Criminal Deception in Silicon Valley

A research paper examines how entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley engage in criminal deception to defraud audiences. The study analyzed court data from Silicon Valley ventures and their founders who were prosecuted for fraud between 2000 and 2023. The findings indicate that entrepreneurs use a process called façading to deceive others, creating a false appearance of high-growth performance while hiding the venture's actual underperformance. This façading involves constructing, performing, and protecting an illusory image to project success to outsiders. The paper investigates how this deceptive process is carried out by entrepreneurs. The research focuses on entrepreneurial fraud cases, which have been increasing in recent years.