one caveat is that he didn't want me to retain an association with the company. An offer was made to me to buy out my shares for $10,000. After talking to Debi, I decided to take the deal, and also donate 1/3 back to the company, donate 1/3 to Debi who has worked this year for stock. Debi has been keeping vigil 24 hours, living in a Tarot Card reader's storefront around the corner from Vox Pop. Her dedication is amazing. So for her, for the shareholders, for the customers who miss their place, I did this. I did it for us. Vox Pop has been a great experience for me, a vibrant mix of successes and failures on my part. I feel no shame, I take responsibility for my flaws and shortcomings, for they are legion. My stake in Vox Pop was quite valuable a year ago, but look what a major recession can do. I do have some strategic suggestions for Debi and the Board, but I will reserve those for a blog post in the next couple of days. Suffice to say, I know I am controversial, on several fronts. Twice now I have tried to blend politics and business, borrowing heavily from both the left... and the far left! (ha ha) But seriously, in the big picture, I have combined some good old fashioned, traditional entrepreneurial energy with serious progressive politics, in two ventures. Vox Pop is not the last company I will ever start. I'm so grateful to it for what I've learned. What's more, now I know what I need to learn, in the near future, before I start a new venture. I would like to thank the two co-founders I started the company with back in 2003: Holley Anderson and Andy Laties. You are both brilliant, under-appreciated people. Let your lights shine before all. S -- Sander Hicks http://www.sanderhicks.com
17 Responses to “Vox Rises Again”
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bklynartiste says:
December 30th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I don’t really get why giving up all shares seems to be such a big thing. Is it to prove Hicks has no deciding factor in how VP is run? If I gave up all shares of a place I dragged down, it would seem to be all good for just myself. Enlighten me to why giving up shares is such a big deal.
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a.t. says:
December 31st, 2009 at 8:06 am
Well, it sounds like he took a bath on the shares. And, yes, it’s probably important to VP going forward to have clarity on ownership & leadership.
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Bruzen says:
December 31st, 2009 at 8:14 am
And why (bklynartiste) do we need to enlighten you. Maybe it is your humanity that needs to be enlightened. This is true for all of us. If you support Vox, you will go. If not, go in good health.
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bklynartiste says:
December 31st, 2009 at 10:24 am
Bruzen, it was a simple question for which I was trying to get an answer. What’s inhumane about that? Thanks for your snarky comment. Your own humanity does indeed need to be enlightened as well, and I’m glad you recognize that fact.
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Bruzen says:
December 31st, 2009 at 12:36 pm
bklynartiste: No your question was not simple. It was phrased in a manner in which it seemed you are owed an explanation. What business have you known to be this transparent in its dealings. If you own shares, I am sure Debi will have no problem answering your questions. If you just buy coffee on occasion, then you don’t need anything explained to you.
If you don’t like Vox Pop then don’t support them. If you like them, then you are going to have to deal with people like me when you go there. I tend to be snarky and biting in the face of entitlement. -
theair says:
December 31st, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I didn’t know about any closing or whatever but I have the same question(s) as the first poster — seems fairly logical and natural to ask that. I have no opinion whatsoever about the place – I just got sidetracked to this page. I was hoping that comments would add information to my lacking knowledge about the place; it’s counter-productive (and annoying) to end up reading about peoples’ personal feelings & biases, assumptions, etc. Anybody care to provide objective facts about Vox / ownership? I don’t know enough to know if I like them or not but if they aren’t open, or [insert reason that could entice or detract one from going here], I would know more than I do now if information were provided rather than meaningless (to me) commentary.
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Terwiliger says:
December 31st, 2009 at 2:31 pm
“My stake in Vox Pop was quite valuable a year ago, but look what a major recession can do.”
so he’s basically saying he is giving up something that has little to no value. How big of him. I wonder if he would do the same had the major recession not devalued the shares and if they were still ‘quite valuable’.
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Matt says:
December 31st, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Who are the stakeholders in this alternative energy fund Hicks is managing, or more likely, running into the ground? They should be warned!
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Julie says:
Congratulations on re-opening, Vox Pop. Hope this time it’s for good.
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no_slappz says:
Hicks writes:
“An offer was made to me to buy out my shares for $10,000. After talking to Debi, I decided to take the deal, and also donate 1/3 back to the company, donate 1/3 to Debi who has worked this year for stock.”
Is this the final rip-off? Or is there more to come? Usually running a business into a ditch, defrauding investors, defrauding the Department of Taxation and stiffing vendors is enough to force the offender into forfeiting his stake for ZERO Dollars. Instead, Hicks has bamboozled people again.
Founders generally get their stock for free — it is their compensation for delivering their brain-child. Thus, paying Hicks to buy out equity he obtained for nothing is yet another blunder.
Creditors should scream. The guy who owns the equity is the guy with the claim on the Residual Value — in other words, the value remaining AFTER all the other bills are paid. AFTER the creditors are paid. Hicks is absolutely the LAST person in line when it comes to getting money out of the business.
Once again, this is why bankruptcy was the way to go. In bankruptcy all equity is cancelled and the creditors get in line to get paid. Following that, everyone starts fresh.
Instead, hapless investors and overburdened customers were/are taken to the cleaners for $120,000.
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WhiteCollar says:
Who is the person who gave Hicks $10,000 for worthless ‘stock’? I got a bridge for sale.
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Beth says:
My favorite part: “So for her, for the shareholders, for the customers who miss their place, I did this. I did it for us.”
Apparently he took the $10,000 as an act of selfless generosity. -
bklynartiste says:
Hicks ranks right up there with balloon-boy dad in craziness and attention-mongering.
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Blue says:
Oh, Debi, no…you’re working for stock?! Run, woman. RUN. Don’t be another one of Sander’s suckers.
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no_slappz says:
When the founder of a failing business is an outright liar and his replacement is beholden to him, there is little chance of getting an accurate picture of the state of the operations.
What is the true financial condition of Vox? Frankly, it appears NO ONE, including management, really knows. However, it appears a new repayment schedule for the long overdue tax revenue has been arranged. Most of Vox’s operating Costs and Expenses are known or easy to estimate.
But that’s not enough. The announcement about the Fundraiser Blues Extravaganza to Save Vox is a strong indication that recent revenue figures are too low to meet current monthly expenses. In fact, holding the fundraiser suggests the NY Dept of Finance is holding a sword over Vox in the form of demanding a one-time major repayment — or else.
Coincidently, Hicks slithered out of his ownership role at just the moment the responsibility of ownership might have turned into a big personal tax liability. Hicks included no relevant details about the source of the $10,000 he received for his Vox equity. Thus, the transaction is immediately a murky affair.
However, as any flim-flammer knows, when you can sell a worthless item for $10,000, you take the deal, especially if the sale indemnifies you against future liabilities related to the worthlessness of the thing that has been sold.
Prediction: After a year of wrestling with the Vox fraud and getting paid in worthless stock, Debi Ryan will begin looking for a new job that utilizes her management skills and compensates her fairly. With this experience on her resume, she can show prospective employers she is an accomplished problem solver and manager.
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Monica says:
Can someone (perhaps the blog’s operators?) explain in a straight (opinion-free!) posting what’s happened here? While it’s valuable to get feedback from commenters, I’ve got no idea why Vox Pop keeps closing and how best to prevent it from closing again…
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Emily says:
Monica, info about the closing is supplied on Vox Pop’s website – http://voxpopnet.net/news.php
